NOT WHAT WE AGREED – Immersive Audiovisual Performance 2025

The immersive audiovisual performance NOT WHAT WE AGREED returns for one special weekend this year!

NOT WHAT WE AGREED is an immersive audiovisual performance that unites the Deaf community and professional performers from the hearing world. Music, video art, artistic expression in Sign Language, and an immersive sound experience come together here.

During the performance, the audience will experience original works created throughout the project: sign language poetry and songs written both in Lithuanian Sign Language and International Signs, as well as in spoken Lithuanian and English, accompanied by a live band with original music. The works will be experienced on a low-frequency platform that amplifies sensory perception.

This performance invites you to reconsider what language truly is — and to ask yourself: do we really only listen with our ears?

Artistic director and project initiator Dominykas Vaitiekūnas began researching Deaf culture and music in 2020. Having explored the Deaf tradition of signed songs, he invited Deaf community members not merely to replicate existing songs created by the hearing, but to dive into the fascinating world of original creation — merging what seem like two opposite worlds: sound and silence, Deaf and hearing, perfection and authenticity, self and other.

All tickets for the November 2024 premiere were sold out. For his work on this project, Dominykas Vaitiekūnas, a musician and actor, was awarded the Borisas Dauguvietis’ Earring and the Lithuanian Ministry of Culture Prize for Cultural Education Excellence 2024.

*IMPORTANT! Strong low-frequency sounds will be used during the performance. People with pacemakers or other health concerns are advised to assess potential health risks.

PERFORMERS AND TEAM:
Participating: Dominykas Vaitiekūnas, pianist Austėja Marija Kimbartaitė, drummer Martynas Stoškus, guitarist Matas Ričkus, sign language literature creators Arūnas Bražinskas, Nina Šamakova, Arnoldas Matulis, Justina Čiplytė, and performers singing in sign language Gabija Varenkevičiūtė, Paulius Jurjonas, Rūta Mingailaitė, Arnas Dambrauskas, Lea Milašauskė, Vilius Glušokas, Šarūnas Zdanavičius, among others.

Lecturer in Sign Language Poetry: Debbie Zacko Rennie
Lecturer in Sign Language Lyrics: Marko Vuoriheimo
Video Artist: Kristijonas Dirsė
Choreographers: Mantas Stabačinskas, Agnietė Lisičkinaitė
Music Producer: Jokūbas Tulaba
Sound Engineer: Mantas Tamulionis
Sign Language Literature Coordinator: Anželika Teresė
Sign Language Editor: Nijolė Pivorienė
Project Consultant: Kęstutis Vaišnora
Sign Language Interpreter: Julija Pugačiauskaitė
Producers: Domantė Tirylytė, Giedrius Petkevičius
Communication Specialists: Živilė Brazė, Fausta Junelytė

Event duration: 90 minutes

Tickets available at: kakava.lt

Information Partner: LRT (Lithuanian Radio and Television)

Project Partners: Lithuanian Association of the Deaf, Kaunas Culture Centre, Kaunas Deaf Centre, Videoprojektai, Lithuanian Diversity Charter, Pencil & Lion, Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theatre.