“The festival is not a gallery, so artists find more freedom here and can realize ideas that might not “resonate” in conventional spaces. In an unusual place and circumstances, their works can reveal themselves in a completely different way, so “Yaga Gathering” features the most unexpected performances. This year, the geography of our art program has expanded from Argentina to Estonia and Lithuania, and the artists’ performances will lead people to unusual and undiscovered places where art and nature merge,” says Dijuota Žilytė, curator of the “Visionary” program.
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“People are drawn to mystical and invisible things that you usually can’t find in the festival area, so our guides will help participants discover these places and artists’ performances – meeting at a certain place, they will accompany you to some performances. And people will be able to discover other artworks themselves – we will create about 10 installations: experiential spaces, sculptures, and even a laboratory with microscopes where workshops and activities will take place,” intrigues D. Žilytė.
One of the most well-known names in this year’s “Yaga Gathering” art program is the project “Post-Organic Bauplan” by choreographer and performer Josefina Maro and evolutionary biology scientist and artist Salvador Marino. In their futuristic performances with robotic human body parts they created themselves, these artists explore how technology shapes our bodies not only physically but also emotionally.
Performance artist Mikkas Lahesalu from Estonia will also come to the “Yaga Gathering” festival – his embodied hybrid being, combining human and non-human traits, the drag character Temake explores queer experiences, loneliness, and power structures in society.
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“We create the “Visionary” program, which combines various art fields – from scenography to performances – throughout the year – looking both in Lithuania and abroad, searching for both recognized and still unknown and promising names. Every year we discover and give the “Yaga Gathering” stage to emerging artists, and this year we are especially looking forward to what Dovydas Laurinaitis, Evelina Bernatonytė, and Merkys Žebrauskas will prepare,” says D. Žilytė.
D. Laurinaitis focuses on memories in his works, exploring themes of shame, identity, and belonging, and during the festival he will invite people to an experiential performance to engage with him, shed cynicism, and remember tenderness, sincerity, and connection. Evelina Bernatonytė, combining sculpture and video art, will blend traditions, myths, and an alternative approach to modernity in the works exhibited at the event, while Merkys Žebrauskas will invite reflection on the symbiosis of nature and humans with his biome work.
The “Yaga Gathering” festival will take place this year from July 16 to 20, the full program is here.
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