BABEL IN VILNIUS

Artists protest ‘breakdown of culture’ in EU cultural capital

Dionizas — Wed, 13 May 2009 13:22:00 +0200

On 5 May, some 200 artists protested against tax increases in the Lithuanian capital, as the European Union’s cultural capital continues its celebrations.

The artists demonstrated against tax increases outside the parliamentary building during a parliamentary debate on budget issues related to the economic crisis. The parliament passed additional tax increases on Thursday, the last in a series of tax hikes that began in January. Some artists have seen their taxes double.

Another increase is expected this summer. Film director and producer Audrius Stonys said that the artists decided to demonstate because “we don’t have any, have the tools, somehow, to influence this issue” other than “to speak loudly, that is the only thing we can do.” Charges of corruption have also been leveled at Lithuania’s culture ministry in recent months.

“They stopped so many projects,” said Gintaras Česonis, a photographer, adding that the rally intended to change the government’s “attitude” toward artists. “I am not used to being a very political person,” Stonys said. “Actually, my political actions are reduced to voting every year. But now … I feel that I have to be here.”

One book publisher said that “we are here to say” that “it’s absolutely strange and stupid” to tax artists just as all of Europe looks to Vilnius for cultural events. The rally was as much a political event as it was a cultural event in its own right. A few policemen looked on as the protestors held public concerts and read poetry. Speakers laced their criticism of the government with discourses on the role of art in society.

Skirmantas Valiulis, one of the speakers at the rally and a prominent art critic, said in an interview that the event gave artists a platform to air both political and apolitical concerns. “The question is,” he told the Washington Post, “how to combine in the right way, our national culture and the influences of global ones?” A banner fluttering on a stage nearby read: “Goodbye, culture?”

Valiulis admitted that “it helps” that Vilnius was singled out by the European Union this year, but the “celebration has to be alive, it has to be how it was this weekend,” referring to the city’s May 1-2 music festival, attended by thousands.

The festival, a brainchild of the wildly popular Lithuanian musician Andrius Mamontovas, brought musicians from all over the country to Vilnius’ streets, where they performed street-musician-style. A musical legend among Lithuanians, hundreds of musicians, from famous names to student bands, responded to Mamontovas’ personal invitation. During the event, Valiulis said, “we felt like, OK, it’s alive all around and we are Europeans.”

Some 20 years after the country’s independence, “it is clear that we are in a global space,” Valiulis said, “and there is lots of influence from that space on our culture.” As all eyes turn to the country’s for cultural activities this year, Valiulis argued that artists want the government to do more to protect uniquely Lithuanian artistic identity.

Thirty-one-year-old photographer Vilma Samulionyte agreed, saying that it’s important to Lithuanians that Europe sees a “living” culture in Vilnius this year. “Now this kind of street musician event is kind of continuing,” Samulionyte said. “Like this weekend, I heard too, that in some other cities the street musicians are all over and it’s like, it’s a living kind of thing. That’s what this critic, Valiulis, was saying that the event has to be alive, has to bring something.”

Video report and text by Kristin Deasy

Translation: Vilma Samulionyte/Photos: Molly Radecki

SeVilnius: Let the fountains spring

Indre — Mon, 01 Sep 2008 21:08:00 +0200

How many fountains do you know in Vilnius? Does the city need fountains? What can you do near fountains and do citizens use fountains? - citizens of Vilnius were asked these questions on one not really rainy afternoon. Other, very similar ones, were asked in Seville. It is obvious, that fountains are not closely involved in life of citizens: they are not noticeable, not memorable and remain as a far dream...

Answers from Vilnius

Agnė

How many fountains are in Vilnius? I do not know, maybe four. And in Klaipėda there are eight - I know. Read about that recently.

Fountains are necessary for the city, especially during the hot summer. It is fun to flop about in them. More, there is a possibility to organize some initiatives near them or choose them as a meeting point. The more there are fountains the more beauty.

There is a lack of using fountains now, because they are not really memorable - I even can not name them.

Arūnas

I think, that there is one - near the parliament.

There is a need of fountains, because they are interesting for the people, who come to the city. It is possible to sit near them, to drink some coffee, take your laptop and to browse the Internet.

There is a lack of using the fountains - citizens of Vilnius choose to meet in other places.

Eglė

There are three fountains in Vilnius.

It is very nice when there are many beautiful fountains in the city - I like them a lot. When you go to other countries, you can see many beautiful and interesting shapes fountains. And our fountains are so plain... Usually I just sit near them for a while, because they have more aesthetic function.

There is a need of more beautiful fountains in the city.

Marius

There are seven fountains in Vilnius.

Fountains are needed really, because the city looks more sightly.
Fountains are usable, but the usage is very little. Because they are not very well noticeable and there is nothing to enjoy while looking at them.

Somewhere could be mounted one really big, where many young people come together.

Jonas, a friend of Marius

There are seven fountains in the city.
The city needs fountains - here, the fountain of town hole was mounted - and what? It is closed already, because it is broken.

It is possible to dip one's feet in the fountain.

Kazys

Maybe there are four.

Vilnius needs fountains, but exploitation of them is really expensive, this is why it is a big problem from the antiquity.
For the city like Vilnius seven or ten fountains is not enough, this is the same as nothing.

But if instead of those small ones they construct one very pretty one, so what? How many people can enjoy it? It has to be more pleasant for all in the city.

What are possible things to do near them? Being near the water - like near the lake - you have to enjoy. It is more healthy, not so dry near fountains. Less of dust, particles of heavy metals. For instance, after the rain in Peking during Olympic games, the air became more clean at one dash.

Nijolė

Five fountains. They are needed, because it is more nice with them, more pleasure, they are decorations.

Fountains in Vilnius

There are 10 operating and 7 not operating fountains in Vilnius. In Seville about 10 fountains were constructed while preparing for the EXPO, which took place in 1992. This Spanish city is very similar to the capital of Lithuania by it's size, but it has approximately 5 times more of fountains.

Seville questions:

Are the fountains in a good state?
Would you like to have more fountains in the city?
Do you visit fountains often?
Do you meet near a fountain often?

Sandra, Italy, 18:

It depends, some fountais are ok, but others are not in such a good state. I think one of them smells really bad.

One more fountain could be a good idea.

Near where I live there is one, however, I don't spend my time there. Still, my friends usually wait for me at that fountain when we arrange to meet.

Alex, Spain, 32

There is a must to take care about the fountains more, most of them are in a bad condition.

There are not so many fountains, could be more - one in every district.
When I walk with my dog I often pass one fountain.

Alberto, Spain, 26

Most known fountains, though not all of them, could be in a better condition.
always better when there are more fountains, because with them is more fresh.
I do not spend time near fountains, I review them by passing by.

Fabiola, Spain, 28

Actually I never payed the attention to this, but of course, of some of them should be more cared.

Sure, the more fountains the better, because they give some refresh, reduces the heat.

The most known fountain for me is near the Cathedral and together with our friends we often spend time near it.

Special thanks to Jose Alberto Suarez Lopez
Photos made by Erika Lastovskytė and J.A. Suarez Lopez

Why are the plates broken? (video)

Indre — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 14:26:00 +0200

What kind of family does Lithuania need, what strategies does Europe suggest, and how should we evaluate them? Those were the questions analyzed by the discussion of the association Babel Lietuva.

At the beginning of June, Seimas (Lithuanian Parliament) obtained the national conception of the family politics. Its goal – to reveal the exceptional value of the family, to bound its functions and to increase the birthrate in the country. Nonetheless, the conception created only confrontation in Lithuania, as sharply remarked the representative of Tolerant Youth Vytautas Valentinavičius, or it became the grounds to split the society, as the president of Fathers' forum Šarūnas Bagdonas expressed.

