At Home in France: Collaboration between the Kaunas and Lyon Biennials

The Kaunas Biennial, Lithuania’s largest contemporary art festival, will collaborate with the Lyon Biennale, one of the five most important biennials worldwide, during the Lithuanian Season in France. Works by four internationally recognized Lithuanian artists – Andrius Arutiunian, Lina Lapelytė, Deimantas Narkevičius, and Anastasia Sosunova – will be presented to French and international audiences. Lithuanian audiences will also have the opportunity to see these existing and newly created works at the 15th Kaunas Biennial next year. The 17th Lyon Biennale will take place from September 21st, 2024 to January 5th, 2025 in various venues in and around Lyon.

“The collaboration between the Kaunas Biennial and the Lyon Biennale is undoubtedly significant for the Lithuanian contemporary art scene – it will provide another international platform for Lithuanian artists to present their works,” says Neringa Kulik, director of the Kaunas Biennial. “Participation in this year’s event will allow our artists to contribute to an important cultural discussion about sustainability and community ties. This latter theme is particularly close and important to the Kaunas Biennial.”

Isabelle Bertolotti, artistic director of the Lyon Biennale, organized since 1991, emphasizes that the aim of this biennial is not only to present new artistic works but also to involve the communities of Lyon and the entire Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region in the creative process: “We will encourage both artists and visitors to explore how art can transform rivers and waterways into connecting links between different cultures and groups of people.”

The theme of this biennial, “Les voix des fleuves – Crossing the water,” invites artists and visitors to cross symbolic and real waters, exploring the interaction between humans and the environment. “We encourage creators and viewers to engage with works that reveal the possibilities of collaboration and exchange, which is essential for understanding and acceptance of different cultures,” emphasizes Alexia Fabre, guest curator of the Lyon Biennale.

The Lithuanian artists selected for this year’s biennial were also invited to join this exchange of ideas. Some will present previously created works, while others are creating new ones.

Composer and multimedia artist Andrius Arutiunian, who combines hybrid sound forms and visual materials in his installations and performances, will present a new work inspired by personal experience at the Lyon Biennale. He explores the impact of the Amulsar gold mine on the surroundings of the Armenian resort town of Jermuk. The film and photography used in the project are a metaphor for the human relationship with nature and the consequences of industrial invasion. The work examines how the results of industrial activity and the ecological crisis affect local communities and their cultural narratives.

Artist Lina Lapelytė will present a site-specific adaptation of her work “The Mutes” titled “The Study of Slope.” The performative part of the work features songs performed by people who lack musical hearing. One of the main elements of the musical installation is a nettle garden cultivated throughout the biennial. Here, the standard practices of suppressing and destroying these plants are abandoned – on the contrary, the nettle, often labeled a weed, becomes a symbol of the ability to accept the other. These deviations from the “standard” not only question the adequacy of such concepts but also invite us to accept our own and others’ imperfections and to adapt to changing conditions for the sake of common harmony. Lapelytė’s latest work, titled “The Speech,” will be based on a similar creative principle. This work, which will premiere on September 11-13 in Paris as part of the Festival d’Automne, will be presented in video format during the Lyon Biennale. The experimental composition, consisting of imitations of animal sounds, will be performed by children of various school ages. The lightheartedness of the action itself indicates the freedom characteristic of a child’s nature and a not yet fully formed self-consciousness, where “I” and “other” are not fully separated from each other. This will also be seen live when the work is performed by local Lyon children at the closing of the biennial.

Media artist Deimantas Narkevičius, who skillfully engages the viewer in historical reflections, will present his 3D video installation “Spots and Scratches” (2017) in Lyon. This work, awarded the Grand Prize at the Oberhausen International Short Film Festival, features a unique technique in which fragments of old film strips are transformed into three-dimensional images. The work allows viewers to see how film not only conveys history but also becomes an integral part of it, where past events, feelings, and memories come to life.

Visual artist Anastasia Sosunova, who uses video, installations, graphics, and sculpture in her works, was selected for the “Jeune création internationale” exhibition accompanying the 17th Lyon Biennale, which presents emerging artists from France, Serbia, Indonesia, India, and Lithuania. In her work, she delves into personal stories that intertwine with broader cultural, economic, and spiritual structures. Sosunova’s latest project will continue the theme of communities and their formation, highlighting rituals, traditions, and collective agreements that shape “contemporary folklore.”

The 17th Lyon Biennale, led by artistic director Isabelle Bertolotti and guest curator Alexia Fabre, will focus on the values of altruism and hospitality this year. The biennial encourages visitors and artists to explore and rediscover the city of Lyon and its history through artistic projects that engage in dialogue with local histories and people. By incorporating two new venues – Les Grandes Locos and Cité Internationale de la Gastronomie de Lyon – the biennial becomes not only a place of exhibition but also of community and creation.

The 17th Lyon Biennale will take place from September 21st, 2024 to January 5th, 2025 in various venues in and around Lyon.

The 15th Kaunas Biennial, which will also feature works by these Lithuanian artists, will take place in autumn 2025.

This project is part of the Lithuanian Season in France 2024. The season is organized by the Lithuanian Culture Institute together with the French Institute in Paris.