A Window to the World
In 2021, a Lithuanian artist created a set of large-scale urban portals to allow people from one country to interact in real time with strangers in another. Now he’s expanding. Let’s greet our global neighbors too.
The Idea
In early 2021, when pandemic-induced global isolation was still keeping people apart, Lithuanian artist Benediktas Gylys took an innovative step toward bringing the world closer. He debuted Portals—large, circular “windows” that use digital screens to invite citizens from one country to smile at, wave to and even perform for citizens in a faraway land, and vice versa. He set up the first two fixed-point portals to connect Vilnius, the capital of Lithuania, with Lublin, Poland. In an Instagram video last year, Gylys explained, “It’s not about just connecting two countries. Portals are sculptures that form a global network that is going to act as a bridge to a united planet. [Frequently], the connection rotates between multiple countries on Earth, inviting all of us to meet above borders and differences.”
The first two portals, each approximately 11 feet in diameter, are still in place, and two more took root in early May when New York City and Dublin, Ireland, were connected via livestream, running through the fall and perhaps longer. Piauí, Brazil, is also expected to install a Portal this year. In all, Gylys hopes to install six in 2024 and another 10 in 2025, allowing people in those countries to interact with each other.
No one from Sacramento has yet contacted the team behind Portals, but, “we’d be happy to have a conversation about potentially adding Sacramento to the list of upcoming locations,” wrote the group’s head of partnerships, Nicolas Klaus, in an early April email.
Where would a Sacramento Portal go? We like either Downtown Commons (with the arena—and yes, the Beam—in the background for the world to see, maybe in time for the start of the next NBA season this fall) or the Old Sacramento boardwalk with the Tower Bridge in the frame. Both locations have what we’d need for such an enterprise—robust foot traffic and security to prevent vandalism.
The Players
Perhaps Kings owner Vivek Ranadivé would invest in such a venture for DoCo. Not only does he have an interest in technology—he is the founder of TIBCO Software—but also in globalizing the NBA. Imagine showcasing the Beam in a live feed to Europe, Brazil and beyond. And it doesn’t hurt that Kings star Domantas Sabonis is, like the Portal inventor, Lithuanian. In fact, basketball is the single most popular sport in Lithuania, and Sabonis and his father, Arvydas Sabonis, have both played for the country’s Olympic team. Given his heritage and efforts in building the NBA brand in India, Ranadivé would likely want to see a Portal there as well.
The Bottom Line
Klaus says each sculpture costs just over $200,000 and there is “an annual fee to support ongoing operations.” Maybe the NBA would even help foot the bill. Regardless, the global exposure for the city and the opportunity for Sacramentans to have 24-hour access to people around the world is priceless. And talk about placemaking: You could visit multiple countries over your lunch hour, turning our local public square into, yes, a global public circle.
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