Dovydas Kiauleikis: “Culture is currently experiencing a strong rise” | Culture

At the moment, Dovydas has one foot in the publishing house “Kitos knogos” and the other in the magazine “Literatūra ir menas”, so we talk regarding today’s cultural pulse, participants and observers, cultural press and daily challenges in such an interesting and unstable field as culture.

– I saw you for the first time a dozen years ago at a meeting of a magazine for which we both wrote at the time. Then you kept stopping by the bookstore “Eureka!”. I remember that during one such visit to the bookstore, you pretended to want to work in the field of culture and then very quickly plunged headlong into work on Other Books and other activities. Why exactly then did you decide to enter this, at least financially, really risky field?

– I see great meaning in culture, it affects all of our lives. In my eyes, only education is more important than her for society, but I don’t have the qualities necessary to work there.

Pathos aside, I like to work, to delve deeper, I like unclear boundaries, where is work and where is no longer, and this is especially characteristic of the cultural field. I have worked in creative agencies, it was difficult to find much motivation for dumplings or bank advertising, although I still felt so much that I bought those dumplings and opened a bank account – it is important for me to get as deep as possible.

Now, when work requires me to read a book or go to a film festival, I don’t feel like I’m working. No matter where I work – at the “Kitos knygos” publishing house, at the “Bear, Lion and Branch” film company, with “Vasaros knygyn” in Nida, with various festivals and cultural publications – I get involved everywhere, crossing the narrow boundaries of my duties.

And the fact that I ended up where I am today was greatly influenced by Dalia Blinstrubienė, a teacher at the Žvērynas high school during my school days – I would like to take this opportunity to thank her.

– What expectations and goals did you have when you came to work at “Literature and Art”? Or, approxdid your attitude change when you got your feet wet in the editorial office?

– I was always interested in the media, I studied at the university in London, following returning to Lithuania I worked in the “Kaunos dienos” group, we founded the magazine “N WIND” with like-minded people.

I consume (I deliberately do not say “read”) a lot of media, but I read almost nothing.

In “Litmeni” I always found at least one interesting, surprising, instructive, enjoyable text, so why not try to multiply such texts?

I got to know the editor Lina Laura Švedaite, found a common language and got involved.

My arrival coincided with the changes that started in the editorial office – it was necessary to rethink what this magazine should be, how to get out of age-long inertia, how to live with extremely limited resources, how to expand the circle of authors and readers, how to spread the word regarding the magazine. In other words, challenges – even if you carry them with a cart, you won’t solve them quickly.

– Now every exhibition or festival has a carousel of accompanying events, the intensity of which makes users dizzy, but without them, people simply won’t come. What does it take for readers to willingly subscribe, buy, read cultural press? Do you see positive changes in this direction?

– Culture is currently experiencing a strong upswing – we not only have many great creators, but also people who are interested in the work of others, observe it, and actively live a cultural life. This is, of course, most noticeable in big cities.

There’s been a lot of talk lately regarding the availability of high-quality culture in smaller cities, and I think that discussion alone speaks to the need for culture everywhere.

The cultural press has always been necessary, but now that the general climate has changed, I think it no longer needs to make excuses and constantly try to justify its necessity. Naturally, one wants to reflect, analyze and get to know such an active cultural life.

On the big portals, promotional content prepared by cultural operators prevails, on social networks, discussions boil in rather small bubbles, so the cultural press is a medium where original content spreads, wider independent discussions, processes are professionally commented, analyzed, etc.

My positivity is based on the stable circulation of the cultural press, which has not been decreasing for a long time. For example, when “Literature and Art” in 2018 from a weekly turned into a fortnight, the circulation of the magazine was 1300 copies. Today, the circulation of the latest issue dedicated to contemporary dance is 1400 copies. And if we add an ever-growing online readership, the spread of content is growing.

Of course, changes are needed – both in the cultural press itself, in its funding models, and in its communication, but these are continuous processes, part of our work. In general, the climate is now favorable for the cultural press.

– So how do you change “Literature and Art”?

