Obscene evening in the restaurant Kastytis

“In the evenings, dance music is playing at the restaurant Kastytis. The restaurant visitors claim that every time the evening ends unexpectedly here and they want to come back again and again …”

This December, Kaunas Artists’ House invites you to look back on the 1990s – a period of social, political, and cultural changes in Lithuania and the world – and presents the project and the series of events Obscene West. In Honey, dedicated to the women artists who created at that time.

The final highlight of the programme is an obscene evening on December 18th at 8 p.m. in the legendary Kastytis restaurant (A. Juozapavičiaus pr. 68), presenting artistic interpretations of the 1990s. The unique spaces of Kastytis, which have preserved the authentic interior of the last century, will be performed by assorted performers – the performance “nevermore” by B. E. Salonen and the performance by post-apocalyptic divas The FOQL and Edka Jarząb duo will explore the constraints, sexual tensions and fantasies experienced by women. In addition, there will be musical and performative surprises that invite you to dive into the (in) material archive of feelings and experiences of the 1990s.

Guests from the age of 16 are admitted to the event.
A COVID Pass (or equivalent) is required for the event.

From 8.30 p.m. to 10 p.m.

“nevermore” is Barbora E. Salonen’s latest dance work, in which she draws ideas from a fictional character based on the history and documentary as well as fragments of memories about life in Lithuania before the year 2000. For the presentation of the performance, Salonen uses the new space Kastytis restaurant as a medium or reality for action, shock and experience. Salonen’s work reflects the dance archive that contains a variety of modern style techniques, she also applies ritual, meditative and somatic practices in her creative process.

Attention. The B. E. Salonen’s performance can not be filmed or photographed. Pre-registration is required for the performance “nevermore”: https://cutt.ly/PYWmXWy
Seats are limited.

From 10.30 p.m.

FOQL & Edka Jarząb present: “Melting Pop”. Two electronic and sound artists will meet again in a duo. Trashy post-apocalyptic divas, straight from the intergalactic junkyard of history, bring you scattered manifestos, channeling resonant lullabies for difficult times. Their performance will be also a performative tribute, melting obscene references and attributes from feminist art in the 90s – both Egle Rakauskaite and Natalia LL.

***

An important character of the programme is the time capsule restaurant “Kastytis”, which has remained almost unchanged since its establishment in 1968. About the restaurant from a historic source: “Kastytis is the only restaurant in Šančiai. Architect J. Vrubliauskas created a strict, perhaps even masculine, rough interior based on legend. The main elements of the decor – nets, a lighthouse, and a weather vane – are related to the sea, with the difficult everyday life of a legendary fisherman. Maybe that’s what makes a restaurant more and more popular. If you visit here at least once, you want to come again and again. ”

>>>

The project is funded by the Lithuanian Council of Culture.

The project, named after the performance-video installation by Eglė Rakauskaitė in 1996, of the same name, analyzes the issues of gender roles and sexuality in this changing decade, as well as the manifestations of feminist movements in art in Lithuania and neighboring post-Soviet countries.

The project is curated by Agnė Bagdžiūnaitė and Edvinas Grinkevičius

Project visuals – Studio Cryo