Art

Kaunas is the city of backyards. All buildings on the grand streets of the old town have ways into the backyard with all kind of other buildings. Always with a lot of buzzing and plenty of parked cars. Almost a city in the city.

Today, we met on the street one of the curators of the Kaunas Gallery, Donatas Stankevicius. He was kind enough to bring us to one of the most famous backyards. In the Jewish part of Kaunas, just a few houses past the old synagoge (which is in real need of some renovation), he showed us the backyard also now as the Jewish open air gallery. Already in between the two world wars, people used art to brighten up their surroundings and the successive tenants of these houses have sustained this tradition.

light a flame
on every corner
where people hurry by
on their ways to more
and even more
just one little flame
tender, delicate
to illustrate that
when we let the light in
the shadows of our fear
will move out of hiding
bringing us together
in the open

Today we experienced a flashback to the 60’s.
When entering the museum we were teleported back into our own childhood memories. A beautiful building which dedicated the ground floor and basement to art exhibitions of today’s. Firstly, an installation entitled “Black Hole” learned us to navigate in total darkness. A stark reminder of what blind people have to deal with everyday and for us almost feels claustrophobic as we are so used to seeing…

In the basement, we saw something spectacularly different.
An exhibition called “Nomadic Images” by contemporary Lithuanian artists. One artist hit both of us. So simple and yet so recognisable. A little stack of folded paintings. Just the linen. On a little table. Next to it a  sign; paintings which I’m not sure of and to shy to show to anyone…

It reminded us of the need to go out of your comfort zone to create something new.
It is the same we tried to install in the project with our the students. Look beyond what feels comfortable, look with fresh eyes to your surroundings, the people you meet and leave behind your own perceptions that cloud everything we see. It’s what we try to do each day in beautiful Kaunas, to create the images and words that will inspire other people to rekindle their own eyes. To refresh their sight with more freedom to see and to connect with another.