– Openness, cooperation and other perspectives are three important keywords. We want to print texts that are understandable and relevant for all those interested in culture. We want the magazine to be important and necessary for the cultural community, so that field discussions take place here, we want to be a significant part of the cultural process.

We actively seek to establish, maintain, and expand relations with artists and participants in the cultural field regarding information, content, and joint projects. For example, in April we prepared a special issue dedicated to the topic of contemporary dance.

This year, we decided to focus on cultures that are less visible in the Lithuanian public space – we established cooperation with the press of neighboring countries, in January we published a special issue, most of which was prepared by Finnish cultural journalists.

In the pages of the magazine, we pay attention to non-Hollywood films, we review books translated from languages ​​other than English (English is mostly translated in Lithuania), and we print publicist articles from the press of other countries.

It is not uncommon to negotiate permissions to reprint without infringing copyright. We want the magazine not to look at cultural processes with sharp criticism, but to present alternatives and look for other perspectives.

– In your text “There are too many women in culture”, which caused a lot of discussion, you raised questions regarding the relationship between women and men and their earnings in the field of culture. There are more men than women in the current editorial staff of “Literature and Art”. I ask half-jokingly – was that the intention?

– The most important thing in the magazine is the authors. It is important to pay decent fees, to communicate clearly, to encourage not to be afraid of new perspectives and bold topics. Lithuania is very small, all media face the same problem, competing for the same writers.

Our current editorial is microscopic, so deriving any proportions does not seem appropriate. The gender of the authors of the texts is also not important, the balance is more important. “Litmenye” ​​manager the editor is Lina Laura Švedaitė, we think alike with her and complement each other’s weaknesses with our strengths. I like to work as a duo the most, I’ve always worked that way in the last more than 10 years, it’s always worked out.

I wrote the text you mentioned more than a year ago, but it still comes back to me like a boomerang, I will probably be labeled an anti-feminist for a long time, even though it was just a thought experiment, an attempt to look at the problems of the cultural field from a different angle. I’m glad it became a strong impetus for the Art Workers’ Union, I know a lot of people have revised their rates and working practices since it was published.

– I remember your text, in which you urged culturists to do less for more than doing a lot of things for nothing. And regarding the fact that we do a lot of work out of inertia, just because we’ve always done it that way. I thought a lot regarding the fact that in most cases it is not worth doing a book presentation at all, but on the other hand, then the book is as if “attached” to the event of the cultural field, and even people who were not there, seeing the recording or photos, indirectly participate in it. What do you think regarding the prospects of literary events and book presentations?

– In the editorial office, I often ask why we print specific material – is it just because we need to fill the pages? This is the most effective question to fight once morest inertia, because then you do everything with a purpose, actions have logic and meaning, and efforts are no longer spared. Maybe the text is not magical, but it was written by a novice author who needs to be supported. Perhaps the next text will anger those mentioned in it, but it boldly reveals a new perspective. And we do not add this, even though an authoritative name is written, but nothing new has been said on this topic.

Same with the book launch, why are you doing it? Maybe it’s just a celebration for the author. This might be, as you write, a means of spreading the word regarding the book on social networks, although the event was not attended by many spectators. It can be a part of community, literary processes, an important discussion – it’s just needed.

I read a comment by Andriaus Jakučiūnas, in which he compared book presentations to mass – not many people attend, but they have to take place because of tradition.

– Your initiative “Vasaros knygynas” operates in Nida during the warm season – how did the idea of ​​opening such a bookstore come regarding and what experiences or curiosities did you gain during those years?

– I saw a friend’s complaint on Facebook that there was no place to buy a book in Nida, and it became clear that such a place was needed there. We have created a real bookstore – only books are sold here, I know exactly why each one is on the shelf of the Nida bookstore.

There were many adventures and pleasant moments, but the birds made me laugh the most. Last year, swallows crawled into the porch of the bookstore and scratched the books with their poop. But the old ones didn’t do so well, because they kept hitting the books wrapped in film – the damage was easily removed.