Family – yes, but what kind?

The supporters and the opponents of the Conception agreed in the unison that everybody's goal was to raise happy children in a family. Still the biggest confrontations were about the concept of the family. According to the Conception: "The family is the married couple and their children (or adoptees), if there are any". In Lithuania, the other lawful form of living together, the partnership, is possible, but it is not taken into the family Conception.

As one of the supporters of Conception, the representative of the organization "Geros Naujienos Centras" Remigijus Gucevičius said :"The conception does not take anything away from anyone, further, it adds more". In other words, it lawfully establishes the positive discrimination. He and Emilija Pundziūtė, the president of the youth politics council of Young Christians Federation, argue that the safest environment for a child is a married family, as with their commitment the wedded take the duties to one another.

On the other hand, in the present 30 percent of children are born to the couples not based on marriage. "The number of married couples is decreasing, the society is going to the bottomless pit". The supporters of the Conception are questioning: if you love a person, why not to make the relationship legitimate by publicly swearing? Because, as a member of National Families' and Parents' association, teacher Rūta Šalkauskienė has said, while the marriage does not occur, the relationship between partners can be called the building site.

As Tolerant Youth representative Vytautas Valentinavičius said, there are no statistics about the exceptional value of the marriage-based families comparing to the other ones; however, it is noticed, the children that have social problems are mostly from marriage-based families. So, according to the Conception, would a family of alcoholics be valued better than alone father or mother?

The supporters of the Conception declare, not any married family is better than non-full family (the family where the children lost one or both parents) – the family also has to be healthy. Who could state whether the family is harmonious or not is unclear. In the Conception, the opening of new ministry and new council in Seimas is suggested as one of the ways to solve all the problems.

Europe – the example or… ?

The sociologist who participated in the discussion noticed, the small number of the marriages and a large number of the divorces (about 58 percent of the married couples divorce) show that the family transformation is proceeding. Also, one of the problems in the country is a small birthrate. Yet, as a present example from Germany showed the conservative methods are not increasing the birthrate, so there is a switch to social-democratic methods. The best environment to raise a child, according to a sociologist, is in Scandinavia, where the sum birthrate is the biggest.

Equal Possibilities Expansion Center projects' director Margarita Jankauskaitė also agreed on more liberal point of view about the marriage, by stating that the nations with more liberal opinion to a family, has lesser social division and bigger birthrate. That is why in Lithuania the conception of the family must be created while paying attention to broader goals of the social development and seeking consonance.

She suggests that according to European Union lawful practice, the family is specified as one by a fact – this is a kind of family where people live together, have a common house sharing, raise children. Also, according to Europe Human Rights and Main Freedoms Convention article No 8, the families are not differentiated to marriage and non-marriage based ones. There is a risk to abuse United Nations Child Rights convention, according to which all the children must be equal. Universal EU policy is also clear: to decrease the discrimination and increase the tolerance.

The supporters of the Conception have a different point of view towards liberalism. According to R.Jucevičius, in Europe the diversity dominates and each country has its own identity: "One can go to Holland to smoke marihuana, to Spain – to get married with a same sex partner. So if you want to smoke or arrange such a marriage, with a respect to this country you will go there".

R.Šalkauskienė agreed with him: "If we would say that the family is anyone who can live together, then, I am sorry, we would have a situation when two homosexual individuals will adopt a girl – this is a problem of personality development and sexual identification".

Š.Bagdonas expressed his astonishment to the members of the discussion about the attempt to legally determine the worldview subjects that in the West are separated from the law. However, the teacher debated that the values, like the family that entered the marriage, are common to all mankind.

These harsh discussions were accelerated by two sentences from the Constitution: "The family is the foundation of the society and country" and "the marriage is made by freewill agreement between a man and a woman". The supporters of Conception are convincing that according to them the family and the marriage is the same; the opponents fierily contradict. In Lithuania, it is only The Constitutional Court that can explain the Constitution. In its practice, the question "what is the family" has not been examined yet.

Indrė Kumpikevičiūtė
Translated by Lina Plioplytė

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Smells like labour laws (video)

Indre — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 10:09:00 +0200

“Employer could or maybe even should teach the employees to defend themselves from him.” - this conclusion arises after the trade union representative, lawyer and free market supporter discussion which was organized by association “Babel Lietuva”.

Sure enough, during the discussion two different viewpoints towards employees and employers developed: representatives of social democracy ideas accented the necessity to secure the proper income rights and social guarantees of the most vulnerable employees, and the supporters of the liberal ideas suggested allowing people to profit from each other as the only way to earn is to create benefits to others.

Egocentrism vs. overall benefit

According to Prof. Assoc. Dr. Boguslavas Gruzevskis, the director of the Institute of labour and social research, there are natural egocentric guidelines lying in a person – namely because of them the unwillingness to pay taxes emerges and it has to be tamed by the state. According to him, a person makes a lot more that before at the expense of technologies because he produces more during the same period of time. So by providing better conditions we shall ensure the safety of an employee and that will stimulate his creativeness, and the creativeness – the uniqueness and in that way a niche where it would be possible to make an excess profit would be secured. And that money could be used for higher salaries.

In turn, Giedrius Kadziauskas, the senior expert of Lithuanian Free Market Institute, is prone to assess the higher taxes for employers through the prism of consequence. According to him, minimal wage reduction should be approved – this purportedly would allow the ones, who are fired by the employer estimating the labour benefit and the expenses that go with it, to remain in the market.

By contrary to B. Gruzevskis, G. Kadziauskas is sure that high labour productivity determines the wellbeing, not high guarantees for the employee and taxes. According to him, it is worth to notice that the businessmen are starting to get a different understanding of benefit: “A part of the businessmen’s benefits are the religious, rural community or family benefits. Volunteer activities are spreading causing the decline of both money and time”.

Commentating on Lithuanian free market senior expert model B. Gruzevskis questioned if many wealthy people shall mean a wealthy society. “Productivity is creating wellbeing of an unit but not the society – everything is determined by redistribution. Presently even the family model is different – the wife is unsecured about her future even if her husband has a high occupation”.

Statistics against statistics

About 42% of complaints received by the State Labour Inspectorate are the employee complaints about the delinquent salaries - these numbers were presented by the head of State Labour Inspectorate’s Citizen request research and analysis department Jonas Gricius. According to him, this has to do with the business culture and people’s mentality.

This statistics confirms Lithuanian trade union confederation “Jaunimas” chairman Darius Daukantas’ thoughts that employers have low responsibility as “most of the employers do not consider the employees, especially in these spheres where they are more vulnerable“. It also confirms the Lithuanian trade union “Solidarumas” chairwoman Aldona Jasinskiene’s statements that the ones who created their wellbeing by using other people’s labour force should take care of them as “if anything happens to an employee, a person remains all alone with his misery”.

A survey performed in the end of 2006 showed that about 31% of people working in the public sector and 33% of the ones in private sector worked unofficial overtime. According to G. Kadziauskas, if such violations are becoming a tendency when law is taking one path and agreements – another, double standards are established. This creates illegal labour relations and shadow economy. “There is no agreement deficiency in Lithuania – the most liberal and real agreement form is a shadow. That is the rejection of legal rules. Hiring a nanny, a cleaning woman by not officially engaging her, contraband, drugs – about 17% of all the earned money exists in the shadow relationship”, - said the expert.

Agreements between the employer and the employee: (not) possible?

If the situation is bad in a country both for employers and employees, maybe the source of all mischief is the law?

Doc. Dr. Tomas Bagdanskis of Department of Labor Law and Social Security in Mykolas Romeris University denied this reasoning: “The labour code is more advanced than the consciousness – collective agreements allow the employers and employees to compromise, however nobody does that”.

