Art in the Time of Climate Crisis

Copenhagen Contemporary, TRAVERS and CPH STAGE invites you to an artist talk about art in the time of the climate crisis with the three Lithuanian artists behind the award-winning opera performance Sun & Sea; Rugilė Barzdžiukaitė, Vaiva Grainytė, and Lina Lapelytė.

In light of the climate crisis all human action must be reevaluated and works of art are no exception. Throughout history the artwork has unified cultures and manifested their relation to nature. Wild, uncontrollable nature; On the one hand threatening human collectivity with disease, predators and natural disasters, and on the other hand the very materialization of life. How are current events affecting that relation – and what role does art have to play?

In a panel discussion with the artists behind Sun & Sea, Rugilė Barzdžiukaitė, Vaiva Grainytė and Lina Lapelytė, the role of art in the time of the climate crisis is addressed.

The talk will be moderated by Daniel Flendt Dreesen.

The conversation will be in English and will take place online on 31.05.2021 at 19-20 through this link: http://travers.world/

It will be free to attend.

ARTISTS

Rugilė Barzdžiukaitė (b. 1983) works as a filmmaker, theater director, and visual artist. In her creative practice, Barzdžiukaitė explores the field of tension between objective and imagined realities while challenging an anthropocentric mindset with a playful approach. Her documentary essay Acid Forest won awards at the Locarno International Film Festival, was screened at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, Lincoln Center in NYC, American Film Institute festival in LA, and more. Sun & Sea is her latest work in the performance medium.

Lina Lapelytė’s (b. 1984) performance-based practice is rooted in music but deals with pop culture, gender stereotypes, and nostalgia. Her works engage educated and untrained artists, often singing and a wide range of genres such as pop music and opera. Through song that takes the form of a collective and affective event, vulnerability and silence are questioned. Her recent and upcoming performances include the Cartier Foundation, Paris, Tel Aviv Museum of Art; RIBOCA2 – Riga Biennale; Tai Kwun, Hong Kong; Glasgow International; Art Festival Arts, Brussels; Kaunas Biennale, Lithuania; Pompeii Commitment and Castello di Rivoli, Italy.

Lucia Pietroiusti (b. 1985) is a curator and works at the intersection of art, ecology, and systems, mainly outside gallery format. She is the founder and curator of the General Ecology project in Serpentine, London, as well as curator for Sun & Sea. Current projects include Shanghai Biennale 2020-21 (with Marina Otero Verzier, Filipa Ramos, YOU Mi. Chief Curator: Andrés Jaque); The Shape of a Circle in the Mind of a Fish with Filipa Ramos; Serpentine Podcast and Back to Earth – Serpentine’s 50th Anniversary Program Dedicated to the Environment (2020-22). Recent publications include More-than-Human (with Andrés Jaque and Marina Otero Verzier).