ARTIST DEVELOPMENT PROJECT: MUTUAL EMPATHIES

Rupert centre for art, residencies and education, Goethe-Institut Vilnius, and the Academy of the Arts of the World (Akademie der Künste der Welt, ADKDW) announce the collaborative international artist development project Mutual Empathies. The inaugural edition of this programme includes residencies, production, and public events in Vilnius, Cologne, and online between November 2024 and February 2025.

The principle of Mutual Empathies is in the shared values of our three organisations; connecting artists from different origins and privileges to foster greater understanding and cooperation. Practice and implementation of empathy are critical to imagine positive solutions for our mutual tomorrows. In sharing our three organisations’ networks, resources, and perspectives, we intend to platform individuals and communities who would not otherwise meet.

The programme aims to facilitate artistic positions that meaningfully and playfully address the complex and ongoing impacts of climate catastrophe on diverse regional communities and to address some of the countless, difficult ecopolitical questions looming for our global society.

Artists were externally nominated by a panel of cultural experts based in Europe, Asia, South America, and Africa. From this group, two interdisciplinary artists were chosen, one based in Germany, and one from a region outside Europe under-represented in Lithuanian and German cultural fabrics.

For the 2024/25 programme, an independent jury of Rupert alumni including artists Murat Adash, Yiou Penelope Peng, and curator Kotryna Markevičiūtė, with non-voting representatives of the partner institutions, selected artists Saroot Supasuthivech of Bangkok, Thailand, and Vanja Smiljanić of Cologne, Germany. Each will receive financial (stipends, travel, and production), curatorial, and artistic support to develop their proposals.

The artists will begin a one-month research phase in November 2024, followed by parallel two-month residencies at Rupert in Vilnius, Lithuania in December and January. In February, immediately following their Rupert stay, both will travel to Cologne for three weeks at the Academy of the Arts of the World. Public programming for Mutual Empathies takes place in Vilnius, at Rupert and other local partner organisations, then in Cologne at the Academy of the Arts of the World’s exhibition space ADKDW Studio, the artist-run space Gold&Beton, and other local institutions. Dates and locations for these events will be announced well in advance.

Further information: https://rupert.lt/mutual-empathies/