“Spirit as a Journal”: From Vilius Orvidas to Occult Poetry
The Lithuanian Culture Institute has released the tenth issue of its cultural magazine, * as a Journal, titled “Spirit as a Journal.” This milestone issue is dedicated to exploring manifestations of spirituality and authenticity.
The guest editor for this anniversary issue is the writer, poet, and playwright Vaiva Grainytė. According to her, the vision and content of “Spirit as a Journal” matured over nearly a year.
“I wanted to recall figures such as Vilius Orvidas, Antanas Mockus, and Marija Gimbutas, surrounding them with contemporary poetry and themes that examine expressions of spirituality and authenticity. The term ‘Spirit’ felt appropriate and expansive enough to accommodate themes like charisma, personal influence on the contemporary cultural field, unconventional searches for God, the attention economy, fandom practices, the recurring ‘abracadabras’ of imperialist expansion, parallels between Medieval mysticism and ecology, the arithmetic of body and soul, and queer and occult poetry,” says Grainytė.
According to Grainytė, the conceptual design by Laura Varžgalytė and the layout of accompanying visuals allow the magazine to be experienced as a seamless narrative—a journey through “inner wells.” The content ranges from personal and investigative essays and academic texts to conversations, discussions, political satire, poetry, and thought-provoking interdisciplinary pieces.
28 authors—artists, researchers, and writers—guide readers through these “inner wells.” Contributing authors include: Anastasia Sosunova, Ariana Reines, benandsebastian (Ben Clement and Sebastian de la Cour), Eglė Elena Murauskaitė, Elisa Tamarkin, Evie Shockley, Giedrė Kazlauskaitė, Lucia Pietroiusti, Mike Sperlinger, Kotryna Lingienė, Oksana Judakova, Rasa Navickaitė, Sandro Bozzolo, Vaiva Grainytė, and Vilius Dranseika. Visual contributors include: Agata Orlovska, Audrius Naujokaitis, Dovilė Bagdonaitė, Eduardo Sotomayor, Eglė Budvytytė, Jose Barrera, Kamilė Krasauskaitė, Leonardas Surgaila, Modestas Ežerskis, Oyjon Khayrullaeva, Sigitas Baltramaitis, and Vytautas Česnys.
The issue also features the radio play “Twenty-Four” by Arturas Bumšteinas and Vaiva Grainytė, which was shortlisted for the 2026 BBC Audio Drama Awards in the Best European Drama category. By scanning a QR code, readers can listen to the audio recording of the performance.
Vaiva Grainytė’s previous works (the bilingual novel Roses and Potatoes, the poetry collection Gorilla’s Archives, and the essay book Beijing Diaries) have received numerous awards. Her essays have appeared in international publications such as e-flux, MAMbo, and OBIEG. She is a co-author of the opera-performance “Sun & Sea,” which Frieze magazine named one of the best works of the 21st century in 2025; the piece also won the Golden Lion at the 58th Venice Biennale in 2019. Both “Sun & Sea” and her first internationally acclaimed collaborative opera, “Have a Good Day!” (2013), continue to be performed worldwide. Grainytė was awarded the Lithuanian National Prize for Culture and Arts in 2019, and her work has been translated into 15 languages.
Published in English by the Lithuanian Culture Institute since 2021, as a Journal is intended for global readers interested in culture. It provides a unique space for cultural collaboration where Lithuanian and international creators, curators, and researchers meet to reflect on relevant topics from unexpected perspectives.
The magazine changes its title along with the theme it explores. Previous issues have invited readers to discover the forest, space, soundscapes, embodiment, memory, otherness, poetry, the phenomenon of M.K. Čiurlionis, and performance.
In Lithuania, the new issue is available at www.asajournal.lt, the MO Museum bookstore, “Raštinė,” and the M.K. Čiurlionis National Museum of Art in Kaunas. Internationally, the magazine is distributed by Public Knowledge Books; a full list of international retailers can be found at www.asajournal.lt.
Text was translated by AI (edited by V. K. K.)