D.Daukantas also agreed on that claiming that currently about 20-25% of all the employees have concluded collective agreements, so it is necessary to teach the society to compromise. In his opinion, this could be done by the employers –the stronger side of labour relations.

According to the trade union “Solidarumas” chairwoman, currently the employers are not helping but interrupting: the trade unions that are being established in drugstores and shopping centres receive resistance

In turn, according to the viewpoint of the Lithuanian Free Market Institute representative, the individual power of a person to compromise with an employer is not considered well enough – not only the power of the employees as the power of the whole exists, but there is also an internal competition.

The trade union representatives and supporters admitted themselves that certain more flexible norms provided in the legislation could exist and that there is a part of businessmen whose activity productivity is limited by current legal restrictions. However, according to them, the danger always remains that the more flexible norms shall become the violated ones and that they shall allow for a higher number of businessmen to take advantage of their employees.

Or, according to Ramune Motiejunaite-Pekkinen, the subeditor of the newspaper “Lietuvos profsajungos” (“Lithuanian trade unions”), by reducing the regulation it will remain unclear where such reduction should stop.

Indrė Kumpikevičiūtė

Translated by Agnė Zubulėnaitė

Red Statues – Position in Negotiations

Indre — Wed, 21 May 2008 21:25:00 +0200

The 9th of May is the day of victory in the Second World War for Russia. For Lithuania, as well as for other Baltic countries, this date means something totally different. That is the beginning of the occupation. Occupation, which itself is a negative action, because the nation loses its sovereignty, the opportunity to rule its country, while it is taken by the government of other state.

We perfectly know about the widely spread myth of the Great War propagated by Russia. However the truth is that at that date one regime just changed the other. Talking about liberation is not only false, but would mean the disrespect for our parents and grand parents who suffered the Russian occupation.

Nationalists, who are trying to deny this absurd myth gathered near the Russian embassy and demanded that Moscow would recognize the crimes by the communist regime and would compensate this damage. Not only in Estonia, but also in Lithuania, the reaction to the victory day, which is celebrated in Russia, was cruel. This time it was expressed with the vandal act on the Green Bridge. The statues which are standing there and praising the soviet times were splashed with the red paint. The poster with the words “communist whore” and red swastikas was hanged on them. Finally the imitation of the bomb was left there, so the traffic through the bridge had to be closed down temporarily.

Such incident only proves that the past is not forgotten. Fascism and communism are not history described in the school books, but also have the potential to break in to our days. Obviously, that was the crime. However for me, as the conscious citizen it raises more questions. Why 18 years after regaining the independence these statues are still standing in the centre of Vilnius? Are they still there only because the lack of money? Did someone tried to please somebody? Usually, after the revolution or a war the images or symbols which gave a sense to a regime, are ruined on purpose to build the future of the state on new foundations. After all, these statues reflected the dominating ideology in the Soviet Union.

The ideology, as the standardized system, intended to manipulate the mindset and actions of people. After declaring the independence other sculptures were taken down and brought to the storehouses. So why these statues left untouched? The communist ideology is not propagated in Lithuania anymore, so they should not be exhibited, especially in the centre of the capital.

Maybe, one just tried to avoid the turmoil, which took place in Estonia in 2007, when the statue of Soviet soldier was taken down? If so, does this position mean that the easiest way was chosen? It leads us to other difficult topics, as the question of the compensation of the damage to the Baltic countries brought by Soviet Union.

What are Lithuanian diplomats doing in the negotiations on the compensation of this damage? The minister of Foreign affairs Petras Vaitiekūnas urged on the constuctive negotiation instead of ultimatums and legal intruments already in 2007. Also, he prompted Russia not to be identified with USSR, although it took all the rights and responsibilities of fallen empire. By then such tactics brough many doubts among the members of Lithuanian Parliament. Now they are trying to raise the question of compensation of the damage in international forums, looking for the attention of European states and going for higher flexibility of Russia when tackling this question.

As a result, the leaders of diplomatic bodies of four EU countries gathered in Lithuanian capital. Vilnius made a decision. The government withdrew its veto from the negotiations of Brussels and Moscow on EU-Russia cooperation agreement. It means that EU can start the negotiations with Russia. In this case Lithuania reached a settlement with some EU countries, that energy, the cases of 13th of January, and Medininkai, the compensation of the damage for individuals, who were deported from Baltic countries, and also solving frozen conflicts in Georgia and Moldova would be included into mandate. Maybe such decision and chosen strategy would move these questions and finally the negotiation will start.

However, these negotiations are not easy. Only Russia getting conscious and its growing ability to evaluate the past would make an impulse to the solving of these difficult questions possible.

Asta Grigalavičiūtė

Photos by Donatas Babenskas Fotogalerija

Translated by Dionizas Bajarūnas

Sevilnius: eurchasing power

Dionizas — Sat, 10 May 2008 20:14:00 +0200

From north east to south west 3870 kilometers separate two European cities Seville and Vilnius. Keeping in mind that both of them are still creating their European identity one can believe that such distance looses its meaning. We are saying that technologies, historical and demographical data enables us to give to the distance a new sense.

New European values are created, while eliminating it using legal, political and economical measures. At the same time Sevilnius is intended to create the discussion on how such distance can help.

Before looking for something in common it is important to grasp the differences between prices and purchasing power in Seville and Vilnius. The material value of identity should not be confined to trade marks, however. The survey of goods and services offered for European citizens is only basic information, which will be necessary when unfolding their financial situation and its’ influence to their perception of Europe.

CITY LABOR MARKET

Both cities joined Europe with the similar number of citizens. Today the population of Vilnius city is 550 000, and slightly more 700 000 are living in Seville. Vilnius district has 850 000 registered citizens of Lithuanian, Polish and Russian nationality and Seville metro covers the area, which is home for 1,5 million Andalusians and immigrants from South America.

Sevillians emphasize that most of the people who do not get even the minimum wage are working under temporal contracts or illegally. According to the data of Euro barometer, 5 % of the Spanish population gets the illegal payment at least once a year. Although, there are twice of such people in Lithuania - 10%, legal wage even for students here is rearly more than a minimum. In Spain, where students get less only because they are studying, those who earn 1000 EUR in their first job have a new name MILEURISTAS. While in Lithuania students and many school children start their career with a half of the minimum 115 EUR.

PLEASURE OF PURCHASING

A view from the Tower of Gold (XIII century)

For those who get the minimum wage 600 EUR in Seville.

· 100 EUR left after buying the stove and the washing machine.

· 200 EUR left after paying the rent for 1 room apartment not in the city center.

A view from the Tower Gediminas (XIV century)

Those who get the minimum wage 230 EUR in Vilnius.

· Should borrow 190 EUR before buying the stove and the washing machine.

· 100 EUR left after paying the rent for 1 room apartment not in the city center.

NEED CHARITY?

For 200 EUR Sevillian can have a dinner in the café the whole month. In Vilnius, 100 EUR is enough for a month to pay the everyday hot dish. While Sevilian, who gets the minimum 600 EUR, pays 1/25 of his wage for a monthly ticket for public transport, in Vilnius the same ticket makes 1/12 of the minimum 230 EUR. If Sevillian would like to help poor people he could buy 1000 loafs of bread, and the most generous Vilnius worker could only buy 500 of such bread loafs for a minimum wage.

Today the big part of city residents feel the lack of social and moral incentives to create the common Europe. Thus, the next task of Sevilnius is to compare the role of material values in their life. Does the bigger purchasing power in Seville mean, that material values are becoming more and more important in Europe?

