Institute of Heritage. Landscapes of Scientifiction

Designer Mindaugas Gavrilovas (Studio Cryo)

The period after World War II was marked by the rise of science fiction. To a large extent, this development ensued due to wartime tragedies, revealing itself as an expression of collective anxiety. Meanwhile, in Soviet-occupied Lithuania, the sci-fi genre was virtually non-existent. Ideological doctrines such as socialist realism or Lysenkoism, which suppressed the scientific culture throughout the Soviet Union for decades, have substantially contributed to this state of affairs. Despite the censorship, individual science fiction elements began to force their way into all media starting with the 1960s, including literature, periodicals, cinema, and architecture.

On November 7 at 7:30 p.m., you are welcome at Meno Avilys Cinematheque for a presentation by the artists’ collective Institute of Heritage. During the event, the Institute of Heritage will examine the manifestations of science fiction in the local context by invoking the documentaries and periodicals on Soviet industry from the 1960s to the 1980s. The cinematic gaze, directed at factories, gigantic mechanisms and the industrial landscape, created a visual spectacle and tried to impress the audience with the promise of technological progress. While never fulfilled, this promise served its role in diverting attention away from political stagnation, social problems and economic deprivation. The presentation will analyze the dissonance between science and propaganda and the ensuing fictitious landscape of the Soviet utopia.

The event will reference films “Cheer up, Virginijus!” (Dir. Viktoras Starošas, 1962); “Off Gauge Temperature” (Dir. Algimantas Grikevičius, 1973); “No Foe Can Scare Us” (Dir. Edmundas Zubavičius, 1978), etc.

The periodicals include “Archaeological Explorations in Lithuania”, “Library Work”, “Science and Life”, “Science and Technology”, “Construction and Architecture”, and “Man and Nature.”

RSVP: https://forms.gle/T4HQ8hyxSFNbLWdw7 

Institute of Heritage is a Kaunas-based collective of independent researchers and artists working mainly on themes of heritage and memory. The collective chooses archiving and curating stories as an artistic strategy that opens up the possibility of re-activating knowledge, deconstructing the historical narrative and presenting it as a multi-layered spectrum of particles.

Presented by: Lukas Mykolaitis, Severina Venckutė, and Mikas Zabulionis.

The presentation will be free of charge and given in Lithuanian. It is part of the series of events of Meno Avilys Cinematheque, curated by Ona Kotryna Dikavičiūtė and Gerda Paliušytė.

Organised by: Meno Avilys, Institute of Heritage

Funded by: Lithuanian Council for Culture, Vilnius City Municipality, Lithuanian Film Centre