International poetry festival “Discover Poetry De Novo” - from live performance to collaborative writing games

2017-05-18

On the 12-13 of May, Lithuanian poetry lovers and foreign guests could discover poetry De Novo at an international “ePublisher” festival. The first day started at the National Gallery of Art (NDG), where participants had an opportunity to witness live performances inspired by poetry. “Vaibai Ore” presented a poem “Blue Forest”, which grasped city pulse; heart pumps longing, hatred, love and rage through city venues. Later poet and architect Tomas S. Butkus presented a performance “Full moon Vanity”. According to the author himself, the poem was written after having felt that there was someone else beside you – an assistant, an accompanist. The event finished with a viewing of poetry films created by different sound and poetry groups: „Avaspo“, „Nunu“, „Concrete rabbits“.

After contemporary experiments a more traditional approach to poetry was presented to the public. In the „House of Puglu“ actors Gabriele Malinauskaite, Asta Stankunaite, and Pijus Narijauskas presented poet and essayist Rimvydas Stankevicius’ poetry and texts. The event was followed by a discussion between the author and the audience.

The first day of the festival ended with the readings of poems by foreign poets from Finland, Portugal and Poland. One of the evenings‘ highlights was a poetry reading and musical collaboration between celebrated Finish poet Juha Kulmala and saxophonist Viktoras Olechnovičius.

The second day of the festival started with a performance from poet and publicist Žygimantas Kudirka, which aimed to inspire the audience and to broaden their minds for the collaborative writing workshop. During it, various collaborative writing techniques and „ePublisher“ interactive collaborative writing games were tested together with poets from Finland, Portugal and Poland. The final part of the workshop was poetry karaokė of created collaborative texts.

As well as in Krakow and Turku, the festival events in Vilnius were filmed. Later on a documentary film about all the International poetry festivals organized by the partnership will be created.

Besides, international guests and project partners had a chance to visit the Vilnius literary trail, including the Independent Republic of Užupis and Literatų street – an art project dedicated to Lithuanian and foreign writers. Moreover, Trakai city and castle was visited, where our guests from abroad had an opportunity to search for inspiration for an upcoming festival in Lousada, Portugal.