Lithuania's pavilion at the 2019 Venice Biennale presents "Sun & Sea (Marina)," an opera about a day at the beach that serves as a subtle, chilling commentary on climate change. Viewers observe performers lounging on a sandy tableau from a balcony, as they sing about mundane inconveniences and environmental apathy. The work, created by theater director Rugilė Barzdžiukaitė, playwright Vaiva Grainytė, and composer Lina Lapelytė, was adapted into English for the biennale and organized by Lucia Pietroiusti of London's Serpentine Galleries.
This piece matters because it offers a refreshingly non-didactic approach to ecological art, avoiding the preachiness and literal imagery that often plague climate change works. By focusing on everyday human resignation and self-absorption, "Sun & Sea" implicates viewers in the slow, soft unfolding of environmental crisis. Its innovative format—part opera, part participatory installation—has made it a leading contender for the Golden Lion, highlighting how art can engage with urgent global issues through subtlety and emotional resonance rather than alarmism.