Pelkių mokykla kuriama kaip atvira ir nuolat kintanti žinių infrastruktūra ir lavinimosi aplinka, skatinanti bendradarbiavimo eksperimentus tarp meno ir mokslo, humanitarikos ir pedagogikos, bei siekianti pakeisti mūsų minčių įpročius ir adaptuotis prie neišvengiamai nežinomos ateities ir neužtikrintumo, kuriuos atneša radikalūs pokyčiai.

Pelkė kaip hibridinė vaizduotės ir tyrimų laboratorija, yra ir gamtinė ekosistema ir metafora, nužyminti ir kelianti esminius mūsų laikmečio, paženklinto klimato kaitos ir dėl jos visame pasaulyje kylančių naujų katastrofų, karų ir migracijos maršrutų, klausimus.

Pelkių mokyklos elementai, pasklidę VDU mokslo ir studijų centro erdvės vertikalėje, siekia aktyvuoti žiūrovų/dalyvių sensorinį aparatą, lavinti jų gebėjimus orientuotis skirtinguose kontekstuose, ir veikti toliau už žmogiškosios kontrolės ribų.

Kuratoriai: Nomeda ir Gediminas Urbonai (MIT, VDU)
Ekspozicijos architektė: Indrė Umbrasaitė (Taikomųjų menų universitetas, Viena)
Pelkių mokyklos ekspozicijos elementų autoriai: Sigurjón Baldur Hafsteinsson (Islandija), Jautra Bernotaitė (LT), Rasa Chmieliauskaitė (LT), Aidas Čergelis (LT), Aušra Černiauskienė (LT), Remigijus Daubaras (LT), Gytis Dovydaitis (LT), Adelė Dovydavičiūtė (LT), Justinas Dūdėnas (LT), Tinna Grétarsdôttir (Islandija), Jurga Katakinaitė-Jakubauskienė (LT), Jonas Kubilius (LT), Milda Kulvičiūtė (LT), Hannes Lárusson, artist (Islandija), Francisco López (Ispanija), Thuy Le, architect (JAV), Nicole L’Huillier, architect (Čilė/JAV), Donatas Linkus (LT), Matteo Messina su Giovanni Sambo, Tommaso Pagani (Italija), Antonio Moya-Latorre (Ispanija/JAV), Thomas Pausz (Islandija), Tobias Putrih (Kroatija/JAV), Shane Reiner-Roth (JAV), Andrius Ropolas (LT), Indrani Saha (JAV), Sandra Straukaitė (LT), Hildigunnur Sverrisdóttir (Islandija), Antanas Šarkauskas ir Gabrielė Šarkauskienė (LT), Pelin Tan (Turkija), Indrė Umbrasaitė (Austrija/LT), Kęstutis Vaikšnoras (LT), Paulius Vaitiekūnas (LT), Reda Valentinavičienė (LT)

2018 metais Pelkių mokykla atstovavo Lietuvai 16-ojoje tarptautinėje architektūros bienalėje Venecijoje. Projektą Italijoje pristatė Lietuvos kultūros taryba, organizavo Architektūros fondas.

Pelkių mokyklos ekspozicijos elementai: Garso baublys, Kvapų drevės, Durpių kolona, Hibridinis radijas, Pelkių pončai, Pelkių intelektas, Pelkių muilas, Salikornijos žemė, Pelkių manualai, C.A. Weberio pelkių studija, Pelkių televizija, Amfibijos namas, Pelkių arbata, Pelkių video dokumentai: Aukštumala (Nestabilumas) ir Distiliacija

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Incantation Karaoke
performance by Eglė Budvytytė

It is a 35 min performance channelling multiple entities and ideas bruised by modernity and extractivism through a form of a song.
"I am exploring the potential of rhyme, repetition, sonic alteration of the voice and the proximity of physical presence of myself to induce the audience into the altered mind states and singing."

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LACUNA – Land of hidden spaces
film by Elena Mazzi

LACUNA – Land of hidden spaces is part of a bigger project, called Reflecting Venice; this intends to investigate the possibility of responding to last years’ increase of environmental issues affecting Venice, in Italy. Through the application of an interdisciplinary methodology, Reflecting Venice explores technological innovation and its implications. Considering local context in conjunction with new environmental goals is beneficial in redefining their broader effectiveness and functionality. The video has the will to combine and intertwine the different ‘actors’ of the project: a prototype of solar wall made with mirrors, referring to Archimedes’ inventions, the ancient tradition of engraved glass in Murano (Venice), and the fragile environment of the Lagoon, now in peril.

