It won top prize at Venice Biennale for its experimental opera exploring the effects of consumerism, mass tourism and global warming, but Lithuania’s usually empty pavilion is a reminder of the financial strain of creating performance art, writes Elisabetta Povoledo.
‘In the minutes before a daylong performance of “Sun & Sea (Marina),” the Lithuanian opera that won the Golden Lion for best pavilion at this year’s Venice Biennale, the scene backstage was moderate mayhem.
Italians, Lithuanians, even two Americans — all volunteers — stripped out of street clothes to don bathing suits and pack beach bags with magazines, books, snacks and other essential seaside amenities. They had answered an online call for unpaid extras “to experience the artwork from the inside” at the Lithuanian pavilion.’ … Keep reading on The New York Times