About
• Lecture-performance Walking on the Wall by Julijonas Urbonas at the National Gallery of Art;
• Julijonas Urbonas, founder of the Lithuanian Space Agency, is an engineer and artist who represented Lithuania at the Venice Architecture Biennale in 2021with his work Planet of People. Julijonas’ research includes architectural concepts as a supplemental field of artistic creation, cosmic architecture, gravitational aesthetics, and design choreography;
• “I have in the past felt sorry for ceilings and walls. It’s perfectly good space, why doesn’t anyone use it?” These words were uttered in 1971 by modern dance pioneer Trisha Brown, as she climbed out of a window to take a walk along the wall of the building. After replacing her ballet slippers with high-altitude gear, T. Brown introduced a new dance concept. During Open House Vilnius, Julijonas Urbonas will perform this acclaimed American choreographer’s work live for you combined with his riveting storytelling. You will also be able to personally experience the sensation of walking along the façade of the popular National Gallery of Art and Culture;
• Our changing everyday environment promotes changes in human movement, thus creating individual or collective choreography. Turning the head and the entire body changes not only the perception of movement but also the perception of space. The wall becomes a floor; streets, sidewalks and the sky become walls; surrounding buildings become the sky. When you turn your head, gravity as a continuous struggle in architecture disappears for a moment;
• Perhaps a physical twist of the head would help to solve Vilnius’ architectural puzzle?