Events

1st Klaipėda Biennial "Sunset Every Two Years" | Symposium
Date: May 31,
2025 Time: 2:00 p.m
. Location: Culture Factory (KUFA), Bangų g. 5A, Klaipėda. Registration required: https://shorturl.at/RIx3h

On May 31 at 2 p.m., we invite you to a symposium – an art and science event open to the public, marking the beginning of the 1st Klaipėda Biennial.

The symposium will discuss the ideas behind the biennial, where transit – its key concept – is presented not only as physical movement, but also as a symbolic transition between states, periods, and identities. This concept takes on historical significance when we look at Klaipėda as a city whose identity has been shaped by constant cultural, political, and geographical changes. The program will turn to ecological and artistic reflections, in which natural materials—moss, algae, soil—become both the object of study and the narrators. These silently speaking materials bear witness to extinction, mourning, and survival, while art acts as an archive, preserving what is disappearing but still speaks. Scientific reports will reveal the world of lagoons and marine ecosystems, where matter is constantly changing – both in form and in its impact on the environment. The symposium will be moderated by cultural journalist Juta Kiudė.

The event will feature a creative tea workshop by Tatos Frenkel and Jan Glöckner entitled "Gung Fu Brewing as a method for education and conversation," and the symposium will conclude with readings by interdisciplinary artist Agnė Jokšė.

SYMPOSIUM PROGRAM

2:00 p.m. – Start of the symposium, introductory remarks

14:15-14:45 – “On Transits and Transfers. A Brief Presentation of the Beaches of the 1st Klaipėda Biennial.” Dr. Valentinas Klimašauskas, curator of the biennial, art historian, writer, associate professor at the Vilnius Academy of Arts, director of the Contemporary Art Center

14:50-15:20 – "Klaipėda: History of Transit." Vasilijus Safronovas, professor at Klaipėda University, researcher of city history

3:25–3:55 p.m. – "Silent Transits: Mourning, Matter, and Survival." Arūnė Baronaitė, biotechnologist, artist working with ecological grief and posthumanist imagination

4:00-4:20 p.m. – Break

16:25-16:55 – "Changes in time and space: coastal lagoons." Dr. Mindaugas Žilius, Head of the Coastal Environment and Biogeochemistry Laboratory at the Marine Research Institute of KU

17:00 -17:30 – "Changes in the context of marine litter." Dr. Arūnas Balčiūnas, researcher at the Marine Research Institute of KU

5:35–6:05 p.m. – Artistic poetry reading. Agnė Jokšė

About the biennial

The first Klaipėda Biennial, Sunset Every Two Years, will take place from September 5 to October 31, 2025, at the Klaipėda Culture Communication Center (KKKC) Exhibition Hall and various public spaces in Klaipėda. The biennial will explore the broad spectrum of its main keyword – transit (Latin transitus – passage) – with a special focus on the Klaipėda region, its history, and the culture and art of the Baltic Sea countries.

Organizers – Klaipėda Culture Communication Center (KKKC)
Curator – Valentinas Klimašauskas
Commissioner – Liudas Andrikis
Curator's assistant – Viktorija Misiulė
Architect – Gabrielė Černiavskaja
Producer – Žana Jegorova
Coordinator – Justina Trapokaitė
Graphic design – Vytautas Volbekas
Biennial partner – Contemporary Art Center
The project is funded by Klaipėda City Municipality and the Lithuanian Council for Culture.