Monday, October 3, 2016

The Lithuanian Project

Image copyright Barry Fauk

Inspired by Henri Cartier Bresson's The Europeans, a group of photographers decided to head to Lithuania to explore what defines modern Europe.

Since Cartier-Bresson's work, the European Union has expanded and the single currency has been introduced, yet the continent is currently going through turbulent times.

Over six days, photographers from the MAP6 collective set out to see how Lithuania had adapted from communism to capitalism.

Soviet bunker

Image copyright Barry Fauk

Barry Fauk photographed a bunker within a former Soviet telecommunications centre now used for educational purposes.

Image copyright Barry Fauk

"Within this set space is the re-enactment: an actor is employed to issue out a torrent of abuse at the audience," writes Fauk.

"It is a one man tour de force, a piece of absurdist theatre designed to highlight the absurdity of real events.

Afterwards the actor, in full KGB uniform, asks the audience whether they like their freedom - the implicit message being that the absurdities and horrors of the past need to be remembered so as not to be repeated."

Divided Lives

Image copyright Heather Shuker

Heather Shuker concentrated on Lithuania's Dieveniskes and Salcininkai, a region surrounded on nearly all sides by Belarus, borders that had little relevance when the countries were part of the Soviet Union.

Image copyright Heather Shuker

But today, some villages have been divided and find themselves on either side of the border.

Shuker met some of those affected, and, working with a translator, recorded their experiences and the connections now lost.

Image copyright Heather Shuker

Babochka

Image copyright Laurie Griffiths and Jonty Tacon

Photographers Laurie Griffiths and Jonty Tacon photographed in the Lithuanian town of Visagina, once home to the country's only nuclear power station, which was shut down in 2009, a condition of Lithuania's membership of the European Union.

The town's purpose was to house the plant's workers, who once supplied up to 80% of Lithuania's electric power.

Image copyright Laurie Griffiths and Jonty Tacon
Image copyright Laurie Griffiths and Jonty Tacon
Image copyright Laurie Griffiths and Jonty Tacon

Televizijos Bokstas

Image copyright Paul Walsh

In 1991, at least 13 people were killed and more than 140 injured when Soviet forces opened fire on those gathered at the television tower in Vilnius, the capital of Lithuania, in an attempt to crush the country's move towards independence.

Image copyright Paul Walsh

On the 25th anniversary year of the siege, Paul Walsh circled the tower, with each circuit moving further out into the city.

Pounding the streets, he covered 170km (100 miles) in six days, photographing the tower and those he met on the way.

Image copyright Paul Walsh

The Lithuania Project can be seen at the Onca Gallery until 16 October as part of the Brighton Photo Fringe.

© All photographs courtesy MAP6

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