Rumšiškės, central Lithuania

16 June 2025 – 29 October 2025

Creative practitioner: multidisciplinary artist and educator Eglė Gudonytė

Curators: Milda Laužikaitė, Saulė Norkutė

20 6th-grade students (aged 11-12)

Rumšiškės is a small town in central Lithuania with a population of around 1,300. The town is best known for the Open-Air Museum of Lithuania, one of the largest in Europe, showcasing traditional rural life, architecture, and culture from various regions of the country. The town’s inhabitants have little to no connection with the museum, except for those who work there.

According to surveys and focus groups on mental health conducted by the district Youth Council, young people in the area report a lack of trusted adult confidantes. They perceive teachers and other school staff as focusing more on punishment than on addressing underlying causes. Their connections with teachers are limited, often constrained by institutional rules, and communication from adults in schools and other institutions is largely top-down. Many also report having distant relationships with their parents or carers.

Regarding the chosen group of 6th graders, teachers view them as a class that often causes disruption but becomes active and engaged when interested.

To explore how engaging in the learning and practice of interview techniques can activate and cultivate meaningful partnerships between youth and adults.

Positive experience of encounters and partnerships with adults.

Increased value attributed to relationships and partnerships between adults and young people.

Complete a group task together, demonstrating cooperation and shared responsibility.

During 8 creative sessions, the practicing artist Eglė explored the relationship with adults together with a sixth-grade class. They learned how to formulate questions, conduct interviews with peers and adults, gained knowledge of how to use professional equipment for filming, photography, and sound recording, and developed teamwork skills.

The sessions took place outside the school: travelling outdoors, interviewing passersby, visiting cultural institutions, exploring a professional podcast studio, and reflecting on how a well-crafted question can open or close the possibilities for a sincere conversation.

The students, assigned different roles, set up a recording studio and invited high school teachers and staff for interviews. For the first time, they asked teachers questions as people, not in their professional roles. The teachers appreciated the class’s focus and professionalism.

The entire process culminated in a student-organised event, during which they presented their filmed and edited interviews to other students and invited them to engage through various interactive tasks and questions.

Students reported the ability to collaborate effectively in group activities.

Students experienced different types of positive interactions with adults, including making and learning to conduct interviews.

Students reported that the atmosphere in their class has changed and that they have become more friendly towards each other.

Students reported that they have made new friends.

Teachers reported that during and after the project, students could concentrate for longer periods of time in class.

New methods and teaching approaches were learned and applied in practice.