RadioRadioRadio Vilnius Gathering
Between 22-25 May, representatives of partner radio stations participating in the Erasmus+ 'RadioRadioRadio' project, together with additional members of ICRN, gathered in Vilnius, Lithuania for a four-day exchange programme focused on community media, independent broadcasting, technical infrastructure, and youth engagement. The four days were co-organised by ICRN's co-founder Samantha Lippett and local station Radio Vilnius.
Friday was centred on listening practices in the context of the arts and cultural centre Sapiegų rūmai. Our visit started with an opening presentation by local musician Domininkas Kunčinas, who is also the founder of Ore.lt — one of Lithuania's oldest independent music magazines, founded in 1998. Domininkas presented on the current Sound Room display, which is part of the exhibition Housekeeping in a Dangerous Time. The display includes the personal music archives of collectors from Lithuania's underground and alternative music scene, with a particular focus on the early days of independence, when music circulation was scarce and the bootleg became an essential part of music distribution and discovery.
This presentation was followed by a sound-walk around the Antakalnis district led by composer Dominykas Digimas, which encouraged active listening in a walk highlighting the contrasting landscape of the district — from busy streets and neighbourhoods to forests — and how listening more intently can shape our experience of urban environments into internal 'compositions'. In the evening, we also attended the events series 'Meetings' at the local independent space Sodas2123, with performances by Martyna Basta, ievaie & Natas Kunas and Allosci.
Saturday took place at the Reading Room of Lithuania's Contemporary Art Centre (CAC), in Vilnius Old Town. Participating radio stations introduced their work, community, structure, achievements and challenges, offering valuable insight into the many aspects we share despite being based in such distinct contexts, including shared concerns around sustainability (in its many forms). This was followed by three talks and workshops.
The first was centred on technical infrastructure and collaboration, in which Jack (Refuge Worldwide) and Endré (Lahmacun) presented on the ICRN working group ‘Tending Infrastructure Together’, in which participants exchanged experiences related to web development, streaming platforms, archiving and other technical aspects of running independent radio stations — and how we might combine this knowledge to produce an ICRN wiki.
We were also joined by Karolis Vyšniauskas from the Lithuanian journalism platform NARA, where participants learned about their approach to independent journalism, podcast production and responsible storytelling. Karolis also gave context to local challenges, such as Lithuania's geopolitical position and the recent cultural strikes led by Kultūros asamblėja. This opened up a wider discussion about strategies for maintaining strength and motivation for our independent cultural work during socially and politically challenging times.
The day ended with a creative sound workshop by Michael Holland, whereby participants were invited to engage in an improvised live composition. You can listen to the full recording here. In the evening participants met at Adata, a local listening bar, where we shared and connected over our personal music collections and vinyl.
On Sunday we met at Naugarduko street market, collecting local ingredients for a shared brunch in the sun outside the studio of Radio Vilnius. Here participants were introduced to the station's facilities and working methods while making an open broadcast, which led to several other radio shows being created the following day — with Jack, Alba and Bettina, Reinis and Michael.
In the afternoon, we travelled to Retrìto smarsas, a DIY, artist-run venue, studio and community space. Local sound artist Kamilė Dambrauskaitė gave a tour of the building, which concluded in an open discussion about the challenge of maintaining physical space in the changing economic conditions of the cities and cultural spaces we inhabit. The visit ended with a live concert by international artists KUNTARI and HOMO.
Not only did the gathering bring about new connections between radios, but ideas for future collaboration have also started to take shape — a reminder of how much independent radio stations across Europe have to share and gain by working together.
This gathering was co-organised by ICRN and Radio Vilnius, and was supported by Erasmus as part of the project 'RadioRadioRadio — as well as the many local partners who hosted us over the weekend. It was attended by representatives from Radio Vilnius, Tīrkultūra, Seyðisfjörður Community Radio, Lahmacun Radio, Radio Buena Vida, Sydhavnsbølgen Community Radio, Refuge Worldwide and Dublin Digital Radio.
