Talk with Kęstutis Kuizinas, director of the Contemporary Art Centre (CAC) in Vilnius
within the frames of Curating Institution series
The project Curating Institution will be opened with a lecture and presentation by Kęstutis Kuizinas, whose subject will be a follow-up to the creation of the Freedom Monument on Lukiškės Square in Vilnius. In his deliberations, Kęstutis Kuizinas proposes looking at the work of this project as a kind of curating of a monument, for which the Contemporary Art Center in Vilnius unexpectedly became responsible. Works on the monument were laborious; the first-step was announcing an open competition, which did not produce the expected results and further plans were suspended. Recently, the Lithuanian government decided to revert to the concept of commemorating the country’s regained independence. Works on the implementation of the entire project were handed over to the institution dealing with contemporary art. Both the context of the founding of the Freedom Monument itself as well as its location rivet the attention of the public, authorities, media, and various political groups in Lithuania. Kęstutis Kuizinas along with the institution he directs faced a real challenge in how to address the memory of the place, the historical events, as well as how to refer to the current historical policy, and how to negotiate between diversified positions and social groups.
These questions will be answered in the presentation and lecture – the comprehensive presentation of the process of working on the Freedom Monument. The meeting also aims to clarify the institution’s critical curatorial approach strategy in regards to working in the context of political-social expectations and the possibility of creating a common understanding.
