Kintai Arts has been selected by EEA Grants to fund the project „Cultural Barn“. The EEA and Norway Grants are funded by Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway. The Grants have two goals – to contribute to a more equal Europe, both socially and economically – and to strengthen the relations between Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway, and the 15 Beneficiary States in Europe.
"Cultural Barn" project is funded by EEA Grants.
Cultural Barn project was conceived by Kintai Arts and 7 partners. It intends to reconstruct a barn, belonging to the Kintai Evangelical-Lutheran Community and to build a birdwatching structure on the shore of Kintai lagoon. These structures will inhabit various artistic and cultural initiatives. The reconstructed barn will host entrepreneurship trainings, educational programmes for traditional boatbuilding, weathervane and ceramics workshops, cookery courses as well as foster local crafts and art residencies.
Report
Kintai Arts organised two meetings with the participants in the construction of the Birds Observatory project and the Lithuanian Ornithological Society. The meetings were attended by Audra Juodeškienė, Director of Kintai Arts, Biotope Architecture Office (Norway) and members of the Lithuanian Ornithological Society.
- The first meeting took place on Friday 14 October. At the "Mėlynasis karpis" restaurant (Tvenkinių g. 6, Povilai 99360)
- The second meeting took place on Sunday, 16 October, at the Art Gallery, Kintai Curonian Lagoon
Programoje vyko:
11.00-12.00 Bronze Age and Viking Age food traditions (Edita Nurmi).
12.00-12.15 Coffee break.
12.15-14.15 Lunch - fishermen's dishes from the Pomaranian region, their production and tasting (Algis Dirsė).
14.15-16.00 Bronze Age and Viking period food production and tasting (Edita Nurmė).
16.00-16.45 Traditional baked goods of Lithuania Minor, tasting (Laimutė Mačėnienė).
12.00-12.15 Coffee break.
17.00-18.30 Gastronomic culture of Lithuania Minor (Dr Rimvydas Laužikas).
Participants will be awarded with training certificates.
The activities of the project are implemented by Kintai Arts and consistently managed by its director Audra Juodeškienė. It covers a wide range of fields, including the transformation of the old Lutheran community barn to the space for artistic workshops, entrepreneurship and craft training for the community and project partners as well as the creation of a community development strategy, and, of course, the use of the natural and cultural heritage for the promotion of local entrepreneurship.
The most recent example of the fields mentioned above is the construction of Art Observatory. It will serve the project's further objectives by fostering artistic research while observing nature, inviting schoolchildren to ornithological excursions and biology lessons, other ornithologists to observe the autumn bird migration, and the town's inhabitants and visitors to enjoy the outdoors and even to organise a picnic there.
Even after the project is over, the residing artists will give educational workshops to the local community and visitors, and the Art Observatory will also be used as a external space for Kintai Arts Residency, bringing nature closer to culture, enabling nature-sensitive artistic interventions and nature-inspired artworks around the site.
Many thanks to all those that contributed: architects Tormod Amundsen and Sune Steen Larsen from Biotope, nature guide Boris Belchev as well as to craftsmen Vytautas and Romas Valiukevičiai for building the structure.
Spalio 14 dienos reportažas apie Kintų meno regyklą LRT laidoje "Kultūros diena" :
We would like to share the latest news from the "Culture Barn" project, taking place this summer in Kintai. In July, after receiving all the necessary approvals from the project partner Šilutė Municipality, the site for the construction of the Art Observatory in Kintai has been placed in the same location as decided last fall, during the visit of the Norwegian partners. The second visit of Biotape representative Sune Steen Larsen was followed by a lively meeting with the carpenters Vytautas and Romas Valiukevičius from Kintai, an examination of the technical drawings of the Art Observatory prepared by the Norwegian architects Biotope, a tour of the site, and an assessment of the preparations for the on-site fixing of the main scaffolding as well as for the additional fixing of a temporary building in case of storms. After the partners' positive assessment of our readiness to build, the inspection of the prepared timber and the carpentry workshop, all that was left is to entrust all the work to experienced craftsmen and, most probably, at the end of September, to watch the beginning of birds' migration from the new unique object in the Pomeranian region. Sune and Boris visited Kintai Big Tua, the red oak alley, the flooded ponds, and the morning after, Boris invited us to a unique birdwatching excursion.
