Why Užupis?

 

Why Užupis?

Užupis is a district of Vilnius, the capital of Lithuania, partially located in the Old Town, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Definition of Užupis (“behind the river" in Lithuanian) reflects well its historic location behind the city wall and furthermore behind the river. Some 5 000 people live in this neighbourhood; however, Google search engine provides some 196,000 references to this places and its people.    

13 years ago a group of artists started a brave societal experiment of engaging all society groups living in then dilapidated neighbourhood that suffered from the municipal, communal and political neglect. The fundamental founding idea behind the concept of the artists’ Republic of Užupis was to give a distinct identity to a place through the cross-social unification of its inhabitants in the playful communal events and their engagement in good neighbourhood activities.

For several years performances and concerts were organised by a core group of the local artists, who used a virtual organisational structure – just knocking on the neighbour’s doors and asking for their assistance. A local café served as a place of brainstorming and, often, an office, as participation, joint-action and empowerment of others was the main driver for the action.

Shared activities, performances and celebrations became a norm in this neighbourhood, openness and creativity became the DNR of the place elsewhere of the city. Students and youth joined the group by continuously contributing “strange ideas”, such as fashion shows made of cast away rubbish materials, theatre under the sky among the ruins of dilapidated houses, alias.  

In 1997 a formal declaration of the Užupis Republic took place on 1st April, All Fools day that became a national day of the neighbourhood.

“I was fascinated by the dichotomy of closeness and openness. Regardless of the fact that Užupis was in such close vicinity of the Old Town, in fact was separated by an invisible boundary by poverty and abandonment”, -- remembers the President of the Republic Romas Lileikis. 

 

“It was our task to open the neighbourhood and help it embrace the city, the country and Europe. But to be able to achieve this, Užupis had to establish its own identity and become a microcosm with distinct features”.

 

That is why an anthem and a constitution of the Republic has been created as well as it symbol of a hand with a hole – an empty hand indicating that Užupis bears no guns, it does not attack and does not defend itself, this is a no-war zone, detached from violence and aggression.

 

A symbol of the empty had was created by the late designer Valdas Neimantas, who by an unfortunate twist of events was himself murdered in a violent attack in another part of Lithuania.

 

“We needed to get engaged into an active dialogue with the inhabitants of the neighbourhood, the citizens of Vilnius and European countries. Understanding that such dialogue is not possible without an active engagement of all parties, community was forged through the participation in the joint and positive actions, leading to a societal change of the neighbourhood”, explains Romas Lileikis.

 

Ten years from the start of this communal experiment the Republic of Užupis is known globally – back in 1998 the Užupisneighbourhood has signed Memoranda of brotherhood with Montmartre in Paris. An annual jazz concerts and art exhibitions exchange between the French and Lithuanian artists from the neighbourhood take place for the last four years.

European poetry sessions are organised biyearly in cooperation with the Lithuanian PEN club with the participation of all countries of the EU. A special three day event consisting of three consecutive Saturdays under the title of Wind days is organised each November, including a module of the “Poetry hour”. It always features the guests poets, reading their verses in their native languages as well as translations. New book releases of poetry translators are also introduced on this occasion.

 

The Days of the Wind represents the virtual Užupis Republic Academy that functions only three days per year. Outstanding lecturers of Vilnius academic world, i.e. historians, philosophers, culture analysts are invited to deliver lectures at this Academy, including their European visitors. The Academy consists of the Poetry Hour, an Hour of Cinema and an Hour of Music. Non-commercial documentary film releases are introduced on this occasion.

          

“The joint action ideology was dedicated for the establishment of a sense of community and a community itself. A lose participation in projects by all community members through the contribution of their creativity for the empowerment of other members was a founding principle of the community and it has worked, as reflected in material cultural items. The all embracing spirit of shared space which is everybody’s home has encouraged the opening of eight art galleries in the area”, reflects Romas Lileikis.

 

According to the President of miniature artists’ republic, shared calendar holidays that are void of commercial activities also mean the shared ideology. The ultimate goal was to enhance the dialogue and links between people thus stabilising community at large and creating an elastic space, where ties between an individual and the community have to be continuously confirmed and re-established.

 

For the outstanding contribution to the global culture and humanity, Užupis also grants a status of an honorary citizen. Seven honorary citizens were nominated by the Republic to date. 

 

The project of erection of the Angel sculpture in Užupis has become an iconic symbol of the entire neighbourhood, but it also served as a concrete bridge of collaboration between the artists and the businessmen nation-wide and remains as a documented proof of the power of a joint action.

 

The Užupis Angel statue project became a manifestation of the joint positive energy that can generate positive and graspable change. The statue of an angel was erected by the exclusive use of private donations, rather than state funds. Furthermore, the statue was built in the times of economic hardship of the country, when municipal and state budgets were spent to fund “pragmatic” projects.

 

The statue has not only become a highlight and a symbol of the neighbourhood, but a popular destination of the newlyweds, who do not imagine their wedding day without a picture by the angel. A tiny sign of their visit is a lock that they place on the handrails of the bridge across the river that symbolise their commitment to each other and to Užupis.

 

Donations from 160 businesses provided funds for the purchase and erection of the column and the angel. The businesses also provided raw materials free of charge and financed services. One such contribution included four tones of the bronze ore; while another covered the transportation expenses of pedestal stone all the way form China to Lithuania. Constructors and sculptors did not charge for their services.

 

Politicians, including President of Lithuania Valdas Adamkus rendered their political support in promoting the project. Even the diplomatic corpus then residing in Lithuania got involved, including the donations, collected among the staff of the embassies of Denmark, Finland, Great Britain and Sweden. The donor’s list includes name of private persons, ranging from the Danish citizens to a Lithuanian widow, who contributed 2 Litas (or 0,465 EUR) to the project, reconfirming the story of two widow’s mites donation, told in the Gospel of Mark.        

 

Collective fund and awareness raising, as well as contribution of pro-bono performances, lobbyism and public relations has resulted in the establishment of the sculpture that meant to symbolise the renaissance of Užupis, Lithuania and a wider idea of new Europe.