Sevilnius^T2008

Life Extention for Nuclear Plant

Indre — Mon, 05 May 2008 22:40:00 +0200

In joining the European Union Lithuania signed the Treaty of Accession Protocol No. 4, according to which, our country commits itself to phase out the Ignalina Nuclear Power Plant (INPP) by 2009. However, it was suddenly realized, that closing the nuclear plant means leaving Lithuania without a sufficient nuclear power supply for about 6 to 9 years (until a new power station can be built). For this reason Lithuania will be forced to import gas from Russia, which is a far more expensive fuel. The Opposition has gradually demanded the Government to start negotiations to extend the term of use for INPP.

A. Abišala, the head of the INPP extension of lifespan negotiators, made it clear, that the likelihood of negotiating an extension is only 5%. This is true; the chances are small especially if he continues his negotiations in the same manner as before. Watching the Government bargaining for an extension of INPP service creates an impression that Lithuania could fail not because of EU legal requirements, but due to dire lack of professionalism. The price of electricity, after decommissioning the INPP, should rise from the recent 0.095 EUR/kWh to at least 0.17 EUR/kWh. Professor Antanas Kudzys believes that the price might shoot up to 0.29 EUR/kWh.

What is the main mistake made by negotiators? They do not question the claim of the European Commission (EC) that an Intergovernmental Conference (IC) must be convened in order to extend the term of active use of the INPP. Consequently, due to this procedure the extension initiative will collapse, if at least one country (i.e. an IC member-country) disagrees. Austria and Estonia are the countries, which will most likely block any Lithuanian actions in the aforementioned procedure.

EC acts unfairly toward Lithuania. They are demanding to convene an IC for prolongation of the term. However, the IC was not called to approve the inclusion of the decommission provision into the Treaty of Accession.

The competence of the EU in nuclear safety may only be increased through the Intergovernmental Conference. If IC did not provide for an extension of EU competence, naturally this competence remains as is. Nowhere in the Euratom Treaty (this document is passed by and can only be changed by the IC) is it written that the EU has the ability to demand that a nuclear power station be decommissioned. So it has no such ability. The same is confirmed by the jurisprudence of the European Court of Justice.

When welcoming new EU members the IC is not convened. This means that new member-states are accepted within the present boundaries of EU competence.

A. Abišala does not see any difference between the Founding Treaties and the Treaties of Accession. The Founding treaties determine the limits of EU competence. They determine what EU is permitted to do. Everything, that is not included in those treaties, is outside the scope of EU competence. It cannot do something that it is not expressly allowed by the Founding Treaties. These treaties are changed during the IC.

New countries are accepted on the ground of Treaties of Accession. Whether the countries are accepted is determined by the Council of the European Union. The council is the same as the IC. That is why the Council cannot extend the present extent of its competence. Furthermore, according to this procedure the European Parliament may accept or reject the recommendations of the Council. The European Parliament is a supranational, but not a supragovernmental institution.

Accepting a new country and extending the competence of the EU are two different procedures.

Consequently the European Commission does not have the ability to demand closing of the INPP. Lithuanian negotiators could win more by stressing the differences between these two procedures, because then they would not need the agreement of the EC, Austria and Estonia for the extension of the term of service of the INPP.

Even the Lisbon Treaty does not allow this kind of competence. Incidentally the ratification of the aforementioned treaty should be postponed until the question of Ignalina is resolved.

Stanislovas Tomas, doctor in EU Law, Sorbonne, Paris

Caricaturist Ramūnas Vaitkus
www.mrcaricature.lt

Translation Aistė Juknaitė

Vilnius - the most friendly city for bicycles

Indre — Sun, 27 Apr 2008 21:55:00 +0200

We should be happy to see that Vilnius is on the way on become the Europe’s friendliest city for bicyclists: the self government refused 3 million Euro for building new bicycle-tracks. We are also traffic so there is no need to be separated from cars traffic and drive in some narrow tracks. In purpose to make our trip safe, it was decided to ask us to wear special helmets and yellow light-reflecting vests.
But in my personal opinion, this is not enough and I have a few more suggestions how to make Vilnius more bicycle-friendly city (and, what is most important – safe for us!):

1.      To be sure it is safe to ride a bicycle, everyone should check its technical state. I suggest an annual compulsory bicycle technical check for the beginning of warm season: brakes, tires and the rate of vest light reflection (it is important to have a new one, isn’t it?). I think these criteria are enough to evaluate state of bicycle safety.

2.      Every two years everyone should pass an exam to check their theoretical knowledge and practical skills of riding this vehicle.

3.      Let’s reduce the price of getting the first car: government should fund the driving exam and there should be no taxes taken for driving lessons. As a result there will be more people driving a car. More cars – less bicycle drivers – less bicycle accidents!

4.      All few present bicycle tracks should be removed. Especially those which are on streets – they just take an unnecessary space!

5.      Each time when buying a bicycle, it should be registered in police and National Vehicle Registry so it is easier to find it after stealing.

6.      Every bicycle driver should have an accident insurance.

7.      It should be forbidden to ride a bicycle under 16. Younger than 18 years old should have additional wheels for making the vehicle more stable.

I think these implementations would help Vilnius to become even more bicycle-friendly city than ever!

By the way, there is an alternative:

Let’s take European Union money (and add some ours) and build a lot of bicycle tracks so there is no need drive surrounded by cars. Then neither helmet nor vest is needed.

Oh…but maybe not – everything is too complicated here…

A suggestion for discussion: what more can you add to these 7 suggestions to make Vilnius even more bicycle-friendly city than now?

Some information about current situation in Vilnius.

Currently Vilnius bicycle riders got two happy news:

The first – on the 1st of July the new law will start working which tells that every bicycler have to wear a helmet all the riding time and a light reflecting vest during the dark time of day. Implementation was taken without any research (at least there is no information about that). Lithuania bicyclers are against it because this decision will reduce usage of this, already rarely used, vehicle popularity. What else can happen – there are already lots of people who refuse to ride a bicycle just because of being sweaty and winded. How will we look after wearing helmets?

The second happy new is that Vilnius refused to use 9,4 million Litas from European Union to build a bicycle track EuroVelo11 which should have crossed all Vilnius. It would have been a great bounce to the renovation of city bicycle track net. By the way, few politicians speak that it is possible to build the EuroVelo11 track for 3 million Litas and they plan to do that. But the reason why those 9,4 millions were not taken is that those money are not enough and government should have found much more. So where is the logic?..

We should be happy about the fact that government is trying to take care of bicyclists’ safety. And we really want to believe in promises to fix the situation of bicycle track net in Vilnius. But when starting to think sane, it becomes impossible. It even starts looking like politicians are trying to expel bicyclists form the city – they not only refuse to develop the infrastructure but are also trying to transform us to Christmas trees…

Domantas Širvinskas
EziukasVilniuje

Higher spirits in Lithuanian cinema

Erika — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 20:44:00 +0200

How much time is needed to review 80000 pictures? This visual pleasure lasts just 15 minutes. It is absolutely true, the creators of the first and only Lithuanian photo movie, assured. They presented the result of a unique audiovisual project - a short photo film - to the public. The script was born when the 24 year old director, Jūratė Samulionytė was watching people busying themselves with everyday things and become bleary eyed, monotonous and bitter. The title of this film, declares a break from the ordinary - NOROUTINE.

Liberation
The main character - Henrik, works at a very boring office job. The automatic repetition if the same actions can push one into an abyss of despair, especially when you are lonely. It's a good thing that Henrik has his "fun things", which help him get up with more energy and lead him toward self liberation. Due to these sincere efforts Henrik finds a mysterious ribbon. We can only guess whether it is made from bandage or toilet paper. The man begins his journey, incredibly intrigued himself and tries to figure out where the line could end. He starts collecting meter after meter of it, but it not only does not end, but floats around city streets, yards and various unexpected places. Finally, after following the waving line, Henrik finds a sunny surprise in his life and the next day is doubly happy for both him and his things.