Vietos būsimai meno regyklai pažymėjimas
In the context of the "Culture Barn" project, a cycle of workshops has been organised. It consisted of four public artistic events, aiming to identify local cultural heritage through the presentation of on going artistic activities in Kintai that emphasise human, art and nature symbiosis in the region.
The project invited two sound artists, Marija Rasa Kudabaitė (LT/BE) and Audrius Šimkūnas (LT) to spend two weeks in Kintai Arts residency during which, while using using various recording and sound processing techniques, they created quadrophonic sound sculptures, exploring natural and cultural landscape of Kintai.
The concert took place in Kintai church, where the audience had a chance to experience immersive sound sculptures that translates Kintai's sonic environment into a new and reconstructed soundscape.
In the context of the "Culture Barn" project, a cycle of workshops has been organised. It consisted of four public artistic events, aiming to identify local cultural heritage through the presentation of on going artistic activities in Kintai that emphasise human, art and nature symbiosis in the region.
These paintings are the results of the two events that took place in Kintai's harbour, that aimed to contribute in developing local identity through local natural and cultural resources.
The artists were from Lithuania, Poland and Ukraine:
Iryna Gresyk (Ukraine)
Daniel Gromadsky (Poland)
Marijus Petrauskas (Lithuania)
Alvydas Stauskas (Lithuania)
Okasna Swizach (Ukraine)
Andzelika Yansenko (Ukraine)
Valentinas Varnas (Lithuania)
In the context of the "Culture Barn" project, a cycle of workshops has been organised. It consisted of four public artistic events, aiming to identify local cultural heritage through the presentation of on going artistic activities in Kintai that emphasise human, art and nature symbiosis in the region.
The plein-air painting workshop captured on canvas the impressions of the swimming marathon. The participants of the event also had an occasion to taste a traditional fish soup, cooked on a bonfire on the shore of the Curonian Lagoon.
In the context of the "Culture Barn" project, a cycle of workshops has been organised. It consisted of four public artistic events, aiming to identify local cultural heritage through the presentation of on going artistic activities in Kintai that emphasise human, art and nature symbiosis in the region.
The first event of the cycle had a huge success. Taking place in Kintai harbour, it celebrated the inauguration of a freshly built traditional boat "Kintų ungurinė". Its first trip in the Curonian lagoon was accompanied by local traditional folk songs and captured on canvas by painters, residing in the Kintai Arts residency. The paintings were exhibited in Kintai Arts gallery from July 29th onward.
In April 2022, Boris Belchev, a representative of Kintai Arts and the Kintai community, together with the Norwegian partners "Biotope", visited the northernmost village of Vardø in Norway. This visit aimed to learn from good practices in building birdwarching structures that will be implemented in the framework of "Cultural Barn" project in Kintai.
By merging contemporary art practices and creative development of Kintai, the "Cultural Barn" project, funded by EEA and Norway grands aims to enrich the cultural resources of the Pomeranian region and to create a local cultural attraction point, connecting the community, nature and heritage with visiting artists, tourists and other cultural initiatives. One of the core missions of the Cultural Barn project in achieving these goals is to establish an Art Observatory on the shores of the Curonian Lagoon, which will not only become a unique place to observe the wildlife in the Pomeranian region, but it will also create a symbiosis between nature and art making. In cooperation with the Norwegian architects 'Biotope', who has a particular expertise in understanding nature and cultural interventions, a structure for birdwatching designed by these architects will be installed in Kintai, where people will observe flora and fauna, make art or simply enjoy nature on the shores of the bay.