Elena Mazzi was born in 1984 in Reggio Emilia (Italy). She received her BFA in 2007 in History of Art from Siena University, and her MFA in 2011 in Visual Art from IUAV, Venice University. She was selected for an exchange program at Royal Academy of Art (Konsthogskolan) of Stockholm. Her works have been displayed in many solo and collective exhibitions, among others: Whitechapel gallery in London, GAMeC in Bergamo, MAMbo in Bologna, AlbumArte in Rome, Sonje Art Center in Seoul, Palazzo Fortuny in Venice, 16° Rome Quadriennal, GAM Turin, 14° Istanbul Biennale, 17° BJCEM Mediterranean Biennale, EGE-European Glass Experience, Fittja Pavilion at the 14° Architecture Venice Biennale, COP17 in Durban, Italian Institute of Culture in New York, Brussels and Stockholm, Bevilacqua La Masa Foundation. She attended different residency programs and workshops such as HIAP (FI), GuilmiArtProject (IT), Via Farini (IT), Foundation Botin (SP), Bevilacqua La Masa (IT), Future Farmers A.I.R. (USA), Fondazione Spinola Banna (IT), Dolomiti contemporanee (IT), Botkyrka Konsthall AIR (SE).
She is the winner, among others, of XVII Ermanno Casoli Prize, STEP Beyond, OnBoard grant, Thalie Art Foundation grant, VISIO Young Talent Acquisition prize, Eneganart prize, Illy grant for Unidee, Pistoletto Foundation, ntcm e l’arte, m-cult media and technology program, Special mention for Arte Patrimonio e diritti umani, Antworks award, Sandretto Re Rebaudengo prize, Lerici Foundation grant and Movin’up Italian prize for young Italian artists abroad.

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Black Pond
film by Jessica Sarah Rinland
16mm film digital transfer, 35mm film stills, Archive, 42 minutes, 2018

Black Pond is an odyssey across a common land in the south of England told through the hands of the members of the Natural History Society who currently occupy it.

Argentine-British artist filmmaker, Jessica Sarah Rinland has exhibited work in galleries, cinemas, film festivals and universities internationally including New York Film Festival, BFI London Film Festival, Rotterdam, Oberhausen, Edinburgh International Film Festival and Bloomberg New Contemporaries. She has received grants from Arts Council England, Wellcome Trust, Elephant Trust and elsewhere. Residencies include MacDowell Colony, Kingston University, Locarno Academy and Berlinale Talents. Her most recent multi-screen, randomized installation We Account The Whale Immortal was exhibited at Somerset House, London in 2016. She is currently an Associate Artist at Somerset House Studios, a Schnitzer prize awardee at M.I.T., and a Film Studies Center Fellow at Harvard University.

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The Antisinking Workshop
conceived by Carlo Gambirasio, curated by Irene Angenica and Marco Bianchessi

The Purpose of the Antisinking workshop is to find utopian solutions for the Venetian sinking problem with a different approach: people’s Intelligence. The project wants to Collect the ideas of all the individuals used to hear about this problem and currently live in the city. Both and visitors can take part to this “thinking machine” sharing solutions filled with the humbleness of the ordinary citizen who doesn't have technical skills which could undermine the out-of-the-box thinking. The workshop would last for 30m. It will starts with a 10 minutes introduction, with the contribution of two experts: Alice Staro (geologist) and Andrea Biffi (Biologist). After this introduction will be asked to the participants to draw an utopian idea to solve the sinking problem. At the end of the workshops days all the projects will be given to the Venice municipality.

Carlo Gambirasio (b. 1994, Verona) holds a BFA from NABA and currently pursues his MFA at the same institution. The thought of Carlo originates from a careful analysis of the contemporary visual culture. His works often consist of imagined devices utilizing new technologies; capable of conveying a particular concept, reflecting on the logic and rules of the ‘artificial’ worlds with the aim of understanding and modifying them. Some of the exhibitions he participated in are: Sensations without Conditions (Istanbul, 2018), Share Project (Turin,2018), Roasted Spin, FuturDome (Milan, 2017); Exi Shapes, Spazio Morel (Lugano, 2017); The Great Learning, La Triennale (Milan, 2017).

Marco Bianchessi (b. 1994, Monza). He began his studies at the classical high school of Monza, he decides to devote himself to art from the university, attending first the Naba in Milan where he graduated in "Painting and Visual Arts"; and then complete the course at the Ca Foscari in Venice in "Economics and Management of Arts and Cultural Activities".The presence of economic-managerial knowledge combined with a real artistic approach, allows him to have an overview of the art world. A lover of everything related to art, he divides his interests between music and visual arts.

Irene Angenica (b. 1991, Catania). She deals with curating and didactic. Since 2016 she founded and directs Porto dell'Arte - appointments for the promotion of artists in apartments, a non-profit project aimed at encouraging and supporting young artists through the creation of site-specific exhibitions. Her research is based on contemporary art experimentation, preferring the artistic medium of the installation.

