Urtė Jasenka's performance "That Which Looks Back" – at the Bank of Lithuania building
About this event
Artist Urtė Jasenka's performance "That Which Looks Back" is coming to Kaunas. On November 28, the performative drawing booth will be set up in one of the city's most impressive buildings – the Bank of Lithuania.
In the historic main hall of the Bank of Lithuania, among the columns, visitors will find a fairytale-like drawing booth with a small window, where short, intimate drawing sessions will take place. The visitor is invited to sit at the window, contribute a desired amount, and become a model for a few minutes. On the other side of the window, the artist creates a portrait during a three-minute session, and once it ends, the visitor takes home the original drawing created for them. However, this is not a typical portrait drawing.
"That Which Looks Back" is an attempt to look at a person not just as an external image. The work raises the question: who are you? Is a person just their name, face, and social role, or does something much more reside within them – a connection to nature, animality, memory, and invisible inner worlds? Here, the drawing becomes not a copy of a portrait, but an intuitive interpretation of a person's inner world. It may contain natural forms, an inner animal, dream imagery, or symbols that are difficult to name. The performance invites you to meet that part of yourself which often remains invisible, yet is constantly "looking back."
The materiality of the performance objects is also important. Each work is created by hand on paper made specifically for this project. The booth, scenography elements, and other objects are created from used, recycled, and repurposed materials. They are given a new form and purpose, making reuse a natural part of the creative process. Throughout the event, music composed specifically for this project by composer Antanas Jasenka will be played.
"That Which Looks Back" has already been presented in Klaipėda – in the urban spaces of HOFAS and Herkus Kantas, as well as at the MENE festival in Užventis, the Povilas Višinskis Memorial House in Ušnėnai, and Lukiškės Prison in Vilnius. In each location, the performance takes on a new context, but its axis remains the short, intimate meeting between two strangers. Idea author and performer – Urtė Jasenka Music – Antanas Jasenka When: November 28, 4:00 PM – 7:00 PM Where: Bank of Lithuania, Maironio St. 25, Kaunas