Aspects of Presence
Art in times of militarisation
To reinforce NATO’s eastern borders in response to Russia’s military aggression against Ukraine, Germany is permanently deploying a military brigade to Lithuania. “Aspects of Presence” takes this as a starting point to explore, from an artistic perspective, the ongoing militarisation as well as the questions and potential futures that arise from it.
Through artistic contributions, discussions, and lectures, the symposium examines the intersections of military, ecological and technological developments, as well as entangled artistic practices of resistance and solidarity. The event provides space for artists and audiences to engage with the complexities and ambivalences of the ongoing geopolitical shift, allowing for nuances and reflection.
Programme and film programme
Thursday, June 5, 5:30 – 10 pm
5:30 pm, Welcome addresses and introduction “Aspects of Presence”
Manos Tsangaris, President of the Akademie der Künste
Johannes Ebert, Secretary General of the Goethe-Institut
Johanna M. Keller, Head of Programming, Akademie der Künste
Anna Maria Strauß, Head of the Goethe-Institut in Lithuania
Valentinas Klimašauskas, Director of the Contemporary Art Centre, Vilnius
6 pm, Keynote
Tomas Venclova
7 pm, Film screening
Oleksiy Radynski, Where Russia Ends, Ukraine, 2023, 25 min
8 pm, Keynote
Necropolitics of Elemental Colonialism: From Mechanical to Decolonial Solidarity
Svitlana Matviyenko
8:30 pm, Panel discussion
The Footprint of War: Ecological Threats and the Militarisation of Infrastructures
With Nabil Ahmed, Philipp Goll, Svitlana Matviyenko
Moderation: Asia Bazdyrieva
Friday, June 6, 3 – 10 pm
3 pm, Project presentations
Artistic Strategies in Response to Militarisation
Magda Szpecht, Tobias Zielony
4:30 pm, Panel discussion
Images of War: Technological Violence, Aesthetics & Archive
With Maithu Bùi, Anna Engelhardt (online), Ali Akbar Mehta
Moderation: Clara Herrmann
6:30 pm, Panel discussion
Militarisation and Its Impact on Societies
With Teresa Koloma Beck, Deimantas Narkevicius, et al.
Moderation: Eglė Elena Murauskaitė
8:30 pm, Performance
Instructions for the Woodcutters and other songs
Lina Lapelytė
Film programme (ongoing)
Anna Engelhardt und Mark Cinkevich, Onset, UK/Poland, 2023, 25 min
Bjørn Melhus, I’m Not the Enemy, Germany, 2011, 25 min
Deimantas Narkevičius, The Dud Effect, Lithuania, 2008, 15 min
An event in the context of “Widerstand der Ästhetik” (Resistance of Aesthetics)
At a time when the narrative styles of social media, short clips, fake news and AI are becoming a political power factor, a resistant, ultimately enlightening aesthetic is becoming a duty. However, it often unfolds its power precisely when it is not overtly political. How can resistance then succeed? The Akademie is devoting a series of events to this question.