Boris, a well known ornithologist and wildlife guide in the region, was unanimously chosen as the most suitable representative to explore the harsh Norwegian landscape. He agreed to share his experience and findings of this trip:
"The town of Vardø greeted us with contrasting views as soon as we arrived on the island of the same name. Colourful wooden houses are scattered on the island's rocky hills overlooking the Barents Sea, their windows are still being lit up in broad daylight with lights or Christmas garlands. The polar night, which has lasted almost half year, ended here just a few weeks ago and, although the air temperature is just above zero degrees and the sun is penetrating the clouds, the melting snowdrifts and closed, impassable mountain roads are evidence of a winter that has not yet passed at the end of April. Three large white spheres float like huge snowballs at the top of the Vardø hills, the rumored Globus radars operated by the Norwegian Ministry of Defence and the military base here. There are no inhabitants in the streets, and we barely saw anyone outside. There is a lot of junk in the yards - snowmobiles, fishing gear and other things that are not very neatly scattered around. Many houses are uninhabited or used as summer houses, and many more are falling down or have been renovated and have wooden walls that have peeled off with paint chips due to the harshness of the wind and the humidity. Most of the houses are painted red, indicating that this is an old fishing village. The cold Barents Sea of the Arctic Ocean is rich in fish stocks, but the Arctic weather has never made life easy for people in this region. In a tundra landscape that is unusual for us, this was the first resemblance to the Lithuanian coastal region - people who are able to cope with the challenges of nature. With faces and characters washed by the winds. They are composed, sometimes harsh on the outside, but in reality warm and always helping each other in times of trouble. Historically, the inhabitants of both countries have experienced many ups and downs due to environmental, political or economic changes. The last particularly severe recession, unemployment and emigration in Vardø took place around twenty years ago, when the fishing industry, which was the main source of livelihood, was undergoing changes. Our partner Tormod Amundsen saw the village in crisis when he first came here. Architect, nature photographer and birdwatcher Tormod Amundsen travelled to Hornøya, an island just off Vardø, where a colony of hundreds of thousands of Laybasnaps and Stornapples, Alcids, Tricolored Gulls, the spectacular Mormons and the staple cormorant are nesting on the cliffs, and gulls and other species of seabirds are nesting in valleys and on the neighbouring island of Reynøya. It takes ten minutes to reach Hornøy Island by small boat from Vardø. Already at the pier, on the lowest rocks, we are greeted by a completely unfinished set of tufted cormorants, now wearing their finest plumage, with a ridiculously ruffled tuft in the wind, staring with their dark emerald eyes at us, standing just a metre away, overwhelmed by the sights and sounds of the birds that are nestled on the steep rocks here. The noisiest are the Tricolored Gulls, with their shrill voices accompanying every flutter or twist in their nests on the narrowest ledges. Above the gulls, where there is soil between the rocks, small round Mormons with their unusual-looking large orange beaks and triangular eyes are nesting in caves. They often show tenderness to their mate by rubbing their beaks together, as if kissing, but one moment they are sweet and gentle, the next they may be fiercely fighting on their knees to defend their caves from intruders. Even higher up, the agile, penguin-like narwhals and the calmer, fierce-looking alas are kneeling and barely standing. The action and sound never cease for a second as some try to keep a better place on the edge of the cliffs, others perform mating rituals and chase their rivals away from their mates, some fly up and fly out to sea to fish or are already on their way back, and sometimes almost all the birds are blown from the cliffs by a sea eagle or a peregrine falcon that suddenly appears in the sky. A steep, rutted and in some places knee-deep snow-covered path leads past this bird market to the top of the island, where there is a lighthouse that is important for the region's shipping and for the island's biologists and birdwatchers. This Scandinavian seabird habitat has long been known to scientists, with annual bird counts and various studies for over 40 years, and the establishment of a nature reserve.
Fascinated by the impressive view of the birds' island, Tormod couldn't help wondering if this was commonplace and, one might say, completely uninteresting to the locals. He then came up with the idea of setting up birdwatchers' hides to shelter them from the strong winds and rainfall that characterise the area, so that more nature-lovers would be willing to visit this remote area, and more tourists would help the people of Vardø to make a living by providing accommodation, catering and other necessary services. Listening to him talk about this, my thoughts kept returning to the Lithuanian coastal region, where people live with the fantastic phenomena of tides and bird migrations, but are so used to them that they often do not even see them as a distinctive and special feature of their own land, and do not see the benefits they could gain from developing activities that are harmoniously in tune with nature, instead of seeing it as a distraction from some popular economic activity. From the idea of Tormod to the installation of the first viewpoint, it took several years before the project was presented more widely, funding was obtained and a team of builders was assembled, largely made up of local people. The regatta was built on the southern part of the island, in a quiet location. Its main space is elevated, sheltered from the prevailing winds and spacious enough to accommodate overnight stays. There is a comfortable seating alcove at the side and a place to build a warming fire. The first birdwatching shelter was very popular with the community of Vardø because it was located in a picturesque location and was open to everyone, not necessarily birdwatchers. In order to spread the word and attract not only the international birdwatching community, but also the people of the area, Tormod and his Biotope team organised the first Gull Fest the following year, which included artistic and educational workshops, thought-provoking talks, birdwatching, and gull ringing. The event was an unprecedented success. The following year, not everyone who wanted to attend could find a place to stay, but word of the bird island near Vardø and the unique Biotope viewpoints spread widely. The local community wanted more of them and even contributed to the installation of several. Over a decade, Biotope has built eighteen structures of exceptional design and functionality and attracted large numbers of visitors throughout the Varanger region. Vardø has recovered, with a number of plots of land under construction, hotels, restaurants, a cinema, and a large number of artists' drawings and sculptures decorating the town. And Biotope continues to work with the local community to develop projects that combine the needs of nature and people in a sustainable way.
