July 21, in the yard of the Musem of the History of Lithuania Minor (Didžioji Vandens St. 2, Klaipėda), together with Klaipėda’s Cultural Communication Center (KKKC), the art island “Sala “was presented.
An island was created in the Old Town of the port city, created from garbage collected by Klaipėda volunteers by themselves in the seaside forests. The aim of this artistic project is to draw attention to the consequences of pollution and create positive change.
“Pollution is like a devil flying into our lives in many forms. It tempts us to indulge in the supposed pleasures of irresponsible consumption and later forces us to live in a nightmare with plastic waste islands in the ocean and soot in the city. This is how we breathe in Klaipėda today,” says the author of the installation, architect Marius Ščerbinskas.
The height of the art installation “Sala” (island) marks the expected rise in the water level in a specific place due to climate change, that is, in the courtyard of Klaipėda Old Town next to KKKC. The installation provides information on future shifts in the Curonian Lagoon and the shores of the Baltic Sea. It shows how accelerating climate change due to the burning of fossil fuels will narrow the Curonian Spit, reduce the area of Klaipėda and eventually flood the Nemunas delta with the whole of Šilutė.
The art project “Sala” (island) symbolically starts the program of the 15th-anniversary events of KKKC and illustrates the inter-institutional cooperation of the Old Town Art Quarter. On an island created from rubbish, greenery is like an interpretation of the garden of the future. The form of the installation, which reproduces the Lithuanian straw gardens, reflects the totality of the surrounding cultural institutions and spaces.
Laima Griciūtė, a florist, “grew” the greenery of Lithuanian fields on the island, “Gėlių skveras”, which will open its doors in August in Didžioji Vandens str 14a, founder. The hostess of the new flower oasis feels responsible for the flowering of Klaipėda Old Town and hopes to grow a circle of conscious, ecologically minded customers and contribute to the installations or events being created in Klaipėda.
Visitors of the installation, which will be on display until October 15, are also invited to become part of an art project – bringing plants and helping the Island become greener. Later, flowers in pots and other brought plants will settle in various cultural spaces of Klaipėda. Part of the plants will travel to the creative workshop and entertainment space “Tema”. In this way, the creators of “Sala” respond to the call of the bar “Herkus Kantas” operating here to help revive the previously abandoned former territories of the Northern Cape on the way to the old ferry.
“Kieta dalelė” is a pollution reduction initiative launched by “Dancer” electric buses in the port city together with partners – Klaipėda University (KU) and the Klaipėda Movement for Ecology and Democracy (KIDE). The “SurfCamp” surfing club helped to collect the rubbish from which the installation “Sala” was constructed. Surfers for this art project organized a garbage collection campaign, “Cool Surf Lesson”.