CCA at Critical Induction Symposium in Kaunas

CCA's Director Catherine Hemelryk was a panellist at the Critical Induction Symposium held by Kaunas Artists' House this weekend as part of Kaunas European Capital of Culture 2022. She was joined by Jussi Koitela from FRAME Finland, Giovanna Esposito Yussif from the Museum of Impossible Forms and Maria Helen Känd from Contemporary Art Museum of Estonia. The panel was moderated by KAH's Edvinas Grinkevičius and covered the different ways in which institutions work as centres and ways of welcoming different audiences.

During the two-day symposium the group visited the Melioracija exhibition that featured, amongst others, previous DeMo Reciprocal Residency artists Niamh Seana Meehan, Ona Juciūtė and Mark Buckeridge. This project was curated by KAH's Agnė Bagdžiūnaitė and held at the Agricultural Palace. The group also visited a range of independent cultural spaces across Kaunas. These included Šilainiai Gardens, a community gardens regenerative placemaking initiative across Fort number 8. PARAKAS is a public bunker and outside space for local and city community events, concerts and exhibitions. We visited Panemunės K.I.N.A.S. with its multi-functional cinema space and community tool library/workshop and down the river visited Nemuno 7, a retired dredger finding life as an exhibition hall and future as a residency space. We also experienced a performance from the Contempo Festival by Strijbos & Van Rijswijk at Kaunas Lagoon.

Acknowledgments:

Participation of Giovanna Esposito Yussif, Jussi Koitela and Maria Helen Känd is organised in the framework of Re-Practicing Hospitalities network, supported by Nordic Culture Point and coordinated by Frame Contemporary Art Finland.

DeMo is a part of the Kaunas – European Capital of Culture 2022 programme Modernism For Future.

Images: Courtesy Edvinas Grinkevičius (group shots), Maria Helen Känd (panel) and Catherine Hemelryk (site visits).