We visited several bird watching observatories in the Vardø and Vadsø area. They all have in common their apparently simple structures, their elegant design, their ability to blend in with their surroundings or simply to become a highlight of a beautiful area. However, the most important thing that stands out is their functional layout, which creates cosy spaces that, even when open, offer protection from the harsh weather and gives the opportunity to look around, to warm up by the fire or to have a cosy meal in the company of others. Each one is different in terms of their purpose, but all are similar in terms of Biotope's creative approach.
Already this summer, our Norwegian partners for the "Cultural Barn" project are planning to arrive in Kintai, where, with the help of local craftsmen, they will be constructing the first unique birds observatory, tailored to the Lithuanian landscape, the needs of the town of Kintai, and the needs of the community.
Kintai Arts is delighted to announce the last cycle of seminars for Cultural Barn's entrepreneurship programme during which four speakers will share good practices related to the projects that are currently being implemented.
Registration:
Day I: https://forms.gle/fn5pTG2vpVkAv9fh8
Day II: https://forms.gle/e9A9fkPXMxe6MRwJ6
Day I
Friday, the 8th of April, 2022.
13:30 -17:30
To participate, please follow a Zoom link below:
https://us06web.zoom.us/j/83776870880
13:30 – 14:00
Discussion about the Kintai Entrepreneurship Programme
14:00 – 15:00
Good practice „#pragiedrėk – misija Panevėžiui“ - project manager Vaida Andrijauskienė
15:00 – 16:00
Good practice „Keliaujančios architektūrinės dirbtuvės“ ("Travelling Architecture Workshop") - initiator of the project Margarita Kaučikaitė
16:00 – 16:20
Break
16:20 – 17:00
Development of the Kintai Entrepreneurship Programme
17:00 – 17:30
Discussion and next steps
Day II
Saturday, the 9th of April, 2022.
10:00 - 14:00
To participate, please follow a Zoom link below:
https://us06web.zoom.us/j/83994263763
10:00 – 10:30
Presentation and feedback on training for artisans and local craftsman
10:30 – 11:30
Good practice „Miško uostas“ ("Forest Harbour") - A partner in architecture studio „Šilta šiaurė“ and "Forest Harbour's" community initiator Guoda Bardauskaitė
11:30 – 12:30
Good practice "MagiC Carpets", Neringa Kulik, director at Kaunas Biennial and project manager of "MagiC Carpets"
12:30 – 12:50
Break
12:50 – 13:30
Development of the Kintai Entrepreneurship Programme
13:30 – 14:00
Discussion and next steps
Kintai Arts continues the implementation of “Cultural Barn” project and invites partner organizations to join the 3rd cycle of seminars presenting the entrepreneurship programs. Participants are kindly requested to register in advance. The programme will be conducted remotely.
Registration:
Day I: https://forms.gle/ATQrLbF4XdUiP457
Day II: https://forms.gle/pggdTaFcUff2R3658
Day I
Laikas: 2022 m. kovo 4 d. (penktadienis)
13:30 -17:30
To participate, please follow a Zoom link below:
https://us06web.zoom.us/j/82492559427
13:30 – 14:30
Presentation and testing of the virtual Cultural Barn Market platform, feedback and discussion
14:30 – 15:30
Involving the community in entrepreneurial activities
15:30 – 15:50
Break
15:50 – 17:00
Local active and passive resources for entrepreneurship
17:00 – 17:30
Discussion and debate
Day II
Laikas: 2022 m. kovo 5 d. (šeštadienis)
10:00 - 14:00
To participate, please follow a Zoom link below:
https://us06web.zoom.us/j/86169643858
10:00 – 11:00
Developing a local cultural entrepreneurship strategy
11:00 – 11:45
Strategies for raising funds for infrastructure development
11:45 – 12:30
Workshop about fund raising practices
12:30 – 12:50
Break
12:50 – 14:00
Next steps in creating local cultural entrepreneurship's strategies
Kintai Arts continues implementing activities related to "Cultural Barn" project and thus invites the representatives of partner organisations to join the seminar about the entrepreneurship programmes. The event is organised by Hugo Scheu Museum. We kindly invite the participants to register in advance. The programme will take place online.
