This year, the festival will turn to the ideas of the Fluxus movement that have remained relevant for more than six decades – accessibility of art, its connection to everyday life, play, chance, and freedom to create. According to the festival producer Monika Citvaraitė-Lansbergienė, these fundamental Fluxus values are described by the festival’s theme.
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“The Big Bang is the moment from which everything starts anew. We want to imagine a Fluxus where there is no single star, no most important work, or only one way to participate. The festival artists and their works will become like separate planets – different and unique, yet together forming one universe. We invite every festival visitor into it,” she says.
The Exhibition Hill Will Become an Imagination Square
At 9 p.m., the festival will traditionally begin at Jurgis Mačiūnas Square, from where participants dressed in costumes will move towards Exhibition Hill. The climb itself has been one of the most important parts of the “Fluxus” festival for several years – a busy Kaunas street will become a meeting place.
“We want people to come to the festival not as spectators, but as part of this new cosmos. Therefore, we encourage everyone to imagine themselves as a separate planet: what would it be like, how would it look, what characteristics would it have? A complicated costume is not necessary. As in Fluxus itself, imagination and play, the liberation of one’s creativity, are the most important here,” says M. Citvaraitė-Lansbergienė.
This year’s festival innovation – instead of one main stage, those who climb will find several different spaces. Here, LRT Opus will present the “Ritmoganda ring,” the “Vilnius Jjazz Ensemble” led by Jievaras Jasinskis will perform, and the “Drumblys” studio will conduct percussion workshops where unusual objects will become instruments.
At the festival, it will be possible to meet acting students from LMTA, hear “meaningless” speeches and the creativity of the Kaunas slam community, dance between the visual installations “Taškai” and “NODE47,” participate in street art workshops, and see works by artists Vėjas Aliukas and Mykolas Stratkauskas. The program will also include a tribute by Jonas Mekas to Jurgis Mačiūnas – a screening of the film “Zefiro Torna” and other surprises.
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The Road to the Big Bang Will Start Earlier
The festival organizers invite you to prepare for the “Fluxus” festival in the preliminary program. On September 12 at 12 p.m., the “Magic Carpets” residency event and the opening of the exhibition “For a Moment I Am You” will take place at the Kaunas Artists’ House, and at 4 p.m. at the Kaunas Picture Gallery – a lecture by design historian Gerry Beegan and researcher Colby Chamberlain about Jurgis Mačiūnas.
On September 15 at 6 p.m., the performance by Dalius Naujokaitis and the Plungė Public Library orchestra will interrupt the daily rhythm of passengers and those waiting at the Kaunas bus station, and on September 16 at 6 p.m., a documentary film about the youth, fates, and creativity of J. Mačiūnas, J. Mekas, and V. Landsbergis will be shown at the Kaunas Picture Gallery.
At the Kaunas Ąžuolynas Library and the “Kultūra” café, participants will be able to make costumes for the festival, and on September 18 at 5 p.m. at the Kaunas Artists’ House, together with the Czech festival “Sametové posvícení” team, they will create a large joint costume that will travel to Exhibition Hill the next evening.
Just before the climb, on September 19 at 3 p.m., a special “Kautra” bus will invite you on a journey through the sounds of Kaunas. Traveling the route “Center–Jurgis Mačiūnas Square,” the sounds accompanying the journey – engine noise, traffic noise, and passengers’ voices – will be recorded.
All “Fluxus” festival and preliminary program events are free.
More information about the “Fluxus” festival can be found on the Kaunas Artists’ House website.
