Region: Baltics, Central and Eastern Europe, Lithuania
Author: Marija Terese Rozanskaite, Culture and Art Initiative Center, Vilnius
Consortium Member: Baltic Ecological Programs Office (ECOLOGIA)
Status: Needs Funding
Budget: $1100
Collected: $0
Needs: $1100
Goal: to use innovative artistic techniques to focus public attention on damage to the environment
Comment: With changes in public attitudes, pollution of the Vilnele River could be greatly decreased.
Information about the Organization
The Culture and Art Initiative Center was established in the beginning of year 2002. Its goal is to develop projects which integrate art and other human activities. The essence of this project is to organize environmental events in places throughout Lithuania, choosing those areas where the human damage to the environment is on the largest scale. We use new art methods and tools in order to attract public attention to environmental and social problems.
Project Summary
The biggest polluters of the Vilnele River are those families who enjoy spending their time on its banks. Our project goal is to attract public attention to the damage currently being caused. We think that the best way to do this is by visual means. Therefore we plan an action to collect garbage along the river Vilnele. Afterwards, artists will hang all the garbage above the river, thus calling public attention to the “results” of our clean-up.
We expect that all events of our newest exhibit will gain publicity because they will be also photographed and filmed. After both actions are over, photographs of the “findings” and the events themselves will be shown on the advertising stands all around Vilnius. In addition, a film about the events (5-10 minutes duration) will be shown on Lithuanian TV, the national channel. Public reaction will be recorded on the video tape: this is the goal of the project - to make people understand how fragile the nature is, and how their actions can directly help or hurt the river. The noted artist Marija Terese Rozanskaite came up with this idea, and will direct the project. The duration of the clean-up and installation of "Garbage Catch" is 2 weeks.
Our planned event, "Garbage Catch" is to take place in the end of the summer. The garbage will be exhibited in different places above the Vilnele river. We have already arranged that when the exhibition is over, the collected garbage will be carried to the landfill, transportation to be financed by Vilnius Municipality.
We already organized a similar exhibit and action earlier, on Earth Day in June 2002: we hung funeral placards with the notes like “The lovers of Nature are grieving” in the sites where ecological damage is high. On that day these sites became meeting points for artists, nature lovers and concerned citizens. Our activities drew much media attention, interviews, magazine articles, etc. The photo on the right, from that exhibit, illustrates the sorrow of nature lovers when they see garbage in the beautiful nature surroundings. Sashes are used in Lithuania at funerals.
The photo below, "First aid to a small river", is also from the Earth Day exhibit. It shows three beds from Lithuanian hospitals. The environs of the river (flowing water, green trees) naturally supplement the objects of the artistic installation. The Angels' wings show association with something which is perfect and clean. Red slippers by the bed, white pillows and covers, are artifacts of authentic life and symptoms of convalescence.
Budget Request
We would like to ask the Virtual Foundation for support for the following:
| Transportation costs | $200 |
| Materials for making installation | $250 |
| Organizational expenses (stationery, communication costs, co-ordination) | $300 |
| Advertising of the project (flyers, TV, radio) | $250 |
| Virtual Foundation administrative fee | $100 |
| Total Requested from the Virtual Foundation | $1100 |
Local Support
The Advertising Company "Clear Channel" and Vilnius Municipality will underwrite these expenses:
| Expenses on photo materials: | $200 |
| DVCAL films: | $50 |
| Film arrangement and montage: | $500 |
| Poster exhibition (use of advertising stands): | $2300 |
| VAT (Value Added Tax)of all project budget: $423 | |
| Total value of local support | $3473 |
The photo (right) is of a previous outdoor artwork by Culture and Art Initiative Center, titled "Locked trees". After the privatization of land and returning of territories to private ownership in Lithuania, the destruction of forests began. Some people do not understand the value of the forest; they look at it only from the viewpoint of consumers. Handles of doors attached to the trees with scotch tape symbolize trees being safe and protected.
