We would like to present an archive dedicated to “Saturno Jaunuoliai” or “The Saturn Youth Group”, a Lithuanian radical anarchist group active in-between 1910-1920. The group was making plans for inhabiting Saturn and establishing a utopian commune on this planet. During the First World War group members were located all over Europe, however, even though they were far away from each other, they were united by one aim – to establish their ground in Saturn and to find ways to move there.
The prophetic organisation has vanished into the abyss with just a few documents left available for researchers. Scattered diaries, photographs, posters and maquettes, created by enigmatic members of the group, tell us a story of rethinking colonisation on a planetary scale, searching for new ways of coexistence and alternative ecologies. Visualising a happier life on Saturn, the group criticised the problems of their times – expansive and nationalistic politics of the leading states, accelerating economy and the lack of empathy in society. Big dreamers that “The Saturn Youth Group” were have disappeared, having left little trace, and it is up for us to address their legacy today.
The speculative archive and its interpretations are presented as part of collaboration of artist collective SID YOUNG and artist Saule Noreikaite, where viewers are given an opportunity to distinguish the factual from the fictional for themselves. The audience is invited to think together with the artists on how can we collectively repurpose the utopian ideas of “The Saturn Youth Group” and utilise them to create a healthier community right now and not in the distant future, on a planet far far away.

The exhibition is organised by „SID YOUNG“, Saulė Noreikaitė, Lithuanian Interdisciplinary Artists’ Association and VšĮ “Marginalia”.

Courtesy of the artists and Atletika gallery
Photocredit Laurynas Skeisgiela