Agnietė Lisičkinaitė & Igor Shugaleev (Vilnius / Warsaw)

Following Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine on 24 February 2022, a complex and paralysing tension emerged in Eastern Europe (particularly between Lithuania and Belarus). Agnietė Lisičkinaitė and Igor Shugaleev examine this tension in “CLAP & SLAP” from historical, political, geographical, social, and their own personal perspectives. Being politically engaged in the events of the Belarusian revolution in 2020, Igor participated in protests in Belarus, while Agnietė participated in demonstrations in front of the Belarusian embassy in Vilnius. Igor was forced to leave his homeland; Agnietė made the decision not to collaborate with Russian-speaking artists. Today, meeting on the same stage, these two artists make an attempt at a dialogue that seems impossible outside of art: a dialogue between fear and the necessity of action, between collective and personal responsibilities, between personal tragedy and geopolitical catastrophe. Without naive ambition to find solutions to political or military conflicts, the performance hopes to invoke political and philosophical reflection upon our own ability to distinguish responsibility and guilt, nationalism and patriotism, self-defence and aggression, seeking to trust and trying to protect. How can we maintain a balance between the need for self-defence and the risk of mirroring the very aggression we are fighting against? Can we respect each other’s differences, uphold personal beliefs, and protect individual freedoms without infringing on others’ rights?

EASY READ

Since Russia attacked Ukraine, many friendships in Eastern Europe have changed. There are many people with a Russian background. Others don’t know how to deal with it.