NOROUTINE - trailer

Visual illusion of movement
The moving spirit of the film, Jūratė, was interested in the Czech surrealists Jan Švankmajer's and French directors Michel Gondry's moving objects. She, together with her creative team, started to develop the idea of the screenplay a few years ago. Eventual decision about the visualization of the idea was finally doomed by the circumstances. At first the team thought about the cocktail of the filming and stop-motion techniques, but they came to a conclusion, that in this way they will not taste the perfect taste of it, also knowing that a professional camera is a luxury for the young Lithuanian cinema makers. So in search of alternatives that would help transfer good emotions, the students chose the photo camera.

It was comic and very difficult to conform to technical miracles. The photo camera makes eight shots per second and after that, it records images to the memory card, during that time actors had to stay still like statues - not the tiniest step forward. It was especially hard for the main actor, Saulius Čėpla, who impersonated the main character Henrik. For hopping children, who could never stop fidgeting, it was strange to take part in this project - movies are filmed, not photographed. Tissue, flip-flop, tooth brush - animated things belong to Henrik, and to work with them was like a routine itself - a shot is captured, then a thing moved, then again shot and so on and so forth. It is similar to clay animation. On the top of it all 2 or 3 takes had to be taken - the project was a real challenge.

The whole photo session continued for 9 days and after it, 2 months of scrupulous team work - dubbing, animation, continuity. And at last NOROUTINE gladdened all with a very deep heartiness and bright colors.

The appreciation of experimental smiles
Traditionally, film makers invite special guests to the unveiling before the grand opening. That night the church of Saint Catherine was overcrowded. The cosy whispering hushed when young, warm and sincere people, just like their film, showed up on a stage. After it travelled the international film festivals in Munich, Prague, Hong Kong, Belgrade, this unique project waits for appreciation in Lithuanian cinema and the television cinema awards "The silver crane".

The spring in the screens
For the first time NOROUTINE shone on the big screens at the international film festival "Cinema spring". This festival, organized for the thirteenth year already, revitalises the young first-timers, actors, movie directors, producers, cameramen and all lovers of alternative cinema. Pupils skipped their lessons, romantically swinging pairs and even working people, who took a special cinema vacation, could enjoy the rich program of the festival this year. This year, the festival, which was born in the legendary cinema "Lietuva", already said it's adieu to the lovers of non commercial cinema in Vilnius, but in Kaunas, Klaipėda, Panevėžys and Šiauliai you can still catch the screenings of selected movies.

International film festival CINEMA SPRING 08 trailer

NOROUTINE producer - LINA DRIŽYTĖ - interview
NOROUTINE director - JŪRATĖ SAMULIONYTĖ - interview

Erika Lastovskytė
Photos by Audrius Zelenis

P.S. More about the cinema LIETUVA case in English you can read and discuss it in Vilnius forum.

A wider way for bloggers

Erika — Fri, 18 Apr 2008 01:27:00 +0200

How do Lithuanian writers of internet diaries live? A few weeks ago they met at the second Lithuanian bloggers conference BLOGin 2008 in Vilnius. The communication about the event was planned effectively - the tickets, worth a sell-out play, were all bought. Approximately 400 participants attended. This professionally organized meeting of webloggers reflected the current situation in the Lithuanian blogosphere.

The beginning of the beginning
I read many blogs in order to find the information about the BLOGin 2008 conference. Plenty of reviews and subjective opinions, but insights, trends and objective analyses were almost impossible to find. Many bloggers here perceive a blog as the sketchbook of their own minds, write for themselves and this is it. It is a diary, definitely, but here, in Lithuania, the opportunities of web log are not revealed yet. The importance of this tool is measured by the volume of readers, rss feeds, clicks, etc.? It is true, that it is important how many readers you have, how do they read your blog, who is you audience and how you can earn money by writing. Much attention was paid to the commercial side of web logs at this conference - advertising in the blog, a private held company blog etc. To my mind, those are the very important details, but without a strong background this is only an empty waste of time - writing not for the audience, writing just for the writing process.

High standing opinion leaders in the world use blogs for expedient communication. To form the opinion of the audience does mean a lot to them: to raise the demand of the readers for the quality of the content, to deal with topical issues, supply the news, to stimulate valuable discussion and international involvement. No less important are clear objectives when writing a blog - what, why and how you want to say to your readers, what is the result you expect.

In my oppinion, it is crucial for a weblogger to understand his important role in present day communications, to feel responsible, while informing his readers and creating the content together with them. At the very least, the objectives have to be noble. Currently the race for high ratings is more important than the shaping of opinions, directional and high-grade informing. I envisage the aspect of the winning recognition optimistically - it is only a beginning of the beginning.

New sounds of media makers
Vital communities - the brightest reflection of a socially responsible civic society. It is true to say, that the community of webloggers is active, we can see it manifest in the comments of blogs, informal meetings, it was seen at this conference as well. The organization, alliance, association of Lithuanian bloggers - sounds tasty. Presently, only few initiatives emerge to form a community of bloggers here. Organizational behavior and official status gives wider possibilities and conditions to generate a quality of the blog contents, solve problems, represent the interests of bloggers, better and faster. This is why it is so important to grow the conditions for a solid community to coordinate actions.

It was complicated to understand Vanessa's Witkowski (the secretary general at European youth press) presentation for the native audience, and the reviews in local blogs were quite controversial.

ore.lt
The European Youth Press representative outlined the project in a very general way without answering the direct questions of the moderator or other participants, e.g.: what is the precise model of your activities? Everything was hidden behind the slogans of multicultural and multinational Europe that might be interesting for statesmen. The audience did not understand the speaker, and she - what we wanted.

pbg
- a girl speaks na inastranam jazyke (from russian:in foreign tongues). Tells about what are the blogs and blog farms. impossibly boring.

nezinau.lt
European Youth Press, Cafe Babel, Transloo. European Union tries to lay the bridges between youth from different countries, but while they are still ripen away in their national space, international sites are still the subject of introduction in the conferences. It is true, there is an active Cafe Babel project with Lithuanians participating in it - it was also presented. In the same direction of ruining the language barriers was pointed the idea of Tadas about the text translation service Transloo.

kleiva.lt
Vanessa Witkowski from Belgium, European Youth Press, talks. Despite few trivialities, all the content of the presentation is really very good. She told, that this organization likes young bloggers. Me? :)

arvydas.net
It seems, that Vanessa Witkowski has hit a country that is a little too small... This lady calls to participate in civic media and to join the free European journalists. You see, there are a few problems to join the active groups:
    * We write only in Lithuanian, and there are very few writers in English.
    * We write for our own pleasure.
    * Most of us are not journalists and do not want to be. :)
    * We are Lithuanians and we do not care about anything beyond our borders. Unless a neighbors' roof is on fire...
    * There are too few of us...
I guess 5-10 years more are needed for us to wish to go to Europe with our blogs, solve European problems and change European political direction. Until then I will dwell on Lithuania. :)

Coda
Bloggers and journalists differ, but both perform a very important function for the society - first of all they inform. Feel responsible while writing for your own pleasure, talk in many languages, open your insights for a wider audience and remember, that our country is small, but the importance of it can be crucial. Therefore vilnius(at)cafebabel.com team is open for initiatives, questions, discussions, articles and translations.

Most of the official BLOGin pictures you can review here.

Erika Lastovskytė
Photographer Kęstutis Kurienius

Buildings – hostages of ideology

Indre — Mon, 07 Apr 2008 08:00:00 +0200

After the collapse of Soviet Union the consequences of the social and ideological contradictions can still be sensed in different areas of life. Architecture is not an exception. Is Soviet modernism a gloomy heritage or an unique trace in history?

