Meškeriotojų street 33
10100 Vilnius
Lituanie
- Arts
- International/Cultural relations
- Others
- Research
- Youth and education
Rupert's mission is to establish close cooperation between local and international artists, curators, researchers, designers, architects, academics and other creative practitioners and cultural actors, through three separate but interactive programs. Through these research and development-oriented programs, Rupert supports international thinkers in realizing their projects and establishing their creative careers on an international scale. It focuses on contemporary artistic and curatorial practices but remains close to an extensive range of disciplines, while encouraging trans-disciplinarity.
The Alternative Education Program offers 8–10 participants the chance to develop project ideas and make connections with professionals in the field through regular lectures and workshops. It provides the invaluable opportunity for collaborative education, forging new international networks. This degreeless, non-academic program is proudly career-oriented and supplemented by its transdisciplinary approach. Rupert’s third educational series began in October 2014 and will last until end of May 2015.
We also house a free Residency program suited to mid-career professionals working in creative capacities from bases all over the world. We welcome artists, curators, writers, thinkers, those developing social enterprises: any and all manner of projects, though our priority remains contemporary art. Residents are given a ready-made means of interacting with and assessing the thriving Lithuanian arts scene, culture and society as well as being provided with space to pause concerns and develop personal projects.
Finally, our Exhibition program explores various themes and media in works of internationally renowned artists in ways that compliment the Educational program. Exhibitions take place in and outside of the Rupert building. Gediminas G. Akstinas displayed work responding to line and language in the CAC Reading Room in central Vilnius. Further afield, a host of new Lithuanian artists were featured in Fast Flux held at Studio-X NYC in 2013 as a culmination of the Alternative Education program (III). More recently The Jerusalem of Europe, a site-specific piece of Dora Garcia, was developed for Rupert’s exhibition space, the first display of Garcia’s work in Lithuania. Additionally, Lia Perjovschi presented Knowledge Museum Kit in tandem with Dan Perjovschi’s display of Time Specific in a continuation of the pair’s longstanding practice creating points of connection between their processes and present encounters. Our last exhibition Ashes of Roses and the Smell of Birch presented work of Tamara Henderson and Bridget Currie.
Through its three programs dedicated to contemporary interdisciplinary discourse and contemporary art practice, Rupert promotes intercultural exchange across European practitioners on all levels. As participants, residents, visting lecturers, collaborators, or exhibitng artists, Rupert forges relationships between artists and other cultural actors and provides them with resources for developing a dialogue, exchange or collaboration. Through a rigorous program of free, public events and strong collaborations with local and international institutions in the cultural sector, Rupert has already developed a vibrant network of conspirators and wide-ranging local audience. By becoming part of the ALF Network, Rupert could share in the network's afilliate institutions with its own network, and involve ALF in its practice or collaborate on new initiatives that further support interdisciplinary and intercultural exchange, inclusivity, non-discrimination and appreciation for diversity, much needed in Lithuania as in many other countries in Europe.
We would like to join the ALF Network because we share in its values. Intercultural interdisciplinary dialogue was the foundational element on which Rupert was created, and it remains an essential tool and objective for Rupert. Through our programs we invite artists, curators, researchers and other creative practitioners from across the globe, from diverse backgrounds and with diverse interests, so as to generate and sustain Rupert as a vital cultural platform through which participators and local community can encounter new ideas and engage in new forms of exchange. By gaining access to the ALF Network, and its 4000 civil society organisations, we wish to familiarise ourselves with the strategies, methods and agendas of other organisations with similar prerogatives, and join efforts with them in hosting effective programs.