Clap and Slap

The performance CLAP & SLAP explores a complex and paralysing tension which emerged in Eastern Europe (and between Lithuania and Belarus specifically), following Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine on February 24th 2022. This tension is examined through historical, political, geographical, and social lenses, alongside the personal experiences of Agnietė and Igor.

Being politically engaged in the events of the Belarusian revolution in 2020, Igor participated in protests in Belarus, while Agnietė participated in demonstrations in front of the Belarusian embassy in Vilnius. Igor was forced to leave his homeland; Agnietė made the decision not to collaborate with Russian-speaking artists.

Today, meeting on the same stage, these two artists make an attempt at a dialogue that seems impossible outside of art: dialogue between fear and the necessity of action, between collective and personal responsibilities, between personal tragedy and geopolitical catastrophe.

Without naive ambition to find solutions to political or military conflicts, the performance hopes to invoke political and philosophical reflection upon our own ability to distinguish responsibility and guilt, nationalism and patriotism, self-defence and aggression, seeking to trust and trying to protect. How can we maintain a balance between the need for self-defense and the risk of mirroring the very aggression we are fighting against? Can we respect each other’s differences, uphold personal beliefs, and protect individual freedoms without infringing on others’ rights?

This is the line of questioning, to which Agnietė and Igor expose themselves and their audience.