Institute of Heritage (Lithuania)

The Institute of Heritage is an independent collective of researchers and artists based in Kaunas, Lithuania, primarily focusing on themes of heritage and memory. Seeking to re-activate long-forgotten and overlooked knowledge, the Institute uses the archival and curation of histories as an artistic strategy, fostering slowness and attentiveness, rethinking the very concept of the institution and its operational principles. The Institute aims to develop a distinctive methodology, formed with each new project, while creating its own tools for future research. Based on this principle, approaches such as the “scientifictional institution” and “sleepwalking the archive” have emerged, making it possible to work with histories not only as evidence of the past but also as living, ephemeral materials. Science, space, contemporary art, memories, visions, documents, ruins and ancient artifacts – all are important components in the creative practice of the Institute of Heritage, forming a network of equivalent entangled particles. The organisational committee consists of Lukas Mykolaitis, Severina Venckutė and Mikas Zabulionis, with featured authors, collectives and institutions contributing to the research.