A specific social pressure at the beginning of XX century caused a discontinuity from the past. The fast growing population in Europe together with the industrial revolution has provoked the sudden emergence of a demand for buildings for living and other purposes. The destruction caused by the two world wars determined the need of rebuilding entire neighborhoods. These changes evoked development of new techniques and new materials, rendering a possibility to build structures of big scale using cheap and mass production methods. These were the preconditions of modern architecture appearance. The form in architecture became a reasonable function. New, practical buildings were perceived as beautiful – until then in all historical styles, especially in XIX century eclectics, the form of the building and interior were not specially interconnected. Modernism, which was earmarked by aesthetics of white, smooth walls, the usage of mass production and huge volume scales, undoubtedly was advantageous for the social situation at this time.

It is a paradox, but this new movement reached the peak of popularity after it was forbidden by the totalitarian regimes reigning in Europe. Many artists of modern architecture, distinguished by their original way of thinking and working, which had the courage to deny already established architectural traditions (W. Gropius, L.Mies van der Rohe), were born in Germany later dominated by totalitarian regime. The architects were exiled, imprisoned or forced to conform to the dictate of architectural committees. The Soviet Union was not an exception, where more than one avant-garde art movement has arisen.

The soviet modernism – unique phenomenon

How specific and distinctive is the architecture of Soviet modernism? First of all, by the contradictions of ideology and aesthetics. In 1955, when the Western Europe modernism started to be strongly criticized, the aesthetic attitudes towards the style started to change – the act “Regarding the Elimination of Surfeit in Designing and Building” had been enforced by the CC CPSU (Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union). It was an unprecedented case – the political will determined architectural style, causing revival of modernism. Under the social program delineated by the party a new massive typical construction began to establish in Soviet Union, and the complexes of massive living and social buildings were landscaped.

However, even at this point other essential differences from Western modernism appeared.
A smooth wall did not become beautiful in Soviet Union. Very often it was decorated with ornament or mosaic, horizontal lines were attempted to be spiced with new elements of architectural expression, which could not have been applied in the work of ideologically thinking modernists’. On the other hand, thanks to the professionalism of the architects of that time and professional foreign literature secretly brought into the country, we have original nuggets, reflecting the spirit of the time; astonishingly clean architectural aesthetics, harmony of proportions, which, as monuments of the recent history, unfortunately are disappearing unvalued.

Is the seal of ideology ruining the value?

The current state of modernism architecture is also related to ideological aspects. It is especially painful in the country where architectural monuments remind of recent totalitarian past. After the re-establishment of the Independence in Lithuania, everything, which was built in Soviet times, became unacceptable and vulgar. It was started to be considered as intruded upon others, dictated, and enforced. After the socio-economic situation changed, unnecessary and neglected pearls of Soviet modernist architecture turned into ghost buildings with massive grey walls, large scale and grey concrete as their distinctive feature…
Large scale buildings built in the centre of the city, in the meantime, often become especially attractive purchase with the value of land increasing. They are not protected by heritage regulations and therefore are being destroyed easily. However, when the building is ruined, not only „ugly“ piece of the time disappear, but its social or cultural designation is also being changed – instead of the demolished building are sprouting commercial and living objects. At this situation namely the Soviet modernism fall under the biggest cultural – memorial load. And the biggest threats.
The buildings itself are not past, and the way, how we interpret them today is not history. Historical buildings and the way they look today is a reflection of our present. Only our behavior models towards the Soviet architecture will determine if these buildings will become part of our architecture and culture, or just meaningless, speechless and collapsing past.

There are some examples of modern architecture in Vilnius:

CINEMA THEATER "VILNIUS" (J.Kasperavičius, Č.Strimaitis, 1963). A good example of modern reconstructionizm, also called „fasadizm“ where the facade of the building is left in tact but the interior is completely changed. Currently the building is occupied by „United colors of Benetton.“ The previously valuable interior is gone – as it happened to most buildings. (Photo made by Giedrius Ilgūnas)

THE CENTRAL VILNIUS SUPERMARKET (1984)

This retail center architecturally can be classified as an example of functionalism. It is included in a architectural heritage list, however it is not protected. During the reconstruction the facade was changed in volume and new materials were used for its decoration. The historical value was further decreased by erection of multilevel parking lots near by. (The first photo is taken from "Vilnius mažasis vadovas", 1988; the second one made by Giedrius Ilgūnas)

BEER RESTAURANT "TAURO RAGAS" (E.Gūzas, A.Mačiulis, 1974)

During earlier days the building was held as the best example of Vilnius modern architecture. Its style reminds of Le Corbusier‘s late period and Mies van der Rohe‘s pavilion designs. Building was not included in the heritage protection register and therefore its faith is in hands of its new owners. (Photo made by Giedrius Ilgūnas)

CINEMA "LIETUVA", VILNIUS (1959-1965)

In 2002 privatized theater primarily was important not as the example of modern architecture, but as the cultural center for most citizens of Vilnius. The current plans are to build a multistory apartment building. However Vilnius citizens community is putting constant resistance and two separate law cases are being held in the courts. Therefore the license for demolition is still pending. (Photo made by Giedrius Ilgūnas)

VILNIUS CONCERTS AND SPORTS PALACE (E. Chlomauskas, J. Kriukelis, Z.Liandzbergis, 1971)

In 2006 the palace was enrolled in heritage protection registry and it is advised to protect this building on the regional level. Unique architecture and the construct of this building is a renound world wide invention. Even though the building is a long lived symbol of modern architecture in Vilnius its fate is clouded. The municipal authorities claim that they will buy back the building from its current owners, however no real steps are being made. (Photo made by Giedrius Ilgūnas)

Julija Kšivickaitė

Translated by Margarita Gedvilaitė and Jurgis Vėgėlė

Decoder

Erika — Thu, 21 Feb 2008 20:52:00 +0100

Selected works of third biennial for video art Contour 2007 in CAC, Vilnius. The artists of various countries with their video works, installations and films codify the perceptual and rhetorical mechanisms, which affect and shape how people assimilate their comprehension of the world, inspires for the discussion about the circulation of social and political topics in art. This exposition took place in Mechelen town, Belgium.
Omer Fast
De Grote Boodschap, 2007

Cute kitchen-sink crossroad of the four stories in the flat block at Mechelen.

Gert Robijns
All for One, One for All, 2007

Curtain, seems made of paper strips, constantly streaming in the wind and a sight through the ocular of the microscope. The installation of the moving image and sculpture only reminded about the entirety itself...

Cao Guimarães

Sin Peso (Weightless), 2006
From the Window of my Room, 2004
Around the World in a Few Pages, 2002

The installation of the three screens.

Behind the weightless "Sin Peso" video screen I heard myself like the resident of the Mexico market pulsing with heat, then I looked up to the colorful materials above the head and remembered, that there is nothing more needed - life is enough. Biased towards the optimism and warmth.
Wet and dirty view through the "From the window of my room" projection. Awkward situation - the game of children with the outburst of aggression. Took to the rainy Africa.
The fine distinction act was shown, it did surpassed the stencils on the streets and stickers on the road signs. A map of the world scissored up and hidden in the pages of the books - a librarian can succeed to glue together the whole world if she gets bit by bit from every reader.

Supersober
Faded Majesty, 2007

The multimedia project, which consists from video, sculpture, photography and sound lines wowed by the artists watching the unthinkable horror appearing in the collective conscious.
Maybe there is an allusion to the ecology problems ant their outcomes or political insight - the white deers living in the blue streets of Europe or in the scrap metal dump. Shocking and very beautiful work.

