Inga Galinytė (Lithuania) and Anna Papathanasiou (Greece/Canada)
Empathetic body: march at the beat of your own drum
Score by Dimitris Papadatos
Inga Galinytė and Anna Papathanasiou started working together after meeting in 2018 at the Watermill Centre in New York (USA) under the direction of Robert Wilson. The artists founded a long-term relationship project ‘FTIJs’ (FIRST TIME IN JACUZZI. sorry.). They started an online daily correspondence that gradually took the form of an audiovisual shared diary of collected data, consisting of texts, images, sounds and movements. The daily practice of remaining loyal to an idea or a significant other brought them to the exploration of the utmost fundamental act of separation that every single being undergoes during a lifetime – the separation from the mother’s womb and the phenomenon of the trauma manifested as a bruise. A bruise is the emotional trace that every single interaction leaves us with after each separation since the separation from the mothers’ womb. Without our connection with the whole – in the wider sense of the Universe – every bruise could be interpreted as a fear for the unknown, a display of natural limitations.
The newly conceived performance for the 12th Kaunas biennial is the third physical display of this long-term relationship project. The performance will last for the whole time of Kaunas Biennial and consists of three parts that moves from a personal story of a bruise to the traumatic history of Kaunas city. The artists aim to build a space where traumatic experience can be healed through shared experience and empathy.
The third part of the performance “Empathetic body: march at the beat of your own drum”, is a repetition of the first part, combining all of Inga’s communication with her hometown during the Biennial through her historical traumatic experience and personal stories. Each story on the platform became a reflection of a personal experiences and markedly transformed the foundation upon which the artists performed at the beginning of the Biennial. The third part is a kind of ritual-repetitive completion of the cycle, a temporary marking of the waypoint with the corrections of a new stage.
Third part of the performance will take place 28-29thof September.
7pm-8pm
The search for empathy is based on a performative conversation that unites all parts of the work during the 12th Kaunas Biennial.
8pm-6am
After the dialogue between two artists, the act of sleeping under the starts takes place. The public is invited to participate in this part of the performance. This shared experience creates space and time for healing, and waking up with the sunrise leads to a new beginning.
INFORMATION FOR PARTICIPANTS
– prepare your sleeping arrangements (mattresses, sleeping bags and other items for your comfort);
– the participants must sign a consent form for his/her health and the security of the property of the “Lithuanian Railways”;
– during the event Kaunas Biennial security service “Jungtis” is on duty.