"THE YOUTH PLATFORM“: IEVA BUTKUTĖ'S EXHIBITION "KERUŽIS ON THE LANDFILL"

At Kaunas Picture Gallery (K. Donelaičio g. 16, Kaunas), we continue the exhibition cycle “The Youth Platform” and present Ieva Butkutė’s exhibition “Keružis at the Landfill.”

Scrolling through orthophotographic and satellite maps on her smartphone, the artist detects a state-owned plot in an industrial area near Kėdainiai, namely, a landfill for chemical waste and phosphogypsum (known as the “Lifosa phosphogypsum mountains”). Resources from North Africa are transported to Lithuania, fertilizers are exported abroad, and the waste generated during the production remains in Kėdainiai. As a result, the landfill seems alien and detached from everyday life, even though its massive silhouette is visible even from a considerable distance far away from the city.

The artist sees this landfill as an inverted landscape of resource-extraction containing remnants of geological time and an undesired component of a massive production and logistics network. That is why, in the waste collected at the Kėdainiai landfill, she plants seedlings of a dwarf birch (Latin: Betula nana) that are listed in Lithuania’s Red Book, and has a dream to see again this landscape as part of nature.

Ieva Butkutė is an architect, doctoral student at the Vilnius Academy of Arts. Her research explores the interplay between the planet’s interconnectedness and cyclical nature. Through exploration of industrial territories and landscapes, the artist seeks a non-destructive relationship between the industrial structures that sustain cities but are kept apart from them and often remain undesirable.

The exhibition is funded by the Research Council of Lithuania and Vilnius Academy of Arts.

Heartful thanks are dedicated to Dr. Skaidra Trilupaitytė, Romualdas Kučinskas, Alfreda Pilitauskaitė, the Lithuanian Regional State Archives

Coordinator: Vaiva Mikelionytė
Graphic design: Lina Mozūraitė

The event is open to the public; filming and photographing are permitted. By attending the event, you agree to appear in the event photos and videos, and you are informed that these photos and videos may be published publicly.