Baras: old films - new scores

'BARAS. Contemporary Lithuanian Composers Scores to Artūras Barysas Short Films 1972–1982' album and films presentation

Prior to forming the group IVTKYGYG ('And all that is beautiful is beautiful') with Arturas Šlipavicius Vilnius-born dissenter/cult artist Arturas 'Baras' Barysas was already notable for being a connoisseur of late 20thc experimental music, biblio-enthusiasms and reputation as film auteur. In spite of his 'outsider' status he continued to win awards at various prestigious European Film Festivals culminating in 2002 when a program of his films were screened at The Horse Hospital, London by British rogue curator/performer David Ellis. Ellis's advocacy of both Barysas and IVTKYGYG following Barysas's London visit eventually resulted in 2018 in a collaboration with Strut Records founder Quinton Scott who conjured the idea of a multi-disc anthology boxset with accompanying material. Whilst reviewing Baras's films and plans to screen them it became evident they couldn't be screened publically given these meticulously edited soundtracks were unusable due to copyright restriction. Robert Kundrotas, friend and advocate of Baras assembled a cohort of contemporary Lithuanian composers many of who'd been influenced directly or indirectly by Baras. Having been commissioned by Zona Records these composers selected one or two films from the archive as source for their own 'free' interpretation, own soundscores.  

With the generous support of the Lithuanian Council for culture and AGATA, Zona Music releases the compilation LP 'BARAS. Contemporary Lithuanian Composers Scores to Artūras Barysas Short Films 1972–1982' on two vinyl records (2LP), compact discs (CD) and in high resolution files. The album presents the cream of Lithuanian experimental sound artists: Šarūnas Nakas, Gintas K, Wejdas, Arturas Bumšteinas, „Haruspic“ (Artūras Šlipavičius & Vytautas Labutis), „Banachtarski“ (Armantas Gečiauskas & Antanas Dombrovskij), „Girnų Giesmės“, „entropija“, McKaras, „avija/devita“, Antanas Dombrovskij ir „Oorchach".

This project will premiere with the recently digitalized films and new soundscores. This unique occasion will give the opportunity to meet with the composers plus Quinton Scott, David Ellis and experimental film advisor Lijana Siuchina who will digress on the significance of both Baras, IVTYGYG and the new release beyond the 'underground', beyond Lithuania and the Baltics.