Registration:
https://forms.gle/9KAMF1SrXtbABB4cA
Day I
Friday, the 21st of January, 2022.
14:00 - 18:00
To participate, please follow a Zoom link below:
https://us06web.zoom.us/j/85211110029
Day II
Saturday, the 22nd of January, 2022.
10:00 - 14:00
To participate, please follow a Zoom link below:
The opening conference for “Cultural Barn” project took place on Friday, the 19th of November at Kintai Multifunctional Center (Kuršių st. 23, Kintai). During the event, the public was invited to join the entrepreneurship trainings in Kintai Arts residency. The event was implemented under the project section "1.1.3. Project launch event and press conference".
Progamme
Kuršių g. 23, 2021.11.19. 17.00 - 21.00 val.,
I diena ( penktadienis) dienotvarkė:
17.00: Įžanginis žodis – Kintų bendruomenės pirmininkė Sigita Kasparavičienė
17.10: Sveikinimo žodis- Šilutės raj. saviv. administracijos vicemeras Sigitas Šeputis
17.20: Projekto „ Kultūros skūnė“ pristatymas- Projekto vadovė Audra Juodeškienė
17.50: Partnerių iš Norvegijos įmonės „Biotope“ vietokūros veiklų pristatymas- „ Biotope“ vadovas Tormod Amundsen
18.30: Vilniaus Dailės Akademijos galimybių projekte pristatymas – VDA Grafikos katedros doc. Marija Marcelionytė–Paliukė.
18.45 – 19.00: Kavos pertrauka
19.00: H. Šojaus muziejaus veiklų maisto edukacijų srityje pristatymas- H. Šojaus muziejaus Direktorė Indrė Skabliauskaitė
19.20: Kintų pagrindinės mokyklos užklasinių veiklų bei Kintų Jaunimo Klubo ir atviros jaunimo erdvės veiklų pristatymas – Jurgita Tamošiūnienė Kintų pagrindinės mokyklos direktoriaus pavaduotoja ugdymui ir Kintų pagrindinės mokyklos moksleiviai
19.40: Kintų Vydūno kultūros centro patirčių edukacijų srityje pristatymas- Kintų Vydūno kultūros centro direktorė Rita Tarvydienė
20.00: Lietuvos Evangelikų liuteronų bažnyčios Kintų parapijos bendruomenės pristatymas- Kintų parapijos klebonas Mindaugas Žilinskis
20.20: Kintų bendruomenės pristatymas- Kintų seniūnas Antanas Kližentis
20.40: Klausimai, diskusijos
21.00: Pabaiga
Dalyviai: Partneriai, visuomenė, gyva transliacija internetu, žurnalistai.
II diena (tęsinys) : Partnerių supažindinimas su vietove
2021.11.20. Kintai (šeštadienis) 9.00 - 13.00 val.
9.00: Meeting at the Kintai Art Residency - Short overview of the agenda and the guided tour in the residency building
9.30: Departure to the coast of Kintai Curonian Lagoon, an exploration of the area where it is planned to build the Birds Observatory tower, introducing local craftsmen and carpenters.
11.30: Departure to Ventė Horn, Bird Ringing Station, Bird Migration Museum, Meeting with Ornithologists, Ventė Horn Review
12.30: Return to Kintai; introduction to Kintai and Lutheran -Evangelical communities in the old barn of Kintai town.
13:00 Final discussion about the project in the Kintai Arts residency
Participants: guests from Norway, Kintai town mayor A. Kližentis, ornithologist Boris Belchev, Kintai Arts, craftsmen, local community.
Interview about "Cultural Barn" project with Kintai Arts director Audra Juodeškienė (25.11.2021) https://www.lrt.lt/mediateka/irasas/2000182884/ryto-allegro-ar-vtek-mato-klaidu-padarytu-skiriant-klaipedos-kulturos-istaigu-vadovus