PROJECT KILÌMAS – an animated graphics projection/installation

PROJECT *KILÌMAS - an animated graphics projection/installation on the facade of the former Vilnius Palace of Concerts and Sports on the right bank of river Neris. Projection is to be exhibited during the Culture Night 2020 festival on the 25th of September.

*KILIMAS has a dual meaning in the Lithuanian language. One
meaning is a carpet and the other is a verb “ascension”.

The building has been selected due to
few important reasons:
- Historical location;
- Unique and globally renowned
architecture;
- A period of time, when a carpet on
the wall was far from representing
the rich Eastern heritage; When
the party/government’s proposed
way of living has been suppressing
independence, initiative, responsibility,
as well as multiple other traits that
are the pillars of today’s democratic
society.

The installation combines:
- Different moments in history;
- Social profiling;
- Political environment based on
stereotypes, its aftereffects on entire
generations and modern view on
development of society;
- Humanly comprehension;
- Social justice;
- Cultural and religious heritage with
existing environment.

HISTORICAL CONTEXT
AND TODAY

Titled the gem of brutalism, the former
symbol of the capital bears importance
not only due to its unique cable-stayed
structure but, first of all, due to the
territory it is standing in.

In 1592 – 1593, Jewish cemetery was
established here, better known as Piromonto
cemetery. The cemetery was closed in 1830,
which later saw part of it destroyed and
part of it remain until the end of WWII.
When Soviet Union occupied Lithuania, the
government decided to close the Old Jewish
cemetery. Without proper consideration
of the importance of the cemetery to the
Jewish nation, large portion of it was
destroyed during the construction of the
outdoor pool and later exterminated all
together with the construction of the
building itself in 1961.
Among the forefront of the Vilnius Jewish
community, who earned Vilnius the name
of Lithuanian Jerusalem and were buried
in the cemetery, was Talmudist Elijah ben
Solomon Zalman, the Gaon of Vilnius,
whose 300-year anniversary is celebrated
this year.
The remains of the Gaon and his family
have been saved before destruction of
the cemetery and moved to Uzupis Jewish
cemetery, later moved to Suderve.
Therefore, brutality lies not only in
the architecture of the building but in
the demolition of the cemetery, which
has crushed the recollection of the
Piromontas cemetery. The heritage has
been continuously destroyed through years
and years of sports and cultural events
taking place on site. Nowadays, when
the cemetery territory has been officially
acknowledged and the building closed,
debates arise about the future of the area.
How can the sensitive area become an
open and welcoming place to all citizens,
without once again ignoring the religious
and moral significance?

PROJECTION

By using modern tech, graphic projections
will be created in the installation,
which will reflect the symbols of Jewish
nation, as well as interior attributes
symbolising the reality of Soviet regime
that forever changed the face of this
location interpreted through variations of
the rug on the wall. Different cultural and
national symbols are all going to merge
in the patterns of the carpet.

As one of the main sources of the project’s
creative inspiration, the carpet has always
been a symbol of wealth and success. The
amount of carpets, their pattern difficulty
and variety of textures represented the
status of the owner in the society. Upon
further analysis, this interior element
is making you think not only about its
purpose as an interior element with cultural
heritage, but as an object/tool to falsely
create an illusion of status in the society as
well. In this situation, this Eastern symbol,
in the constrained Soviet culture, has
become universally known as the symbol of
pretentiousness.
Back then, rugs were hard to acquire and
even if you were able to find one – it was
even harder to afford, therefore, people
used to save money to get this symbol of
status. The graphical element (rug) - the
symbol of status - is merged with the former
symbol of the state capital (Vilnius Palace
of Concerts and Sports). Many sportsmen
and artists aspired to perform there, paying
no attention to its heritage, cultural and
historical significance.
Together with the projection, there are
plans to create a sound installation and
make it accessible via smartphone and
headphones, encouraging the audience to
watch the projection from far away.

With the project KILÌMAS, creative brand
#F6 is inviting the audience to reconcile
with reality, accept history as a symbol of
human ability, evaluate the mistakes that
were made, cleanse oneself from historic
and emotional mire and see the light in the
context of historical and cultural mix.

ABOUT US

#F6 has been created by Mantas Bartkus
and Neringa Martinėnaitė in 2016.
(#FFFFFF) – is a digital RGB code for white in
color mixing system that represents three
main colors that human eye is able to
identify. White is a result of it, symbolizing
the aggregate of actions and reactions to
environment.
By using various tools of creative expression
(graphics, fashion, interior design, video art,
sounds) the brand is investigating natural,
artificial or imaginary cultural, social,
historical phenomena, views and values in
a conceptualized way.

OUR TEAM

Concept creator - Mantas Bartkus

Graphics and Animation - Neringa Martinėnaitė, Mantas Bartkus

3D Animation and visualizations - Mindaugas Petrikas

Sound - Jonas Gricius ir Karolis Paulikas

Communication - Gabrielė Urbonaitytė

Photography - Artiom Ponkratenko