Critically acclaimed opera-performance about the climate at Malmö Konsthall in November

Sun & Sea is a critically acclaimed Lithuanian opera performance, awarded with the Golden Lion for best contribution at the Venice Biennale 2019. The work - a living installation without beginning or end - will be shown at Malmö Konsthall on 2–14 November 2021. Malmö Konsthall is the first art institution to show the work in Sweden following the opera-performance international success. Press screening (in Swedish and English) on Monday 1 November at 1 pm. The invitation also applies to the rehearsal at 6 pm.

Sun & Sea
Malmö Konsthall 2.11 - 14.11 / 21
An opera performance by Rugilė Barzdžiukaitė, Vaiva Grainytė and Lina Lapelytė

Imagine a beach – you within it, or better: watching from above – the burning sun, sunscreen, bright bathing suits, sweaty palms and legs. Tired limbs sprawled lazily across a mosaic of towels. Imagine the occasional squeal of children, laughter, the sound of an ice cream van in the distance. The musical rhythm of waves on the surf, a soothing sound (on this particular beach, not elsewhere). The crinkling of plastic bags whirling in the air. Their silent floating, jellyfish-like, below the waterline. The rumble of a volcano, or of an airplane, or a speedboat. Then a chorus of songs: everyday songs, songs of worry and of boredom, songs of almost nothing.

An ecological work at its very core, Sun & Sea takes place on an artificial beach composed through light, architecture and music. In the heat of the midday sun, vacationers sings their stories, unfold their thoughts. As these multiply, everyday micro-events slowly give rise to broader, more distributed anxieties on planetary-scale, anthropogenic climate change. The setting – a crowded beach in summer – paints an image of laziness and lightness. In this context, the message follows suit: contemporary crises unfold easily, softly – like a pop song on the very last day on Earth

- Rarely do you come across a work of art that is more telling for our time and the challenges we face than Sun & Sea. During the 18 months we have been waiting to show the work, its timeliness has only increased. The environmental issue is something that should occupy the world's attention right now; we are therefore very proud to present the performance to a Swedish audience, says Mats Stjernstedt, director of Malmö Konsthall.

Of Sun & Sea, the artists have written:

Sun and Sea started from the quirky image: vacationers are lying on sandy beach and singing, their half-naked bodies observed from above, from the sun’s perspective, as if humankind were insects. It took 4 years or so after that, until the exposed fragility of human bodies allowed us to find a parallel with the temporality of the colossal body – the body of the Earth. Even though we realized the piece would somehow tackle the topic of climate change, we were hesitant how such a big and pressing subject could be approached in a subtle and non alarmingly didactic way. The libretto of the piece is set as a mosaic of stories, inner monologues, dreams and thoughts, sung in solos and as a chorus by the beachgoers. This ‘soup’ of stories might sound like a mundane and carefree buzz, however, in this both liturgical, poppy and synthetic ocean of songs one can feel an impending threat. The picture of enjoyable holidays belies the consequences of this inertia – planetary resources being extracted as if sipping fizzy Piña Colada.

Press screening
Monday, November 1 at 1-2 pm
Participates: Mats Stjernstedt, director of Malmö Konsthall,  introduces Sun & Sea (in Swedish). A segment of Sun & Sea will be shown after the introduction. The creators Rugilė Barzdžiukaitė, Vaiva Grainytė and Lina Lapelytė, and Mats Stjernstedt are available for subsequent interviews.

Please note, photography during the screening of Sun & Sea at 1 pm is not allowed, instead we refer to the rehearsal at 6 pm or our press photos.

General rehearsal
Monday, November 1 at 6 p.m.

Registration no later than Friday 29 October to johannes.kjellgren@malmo.se

Opening
Sun & Sea opens to the public on November 2 at 1 p.m.

Press Photos
Password "press2021"

Contact:
Johannes Kjellgren
Communications manager Malmö Konsthall
johannes.kjellgren@malmo.se
+46 (0)70 9341289

Information for visitors

Drop in / no bookings in advance.

Each performance loops for four hours, for twelve days. As an audience, you have the opportunity to experience the work for 30 minutes. The audience takes part in the work from a plateau about three meters above the ground. If you visit the exhibition with children; hold the hand of the child throughout the performance. If you visit us in a wheelchair; talk to staff on site and you will be directed to a seat at ground level. The libretto for Sun & Sea will be able to be downloaded free of charge to a smartphone via a QR code on site. It is also possible to buy the printed libretto. The performance & libretto is in English.

Sun & Sea

An opera-performance by Rugilė Barzdžiukaitė, Vaiva Grainytė and Lina Lapelytė

Concept and development: Rugilė Barzdžiukaitė, Vaiva Grainytė and Lina Lapelytė
Director and Set Designer: Rugilė Barzdžiukaitė
Librettist: Vaiva Grainytė
Composer and Music Director: Lina Lapelytė
Curator: Lucia Pietroiusti

Production manager / Stage manager: Erika Urbelevič
Producer: Aušra Simanavičiūtė

Performed by: Svetlana Bagdonaitė, Eglė Paškevičienė, Marco Cisco, Lucas Lopes Pereira, Artūras Miknaitis, Kalliopi Petrou, Nabila Dandara Vieira Santos, Ieva Skorubskaitė, Yates Norton, Elisabetta Trevenzuoli, Annapaola Trevenzuoli, Jonas Statkevičius, Vincentas Korba, Jeronimas Petraitis, Juozas Petraitis, Pranas Petraitis.

Sound Engineer: Tautvydas Navikas

Founding Producers: Neon Realism
Co-Producers: Akademie Schloss Solitude; Goethe-Institut; JCDecaux; Münchner Kammerspiele; National Gallery of Art, Vilnius; Nida Art Colony of Vilnius Academy of Arts; Staatsschauspiel Dresden; The Momentary, Arkansas.

Commissioner (Sun & Sea (Marina), Venice, 2019): Rasa Antanaviciute

Founding Patrons (Sun & Sea (Marina), Venice, 2019): Lithuanian Council for Culture; Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Lithuania; Laurenz Foundation, Basel; Vilnius City Municipality.

The performance is made in partnership with:

The Libraries of Malmö. With support from: The Sweden-Lithuania Cooperation Fund, Swedish Arts Council, Nordic Culture Fund, AkkaFrakt, The Society for the Preservation of Cultural Heritage and Green Parks in Malmö, the Culture Department of Malmö and the Environment Department of Malmö. We also want to thank the Embassy of the Republic of Lithuania.