Liudmila, spalarnia

11 Mar 2023 7.30-10pm

Overview

Live performances by Lithuanian bedroom pop collective Liudmila, alongside Polish artist spalarnia, whose softly sung repetitive chants operate between pop, protest and quasi (anti) religious music, will celebrate queer, 'Eastern' European solidarity.
 
Funds raised will be donated to charitable organisations supporting those displaced by the war in Ukraine. 
 
Liudmila is a Lithuanian bedroom pop collective, mainly featuring Milda Januševičiūtė and Miša Skalskis. Conceptualised as an auto-tuned pop bang fan fiction, and alter-ego of the artists, Liudmila’s lyrics speak to the angst of misfits dreaming big (and the loneliness and inherent contradictions of modernity). Liudmila have presented live performances at Kiasma Museum of Contemporary Art, Helsinki (2022); the 14th Baltic Triennial, Vilnius (2021); and Rupert, Vilnius (2020). They released the Album 'Liudmila' in 2021 and have shown video and sculptural works at Editorial, Vilnius (2021).
 
Milda Januševičiūtė (b. 1990, LT) is an interdisciplinary artist and cultural sociologist based in Vilnius, Lithuania. Selected projects include JCDecaux Prize (2019); film presentations at PAF: the Festival of Film Animation and Contemporary Art in Olomouc, Czech Republic (2018), and participation in the 6th Alternative Education programme at Rupert centre for Art and Education (2018). 
 
Miša Skalskis (b. 1994, Vilnius) is an audio-visual artist based in Helsinki whose practice encompasses sound pieces, videos and publications. He has presented work at Sorbus Gallery, Helsinki; Ehkä, Turku; CAC, Vilnius; Rupert, Vilnius; Sonic Acts, Amsterdam; Rijks, Amsterdam; Van Abbe Museum, Eindhoven; the Community, Paris, and Macau Design Center.
 
spalarnia operates between lo-fi pop, protest song and quasi (anti) religious chants, materialising as softly sung, repetitive, auto- tuned lyrics that oppose the exclusionary and white-centric propaganda of the Polish government. An alias of Polish artist Wojciech Kosma, spalarnia often co-opts and reimagines cultural tropes and symbols, deconstructing anti-minority, nationalistic and right-wing violence, by repositioning them in a utopian setting. spalarnia’s first mixtape (self- titled) was released on Dym Records in July 2020. They have presented performances at Tate Modern, London; The Island Club, Limassol; boshop, Berlin; POGON, Zagreb; and Sejf, Gorzow. Wojciech Kosma (b. 1981, Poland) has presented work at Tate Modern, London; Chisenhale Gallery, London; Museum of Modern Art, Warsaw; Volksbuhne, Berlin; Schinkel Pavilion, Berlin; Transmission Gallery, Glasgow; Wysing Arts Centre, Cambridge; Los Angeles Contemporary Exhibitions; and Interstate Projects, NYC, among others. Wojciech is a founding member of the artist collective East London Cable, and the free jazz duo Hope Scandal, with the drummer Bobo (Hansol Ki).