16th Baltic Triennial Prologue: Taking the Arrow Out of the Heart

On June 19, the 16th Baltic Triennial launched its prologue event at the Composers' House in Vilnius, curated by Nikita Kadan and Natalia Sielewicz. The evening featured readings and sound performances, including a DJ set by softchaos (Teresa Stout) and a loud duo performance by Bastard Bath (Kuba Stępień and Maja Gajewicz). Readings were given by Agnė Jokšė, who recounted a breakdown during Lithuanian cultural protests, and Sielewicz. Ukrainian theorists Iryna Zamurujeva (Oxford) and Asia Bazdyrjeva (University of Applied Arts Vienna) also read texts. The prologue's theme, drawn from Alice Walker's poem, asks "How do we take the arrow out of the heart?" The main exhibition in 2027 will be held in Vilnius cemeteries, focusing on Ukraine, the Middle East, and other war zones, with an emphasis on non-traveling Ukrainian male artists of conscription age. Kadan described it as a melancholic exhibition that aims to discuss living when catastrophe becomes the norm.