Symposium “Walking is still honest*: on being and walking together”
October 5–7, 2023 artists and scholars whose work and research focuses on walking will meet at the cultural complex SODAS 2123. The three-day symposium “Walking is still honest*: on being and walking together”, organised by the Vilnius Academy of Arts, SODAS 2123 and the Lithuanian Interdisciplinary Artists’ Association (LTMKS), will bring together the insights of some of the most important contemporary historians and theoreticians of walking in the dynamic practices of contemporary art and culture: performative lectures by artists and researchers will be accompanied by collective and individual walking, workshops, psychogeographical research, films. Participation is free of charge, but some workshops require registration.
The symposium is part of the postdoctoral project “Research about walking as a space, a method and an opportunity to be together” by Vitalij Červiakov, a postdoctoral fellow of the Institute of Art Research, Vilnius Academy of Arts.
Full programme: https://sodas2123.lt/en/walking/.
The title of the symposium borrows a phrase from the song “Walking is still honest” by the punk rock band Against Me! Laura Jane Grace, the lead singer of the band, has said in an interview that she wrote the song at the age of 18, terrified of what was happening in the world – the only thing that seemed real and sincere at the time was the simple act of walking. In this symposium, we invite you to keep this in mind and try to convey the sincerity of real or imaginary walking through various practices, methods, actions, groups, communities, stories, etc. of being and walking together. Perhaps this is a key to different, universal forms of being together that are resistant to time, identity, generations, virtuality, urban and other problems?
Ecological and migration crises, urban planning decisions that are not conducive to natural human movement, new forms of virtual coexistence, the post-pandemic situation, alienation – all of these have stimulated artists’ and researchers’ growing interest in the meaning of walking in our lives, communities, and societies. Using artistic and scientific methods, the symposium participants will discuss when walking is a pleasure, a vocation, a necessity or even a compulsion, how walking has changed historically, what it means to walk in different cities and how walking is being transformed by contemporary technologies, what are the implications of walking in mental health, the degrowth economy and the formation of collective identities. Moreover, in various walks, workshops and walkshops lasting between half an hour and five hours, participants will not only be able to talk about these topics, but also experience them in their own bodies.
Chief curator: Vitalij Červiakov
Co-curators: Lina Michelkevičė, Vytautas Michelkevičius, Danutė Gambickaitė
Coordinator: Neda Rimaitė
Designer: Laura Grigaliūnaitė
Organizers: Vilnius Academy of Arts, SODAS 2123, the Lithuanian Interdisciplinary Artists’ Association
Supported by: Research Council of Lithuania (LMTLT), agreement No S-PD-22-47, Lithuanian Council for Culture, and Vilnius City Municipality.
Participants:
Matthew Beaumont, Elena Biserna, Andrew Brown, Lucile Bouvard, Ondřej Buddeus, Clementine Butler-Gallie, Francesco Careri, T. Hugh Crawford, James Cunningham, Kipras Dubauskas, Charlie Fox, Balázs Gáspár, Claire Gauzente, General Assn. (Alyssa Grossman and Selena Kimball), Hemen Heidari, Hillside Projects (Emily Berry Mennerdahl and Jonas Böttern), Mari Keski-Korsu, Gustė Kripaitė, Paul Landon, Elina Mikkilä, Karen O’Rourke, Panayotis Panopoulos, Elena Peytchinska, Marina Menéndez-Pidal, Frida Robles Ponce, Ivan Pope, Karl Ingar Røys, Candice Salyers, Sepa Sama & Jumana Hamdani, Nienke Scholts, Todd Shalom, simularr, Meihuizi (Anita) She, Felipe Steinberg, Inga Truskauskaitė, Kamila Wolszczak.
