{"id":44992,"date":"2026-01-23T18:26:03","date_gmt":"2026-01-23T16:26:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.vilniuskc.lt\/?p=44992"},"modified":"2026-03-24T18:27:27","modified_gmt":"2026-03-24T16:27:27","slug":"boris-acket-star-artist-of-the-vilnius-light-festival-every-person-dreams-of-flying","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.vilniuskc.lt\/en\/boris-acket-star-artist-of-the-vilnius-light-festival-every-person-dreams-of-flying\/","title":{"rendered":"Boris Acket, star artist of the Vilnius Light Festival: Every person dreams of flying"},"content":{"rendered":"

As winter twilight settles over Vilnius, the city\u2019s frantic pace dissolves into a meditative stillness. In this softened light, the urban landscape opens up, allowing the quiet moods of the streets \u2013 and our own internal reflections \u2013 to finally be heard. Starting this Friday, the Vilnius Light Festival transforms St. Catherine\u2019s Church into a sanctuary for reflection. At the heart of the experience is\u00a0The Bird of a Thousand Voices<\/em>\u00a0by internationally acclaimed artist Boris Ackett \u2013 a mesmerizing fusion of light and sound designed to be felt rather than merely seen. The installation challenges visitors to explore the delicate boundary between imagination and illusion.<\/p>\n

An artist who speaks the language of the senses<\/strong><\/p>\n

Boris Acket, a contemporary artist and composer living in the Netherlands, makes no secret of the fact that he likes to think rationally and experiment at the same time, balancing between structure and uncertainty, leaving space for materials, light, sound, and movement. His art is not an object to be seen, but a state to be entered.<\/p>\n

The artist admits that the beginnings of his creative work are linked to electronic music and club culture, which is why sound remains one of the most important elements of all his works to this day.<\/p>\n

\u201cSound and music are the starting point for almost everything we do in the studio,\u201d says Boris Acket. Sometimes it becomes an abstract instrument and forms the basis of the work itself, sometimes it becomes a visually narrative form.<\/p>\n

While his work is underpinned by complex engineering, technology never takes center stage;\u00a0 instead, it dissolves into the experience. \u201cThe integrity of technology is important to me. If you understand a work of art in the first minute, but it still remains magical and you can watch it endlessly, then you have discovered something real,\u201d says Acket, comparing technology to natural phenomena: water flows downward because of gravity, and in that, there is an infinite simplicity.<\/p>\n

The Bird of a Thousand Voices<\/em><\/strong>: where myth meets Leonardo da Vinci\u2019s ideas<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Bird of a Thousand Voices<\/em>, a work embodying man\u2019s desire to fly, is an impressive installation, a 12 x 7 m mechanical structure inspired by the Armenian folk tale\u00a0The Bird of a Thousand Voices<\/em>, staged in the performance by Armenian jazz pianist Tigran Hamasyan and director Ruben van Leer.<\/p>\n

Inspired by a mythological bird found in various cultures, often symbolizing resurrection and spiritual awakening, Acket weaves together myth, Leonardo da Vinci\u2019s visionary aeronautical sketches, and cutting-edge technology.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a story that transcends language, culture, and origin.\u00a0 Every person dreams of flying,\u201d says the artist. Though Da Vinci\u2019s machines never left the ground, the dream of flight remains a universal, unifying force. The installation becomes a reflection on illusion and belief.<\/p>\n

In recent years, Boris Acket has been turning more and more to nature \u2013 not as a romanticized image, but as a space for experience and listening. This shift was greatly influenced by his acquaintance with Gordon Hempton, an acoustic ecologist, sound researcher, and documentary filmmaker known worldwide for his efforts to preserve quiet places dominated by natural sounds, and sociologist Ryan van den Born. The artist\u2019s works resemble peculiar contemporary shrines \u2013 places of silence, listening, and ritual.<\/p>\n

It is no coincidence that\u00a0The Bird of a Thousand Voices<\/em>\u00a0finds its home within the singular sanctuary of a church. Here, technology, sound, light, and imagination merge into a single mystical experience that invites you not to seek answers, but to ask questions. Ultimately, the installation poses the most vital question of all: in what should we believe?\u00a0 Is it in what we see before us, or in the unseen forces we simply feel?<\/p>\n

Boris Acket\u2019s works have been presented and evaluated at numerous international events:\u00a0Mutek MX<\/em>\u00a0in Mexico City,\u00a0Dark Matter<\/em>\u00a0in Berlin, Amsterdam:\u00a0Stedelijk<\/em>\u00a0and\u00a0Van Gogh<\/em>\u00a0museums,\u00a0Amsterdam Dance Event<\/em>,\u00a0Holland Festival<\/em>,\u00a0NXT Museum,<\/em>\u00a0Milan Salone del Mobile\u00a0<\/em>in Milan,\u00a0Paris Fashion Week<\/em>, and elsewhere.<\/p>\n

At the Vilnius Light Festival on January 23\u201325, Boris Ackett\u2019s installation\u00a0The Bird of a Thousand Voices\u00a0<\/em>will invite you to listen and believe for a moment in what is fragile and temporary.<\/p>\n

The festival program is available on the website\u00a0lightfestival.lt<\/a>\u00a0and in the new mobile app \u2013\u00a0App Store<\/em>\u00a0https:\/\/bit.ly\/vlf_app<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0 or\u00a0Google Play<\/em>\u00a0https:\/\/bit.ly\/vlf_app1<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As winter twilight settles over Vilnius, the city\u2019s frantic pace dissolves into a meditative stillness. In this softened light, the urban landscape opens up, allowing the quiet moods of the streets \u2013 and our own internal reflections \u2013 to finally be heard. Starting this Friday, the Vilnius Light Festival transforms St. Catherine\u2019s Church into a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":44993,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-44992","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vilniuskc.lt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44992","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vilniuskc.lt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vilniuskc.lt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vilniuskc.lt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vilniuskc.lt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=44992"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.vilniuskc.lt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44992\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":44998,"href":"https:\/\/www.vilniuskc.lt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44992\/revisions\/44998"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vilniuskc.lt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/44993"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vilniuskc.lt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=44992"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vilniuskc.lt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=44992"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vilniuskc.lt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=44992"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}