Nashashibi / Skaer
Flash in the Metropolitan , 2006

The strobe lights from the night shooting drops hints about the real stories of the artefacts and showpieces in Metropolitan. The sound of cinema projector brought back to the past.

Aline Bouvy / John Gillis
Venusia, 2007

Surrealistic animated collage. Beautiful, mystical, sexy and poisonous images of the dynamic mosaic.

Tsui Kuang-Yu
Eighteen Copper Guardians in Shao-Lin Temple and Penetration (2001)
Invisible City (2006)
The short films exposed the relations between us and the urban environments - comic, pointless, useful, absurd, repetitive. Such are the episodes as well.

Saskia Holmkvist
Interview with Saskia Holmkvist, 2005
During a course of conversation with Saskia Holmkvist she is coached by the mass communication experts. Cameras, microphones, operators and the stage-managed sincerity - this is how the artist proposes the answers to the questions about the authenticity she analyzes in her oeuvre. Correct pronunciation, eyes, motions, breath and strong-willed rehearsals. Controversial and explicit film, where the conversation turns to a play and shows manipulation of the manipulation.

Cédric Noël
Ein Reich, 2007
The installation of the seven LCD TV's. There is a different person every time in a screen who tells about the suddenly experienced or intended happening. Is it a puzzle or not artist leaves this for spectators to decide, but I can say, that those stories surely are connected with some very important thing.

Those are not all the works you will see in the exposition - it is not too late to explore the DECODER. Visit CAC in Vilnius till the 23d of March.

I invite you to declare your opinion and to discuss about the topics, oftentimes chosen by the artists, about the protest or the absence of it in the Vilnius Babelforum.

Erika Lastovskytė

Romuva: respect for live tradition in XXIst century

Indre — Mon, 11 Feb 2008 17:56:00 +0100

They are reserved, but very sincere and frank people. They have swastikas on their necks and calm in their eyes. They belong to the community called Romuva.

The wheel of time has turned again. Very soon winter will meet spring and then we will all eagerly wait for the awakening, the new cycle of work and festivities. Midwinter is celebrated in January. Our elders still tell tales of how a beaver crawls out of his hole on that day and watches the air. If the day happens to be sunny the beaver gets scared of its shadow and runs back to his home. This means that the winter will be very long. If the day is overcast, the beaver goes for a stroll. After the walk he peacefully returns to his cave - this means that spring is just around the corner.

The month of January heralds the coming of spring. On January 26th 2008 the members of Romuva gathered to celebrate Midwinter. Romuva is a community of the old Lithuanian religion, continuing the traditions of ancient Baltic beliefs. The faith of the Balts honours nature, which is the home of the gods. The Gods are the highest essence. The relationship between man and nature is very strong. It is imperative to preserve the harmony between man and nature.

Baltic symbols are related to folk ornaments and archeology. Each of the people coming to the Midwinter celebration wore clothes in the style of ancient Balts or at least wore a traditional necklace with elements of the swastika, a piece of amber jewelery or a copper brooch. In all countries of the world the swastika is a sign of fire, light and happiness. In Baltic culture the meaning of the swastika depends on the direction of its spin – it may mean the fire of the sun, heavenly fire or the fire of the stars.

The gathered members of Romuva paid their respects to Gabija – the goddess of fire, remembered their ancestors and danced the dance of the serpent. All of this happened very simply: in the centre stood a table, covered with a linen tablecloth on top of it lay several pine branches and a burning candle. Everyone stood in a circle, performed religious rights and sung. The high priest (krivis) blessed each person and confirmed their participation in the ritual with a burning candle. Everyone was concentrated, quiet and participated with all their heart in the celebration. In this way the harmony with God, the gods, ancestors, nature and other participants is preserved.

As Jonas Trinkūnas the krivis himself recalls, the ancestors who practiced these beliefs never had any holy scriptures. The modern practitioners of the ancient beliefs turn to mythology, folklore and ethnological findings. Traditionally the members of Romuva do not blindly repeat the past – after all that is not the most important. The most important thing is the connection between the man, nature and god.

Slowly but surely Romuva became a school for those with interest in folklore and ethnography. The krivis mentioned that young people are the most active, especially the high school and university students. Around 200 young people participate in summer camps organized by Romuva. In these camps they familiarize themselves with Baltic beliefs, traditions, they visit ancient holy places and sing traditional folk songs. In a certain sense traditions are passed on. Today the fol ensemble “Kūlgrinda” has around 50 young singers. According to J. Trinkūnas, in “Kūlgrinda” they not only learn to sing, but also learn about the symbolism of the songs. This way the youths learn the things that have been unduly forgotten and swept away. They learn to respect their ancients. For a young member of “Romuva” such values as justice, industriousness, moderation and harmony, i.e. the ability to coexist with other people, are the most important. According to the krivis all these things are infused into and transferred over to the young members of Romuva.

To sum up I will cite the words of a middle aged man, who participated in such a celebration for the first time: “These are true and honorable people, who deserve attention and respect”. One of the principal benefits of this community is that they value the traditions of the past and do not let them be forgotten. This is why we should be thankful to them.

Asta Grigalavičiūtė

Photos: Donatas Babenskas Fotogalerija

Translation: Vytautas Povilas Jurgaitis

Out with the Winter? (photo gallery)

Indre — Wed, 06 Feb 2008 13:28:00 +0100

There was no real winter in Lithuania this year, but the ceremony called "Užgavėnės" was performed loudly. Similar events sacred to sending the winter off can be seen in Poland, Germany, Austria, Ukraine and Russia.

Like every year Užgavėnės was celebrated in Lithuanian national open air museum of culture. Many people from different cities or small towns gathered.

A Fair was a part of this event. Guests could buy multiplicity hand made things – from ceramics to different styles dotted linen fabrics. Wooden goats could be bought too.

Guests could compete in different events like making pancakes or guess riddles. The winner could taste cereal called „Šiupynis“. Witches, devils, goats, horses and itinerants were flitting between. A stork was chattering. Joyful doctor was offering drugs from laziness or from toothache. A bull was singing and playing squeeze-box.

Ensemble in masks of animals was entertaining participants.

Then all guests were shooing away winter and chanting: “winter, winter shoo away!” Everybody was encouraged to dance, to sing and trample as much as he can because it’s the only way to make winter disappear.

Everyone who was able to was dancing in the yard of museum.

The bagel is a dainty of Užgavėnės. Everyone had at least one such kind of choker on his neck.

Knights from the middle ages were also participating

If a mask was somehow related to face of man, it is grotesque: hooked big nose, few buckteeth, big ears, and different eyes, long and shabby beard. Animal masks were very popular. If it was a mask of a pig, it should be pink. This is a salutary humor of populace. Masks were made from wood, bark of birch, oakum, sheepskin.

Soup was boiled in this pot

The most impressive was a fight of Kanapinis (The Hemper - he symbolizes the poor) and Lašininis (The Porker - he is a representative of rich). Kanapinis has won.

After the fight everybody moved to burn Morė, which was standing on the highest hill. When you burn Morė, you burn all maladies of the world.

This is a burning of Morė. Morė is made from branches of fir, tatters and oakum. It is also the end of festival.

Asta Grigalavičiūtė
Photos: Donatas Babenskas Fotogalerija

Marketing showing faces

Indre — Mon, 04 Feb 2008 08:30:00 +0100

From the beginning of the New Year in San Paulo, the fourth most populated city in the world, the municipal authorities are dismantling all public advertisement screens and panels. This is the unprecedented war against „visual pollution“. I cannot but wonder about this outbreak of political will in Latin America, therefore I decided to take a better look at the situation in Lithuanian capital.

