Dorm, ten minutes before breakfast.
We went into Uzipis last night, en famille. Uzipis was declared a seperate republic but artists who lived there, in 1997 or so. Here’s their constitution.
Needless to say, there are now developers signs around. As it was ever thus, the world over.
We watched a couple of pagan metal bands in this fantastic little outside venue and stage, right by the Uzipis Kavine (cafe) and the river, which gurgles like something from a fairytale.
Lithuanian rasberry vodka had to be tried, and while it’s a cross between mouthwash and cough medicine, it’s strangely moreish.
Andrea arrived yesterday from Faro in Portugal. She’s in her last year at art school, after taking a year out to work on a nationwide arts project involving artists from all over Portugal. She was one of them.
Here’s Brooklyn Tom. He’s looking for playing fields around Vilnius.
After breakfast we went to a flea market and I got an old 70s soviet bike for 90 litas. As Erro said, it’s built to withstand a nuclear war.
Lithuania’s first female president was inaugurated today and we caught a glimpse of the ceremony – complete with snipers and, apparently, knights in armour.
On our way to Lithuania’s first ever Art Fair, we passed a housing estate that won the Order of Lenin in the 70s for excellence is design. Everything is reachable within 15 minutes from anywhere in the suburb. Right by the gorgeous forest and just as gorgeou TV Tower. . Paulius grew up there and told us that the flats were given to rural people to encourage them into the countryside. And when the Olympics went to Moscow, alcoholics and neer-do-wells were re-located to another estate around Vilnius. Thanks Moscow.
Interesting chat with Nate on the way up the stairs on the business of Art Fairs. He pointed out that while they’re obviously about galleries selling stuff, they can also be quite supportive to young artists, offering residencies and funding, allowing more interesting stuff to be made.
Nate thinks art should be funded much more. I said I didn’t think I agreed with that, since with funding, you’ve got to dance to someone else’s agenda.
He countered that that’s always going to be the case, and that good artists can negotiate that and make something interesting out of that negotiation. Point taken.
