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RUPERT (Arts and Education Centre) is a non-profit arts and education centre devoted to establish international cooperation between artists, thinkers, researchers and other cultural and contemporary art actors in Lithuania and abroad.
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Located in Vilnius, Lithuania, Rupert focuses on contemporary artistic and curatorial practices whilst remaining open to extensive range of disciplines and encouraging transdisciplinarity.
To fulfill its mission Rupert has initiated four distinct but mutually closely linked programs: educational, residency and exhibition program. These particular programs have been developed in order to support international thinkers to implement their creative projects and establish their professional career internationally. Rupert was established in 2012.
Educational program
Rupert’s educational program is a career-oriented, project based non-academic educational program for young professionals among the field of culture and arts. This program provides emerging artists with an intense list of part-time activities under the guidance of professional artists, curators, writers and other experts as well as advisory on networking and fundraising and assistance on art production.
Once a year Rupert selects a group of people with creative and original project proposals and during nine months of the program provides them with the resources needed to carry out their project ideas and organizes regular lectures, workshops and studio visits to give the participants an opportunity to make connections with professionals of the field and forge international networks. Whether it's producing an artpiece, curating an exhibition, writing a script, starting a publication or creating an institution, during the program each of participants is assigned with a tutor to oversee development of the project and provide mentorship and professional advisory. The educational program is encouraging collaborative and transdiciplinary approach to the education process and creative development.
Residency program
For established artists Rupert offers residency program as a support for their individual project development and implementation whilst working in a studio space in Vilnius. During the time spent at Rupert's Residency, the residents are establishing connections with the participants, tutors and guest lecturers of Rupert's educational program, which are considered to be a beneficial agenda for both Lithuanian and foreign participants.
During three seasons Rupert has hosted more than 20 residents from Lithuania and abroad: Felicia Atkinson & Bartolome Sanson, Nick Bastis, David Bernstein, Alberto García del Castillo, Lucas Dillon, Aurimas Gaižauskas, Allison Gibbs, Daniel J. Glendening, Linas Lapinskas, Julija Matulytė, Maya Mikelsone, Aapo Nikkanen, Søren Rosenbak, Sebastian Rozenberg, Carl Palm, Chloe Cooper, Natalia Valencia, Tamar Latzman, Ania Molenda, Mariona Moncunill, Jurgis Paškevičius
Exhibition program
Since 2013 Rupert is developing an unconventional Exhibition Program. Rupert's gallery space is used as a supportive space for the Educational Program's activities and events.
Up until now Rupert has organized four exhibitions: "Fast Flux. New Art From Lithuania" in collaboration with Network Architecture Lab @ Studio-X NYC, The Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation at Columbia University in NYC (2013); "The Jerusalem of Europe" by Dora García (2013), "Lia Perjovschi: Knowledge Museum Kit & Dan Perjovschi: Time Specific"(2014) and "An Artist and a Rover" at ARTVILNIUS'14 (2014).
Art Mantica
Art Mantica is introductory lecture course on contemporary art and art collecting. For each event there is a selected speaker among experienced artists and curators, art advisors, art professors and heads of established professional art institutions from all over the world invited to give lectures and talks on various topics regarding contemporary art.
Rupert has shaped the program both for newcomers of the art world and regular enthusiasts and experts alike, providing range of ways to get a unique perspective on learning, understanding, collecting, exhibiting, creating and producing contemporary art by illuminating the top characters in the scene of art and pointing out worth-visiting art museums and art fairs.
During the first season Art Mantica has hosted lectures by Anders Kold (Louisiana Museum of Modern Art), Henrik B. Andersen, Vita Zaman (IBID Projects, VIENNAFAIR), Lolita Jablonskienė (National Gallery of Art, Lithuania), Anders Kreuger, and Francesca Ferrarini (Looklateral).
Advisory board
Currently there are 14 members recruited on Rupert's advisory board. The members are qualified experts, artists, curators, philosophers, theorists and other specialists and representatives from established art institutions in Lithuania and abroad.
Building
Since June 2013 Rupert has been based in the premises of incubator for creative industries, located in the outskirts of Vilnius, Valakampiai district, next to the river Neris. The building of arts incubator was designed by Lithuanian architect company Audrius Ambrasas Architects and built on the site of a shop beside a former bus terminus in 2013. The ground floor has a hall used for exhibitions and events, public reading room, office spaces and a conference hall, the basement features a space suited for computer art workshops and archive, whereas artists' studio premises are located on the second floor of the building.