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Empathetic body
Inga Galinyte ir Anna Papathanasiou

Inga & Anna are hoping to have their meeting in The Swamp Pavilion and perform their first physical depiction of Long Term Relationship project with a performance under the title ‘The empathetic body’ structured on so far collected data within the context of the swamp as a natural valuable state of creation, both in nature and art and as a manifestation of the strong connection to nature’s wisdom to have more than one ways of being and generating vitality.

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Acoustic Tipi
performance by Erin Genia

The Acoustic Tipi sound amplifier is a drum interface that invites people to create audible vibrations, which will reverberate through space.
The Acoustic Tipi references Unktehi — a supernatural water serpent of Dakota legend who is responsible for flooding and peril in the water — and Wakinyan — thunder beings who bring atmospheric catastrophe, warning of impending flooding, sea-level rise, and the increased intensity of planetary storms due to climate and environmental change.
Through the sound of the drum, Acoustic Tipi provides an encounter, a moment of reflection, upon the interrelatedness of life on earth and throughout the universe. The piece allows up to four people to play at once, creating a collaboration that reduces the distance between the art and viewer, and each other. The piece is a call for unity to address the issues causing ecological decline, which, according to Dakota perspectives, is the responsibility of all people.

Erin Genia (Sisseton-Wahpeton Oyate) is a multidisciplinary artist whose practice follows various strands, merging cultural imperatives, pure expression, and exploration of materiality, with a response to past, present, and future matters. Erin is concerned with creating a powerful presence of Indigeneity in the arts and sciences to invoke an evolution of thought and practice in societal instruments that are aligned with the cycles of the natural world and the potential of humanity. Her work has received attention from diverse audiences, and been exhibited nationally and internationally, most recently at the Harvard Museum of Natural History, and the Museum of Northwest Art. Erin was awarded the AAF/ Seebacher Prize for Fine Arts in 2018 and received her first public art commission for “Resilience: Anpa O Wicahnpi” from the City of Seattle Office of Arts and Culture. She is a 2017 First Peoples Fund fellow and graduate researcher at ACT/MIT.

It is not easy to define a swamp, even in biology. The term is frequently used to characterize marshes, bogs, mires, wetlands, meadows, and other grey zones between land and water. In that sense, “swamp” is a metonym for a variety of transitional ecosystems and functions. This book invokes that concept as a tool to address the vital urgency of human cohabitation with other forms of life, placing the swamp at the crossroad of disciplines and practices. It is more than a biological ecosystem; it is a milieu of manifold sympoietic relationships, a locus of imagination, fostering the dialogue for possible futures. It is also a very particular modality—“an interface of Gaia”—offering a “face,” a certain physiognomy to faceless networks of relations, inviting us to engage in regimes of entanglement. The contributors to this volume expand on swampy notions, probing global and speculative art and architecture, intercalating philosophy and queer theory, and filtering these notions through the lens of posthumanist ecology, informed by the histories and theories of cybernetics, sociology, and the commons.

Contributors
Lorena Bello and Brent D. Ryan, Nikola Bojić, Chiara Bottici, Jonathan Jae-an Crisman and Newton Harrison, Glorianna Davenport and Gershon Dublon, T.J. Demos, Vittoria Di Palma, Jennifer Gabrys, Tinna Grétarsdóttir and Sigurjón Baldur Hafsteinsson, Stefan Helmreich, Stefanie Hessler, Yuk Hui, Giedrė Jankevičiūtė, Caroline A. Jones, Lars Bang Larsen, Bruno Latour, Gintautas Mažeikis, Astrida Neimanis, Kate Orff and Mariel Villeré, Andrew Pickering, Kristina Lee Podesva, Elizabeth A. Povinelli, María Puig de la Bellacasa and Dimitris Papadopoulos, Cristina Ricupero, Eglė Rindzevičiūtė, Kristupas Sabolius, Saskia Sassen, Caterina Scaramelli, Marco Scotini, Pelin Tan, Nomeda & Gediminas Urbonas, Angela Vettese

Special thanks to Vaiva Andriušytė, Guoda Bardauskaitė, Judith Barry, Karolina Čiplytė, Embassy Of The Republic Of Lithuania To The Italian Republic, Milda Grabauskaitė, Jeremy Grubman, Stefan Helmreich, Stefanie Hessler, Rūta Kazėnaitė, Julija Kiršienė, Vytas Matrosovas, Lina Mozūraitė, National Gallery Of Art (Lithuania), Liutauras Nekrošius, Nida Art Colony, Romas Pakalnis and Nerijus Zableckis (Lithuanian Fund for Nature), Johan Pas, Kristina Lee Podesva, Gailė Pranckūnaitė, Asta Radzevičienė, Hashim Sarkis, Caroline Schneider, Jūratė Sendžikaitė, Marialuisa Tadei, Daina Urbanavičienė, Melissa Vaughn, Leila Wheatley Kinney, Anne Whiston Spirn, Laimonas Zakas, Ina Žurkuvienė