Public space and memory topics constantly reoccur in the European discourses on art and history. There are numbers of successful and meaningful commemorational projects realized in Europe and elsewhere. However, a great number of public monuments are still produced according to traditional clichés, which neither move human senses, nor liven up our memory.
Although the main subject of the course was contemporary solutions for suggestive memorials, a particular topic was chosen as a common point of reference. Working on their memorial projects students concentrated on mass deportations of Lithuanians to Siberia before and after the Second World War. This topic was chosen because of its stunning historical significance and obvious lack of adequate memorials to commemorate the tragedy. More so, mass deportations in the first half of the twentieth century are as topical in many European, especially East European, countries as they are in Lithuania.
During 1940–1953, some 132,000 Lithuanians were deported to remote areas of the USSR: Siberia, the Arctic Circle zone and Central Asia. They were not allowed to leave remote villages. More than 70 percent of the deportees were women and children. Some 30,000 of the deportees died there mostly because of slave work and starvation. Some 50,000 of the deportees were not able to return to Lithuania. Every third Lithuanian became a victim of Soviet terror.
Course structure
Intensive course consisted of theoretical lectures, workshops, guided field trips and independent research. The first half of the course was devoted to lectures, presentations, film reviews, field trips and discussions. The second half was left for the workshops. The course ended by public presentation of created projects.
Participants split into five groups. Each group had a tutor, who guided students during the workshops. Students could collaborate or work individually. They were offered to choose one of the foreseen public spaces in Vilnius and develop their projects for it. Participants used studios, inventory and equipment available at the Vilnius Academy of Arts.
Guest speakers came for one week each, gave presentations, consulted students in their projects and participated in field trips.
Course program included field trips to Kaunas, Vilnius vicinities and the Soviet Sculpture Museum as well as excursions within Vilnius visiting historical sites and monuments. Teaching program included Reading material, which expands on contemporary monuments, topic of the intensive course and other relevant issues.
The course aimed at developing contemporary memorial culture and creating new ways to awaken consciousness towards European history. Hopefully, the course encouraged tutors to include this subject into their pedagogical practices thus broadening the curriculum of the participating institutions.
At the end of the course participating students got 5 ECTS credits.