They say that Vilnius is one of the better examples in Eastern Europe where public advertisement is rigorously controlled. We must admit that due to municipal legislation Vilnius old town is not polluted by visual advertisement. According to these legal acts introduced in 2003, the city is divided into four regions with variable advertisement restrictions. Even though the old town looks clean as soon as one passes to the other zone just across the bridge, the advertisement chaos begins as advertisement banners pile on top of each other.

I will not elaborate on philosophical contemplations of marketing and will limit my remarks only on several new and dangerous advertisement examples that are threatening the city.

Most of us have noticed the sound of speakers near newly opened and "prestigious" shopping center "Gedimino 9", as they loudly invite the "right" people to the "right" place. The impossibility to communicate while walking by has become the new cultural attribute of the area. The fact that the new revolutionary municipal authorities have not taken any measures proves that some businessmen can do anything they please. It is true that recently these speakers disappeared, most probably because of the bad weather. Or maybe some unhappy citizen broke them?

The other big problem is the advertisement in educational facilities. Just a decade ago such issues were mentioned only in anecdotes as the peculiarities of capitalist countries, however now they are common in many schools and dormitories across Vilnius as the flyers are now replaced by solid advertisement graffiti’s and other means like „Ezys lifts“ (advertisements made like wallpapers and sticked up in lifts).

Of course this is not Latin America and marketing will not be outlawed. However, the discussion about the visual advertisement and its benefits to every citizen is still necessary. Such discussion should be public and not go on behind the closed doors as it happens in most cases.

Gediminas Kordušas

Photos: Gediminas Kordušas and Erika Lastovskytė

Translation: Jurgis Vėgėlė

Lithuanian Euro

Indre — Sat, 05 Jan 2008 14:53:00 +0100

“I hope that the Vytis, riding through the stars with his head raised high, on our new money will not be shameful for Lithuania” says Antanas Žukauskas, the author of the Lithuanian Euro coins.

Lithuania was not able to adopt euro in 2007. High inflation rates and coming Parliamentary and Presidential elections are the factors, which won't be favourable for euro till 2010. But model of Lithuanian euro already exists and waits for the day when it will settle in the pockets of every Lithuanian.

Almost everyone has run into Antanas Žukauskas’ creations in Lithuania, both the president and the homeless man. Of course the later might not have heard that the sculptor has been recognized in a large number of local and international expositions, has received awards in dozens of international competitions and is the author of more than 50 works (monuments, memorial and decorative sculptures, among others) spread throughout Lithuanian and foreign public spaces. Might have not seen the famous ensembles created by the artist, however he holds coins created by A. Žukauskas in his hand everyday. That is because all valid and commemorative Lithuanian coins were designed by him, he also won the competition to design the Lithuanian Euro coins. He has been a nominated for the National culture and art award a number of times, but has as yet to receive it. However he has received the Grand Lithuanian duke Gediminas cross of the knight (in 2004) for achievements in the name of Lithuania and spreading its fame worldwide. In 2006 he was awarded the top strategic state stipend.

Museums and collectors in Lithuania, U.K., Czech Republic, Georgia, USA, Poland, Russia, Finland, Ukraine, Vatican and Germany have obtained his works. Presently the sculptor is working on an international project “Lithuania in Europe through form”, which is supported by the European Parliament ant the Ministry of Culture of Lithuania. Several personal expositions were opened for this project. One in the gallery of the permanent EU delegation and in the Belliard str. square in Brussels (Belgium), in a private gallery in Dresden (Germany), in September an exposition of the artists’ sculptural assemblages took place in the Lithuanian national library, in the months of October through to December his exposition “Intersections of Visions and Reality” opened it’s doors in the Lithuanian art museums’ Radvilų residence. More than two hundred pieces by the author are on display here: sculptures, bass relief’s, assemblages, regular and collectors coins as well as graphic projects. Expositions in Rome and London are planned after this one. This will be the biggest worry of the sculptor’s muse, wife, friend and finally manager Elena Žukauskienė.

So there will be a lot more excitement, well-wishing, flowers, toasting. While the artist himself says that he values solitude the most. “I live at peace with myself, this is why I am not afraid to stay alone with Žukauskas. When someone asks whether I ever tire of working I don’t even know what to answer. After all I don’t work, but live my creations. I am happy that I have became what I wanted to be from childhood” says the man who received almost completely used up pieces of pencils from a distant relative – Antanas Vienuolis-Žukauskas (the famous Lithuanian poet).

The sculptor is not attached to any particular piece or genre. “In this sense I am a father of many children and I love them all equally” jokes the writer who always feels the thirst for knowledge “I like to use real materials – bronze, silver, gold, copper. Lately I feel wood especially well. I have distanced myself from coins somewhat, because I felt longing for a... wider stroke”.

A. Žukauskas, now 68 says he is afraid of being caught in a mold, of becoming repetitive. That is why he is constantly looking for new thoughts, enjoys exciting everyday life and is fond of running water. These are not just grand words – the thoughts, ahead of time, embodied in his works are witness to that. “I loathe swamps” shivers the man marked by creative will, a multitude of interests and exceptional talent “I am not exceptional and journalists tend to get bored with me. I don’t have any good luck charms or superstitions. I ask nothing of god, because I believe that he is having a difficult time as it is – so much is asked and begged of him every moment”.

He has a piece of advice to anyone wishing to bury a treasure of coins created by the sculptor – to add a note to the coins with the words “Lithuania – the most beautiful state in the world”. The sculptor does not hide the fact that he receives very lucrative offers to work abroad, but says that he cannot understand why he should go somewhere. “This is my country” he stresses and cannot contain his excitement about being born during the most interesting times.

Caught aback by questions regarding the common EU currency and the fact that people are afraid that by giving up our currency we will give away a part of ourselves he thought for a long while. “Every country has a different picture on one side of the Euro coin, which is a compromise between better economic conditions and national identity” said the artist, “When creating the Euros I wanted to retain our national spirit and our national symbol – the Vytis. I hope that the Vytis, riding through the stars with his head raised high, on our new money will not be shameful for Lithuania”.

Aurelija Arlauskienė

Translation: Vytautas Jurgaitis

Photos: A.Arlauskienė and Central Bank of the Republic of Lithuania

A Day without Catholic Chains

Indre — Mon, 24 Dec 2007 10:54:00 +0100

The last pagans in Europe – Lithuanian people were Christianized in 1387. 620 years passed by and now 79% of Lithuanians say they are members of the Roman Catholic community. They prepare for Christmas, but more than this religious holiday Christmas Eve is welcome.

And they probably do not presume that the origins of all the traditions they keep on that day are pagan. There are only 1270 official believers, who care about ancient Baltic religion Romuva. Krivis Jonas Trinkūnas tells about the ancient Baltic traditions and explains the meaning of Christmas Eve (24th of December).

“The ancient Lithuanian culture and religion has a lot of chthonic elements - earth, nether world and mythology of the dead. In XIX century in the peasant traditions a commemoration of the dead was dominating in almost all calendar holidays.

Christmas Eve is exactly the day of a commemoration of the dead together with ritual regale. The dishes prepared on Christmas Eve are dedicated to the dead – no meat, no milk and eggs. The most important ingredient of these dishes is cereal. „Kūčia“- special ritual meal is made of them. Stew cereal, poppy seeds, nuts, honey, peas and more are also mixed together in it. Other meals – mushrooms (it is a chthonic meal of the dead), fish, various berries and fruits. The religious meal “Kūčiukai”, or “Šližikai” now is the most popular one. The number of dishes on the table usually is 9 or 12 and it is a must to taste them.

While the family sits together at the table, an empty plate is there for the recently dead family members. The owner goes around his house with the meal „Kūčia“ in his hands and knocks on the door. All people inside are asking: „Who is that? “, „This is me, God“, - he answers, because he represents the God of souls, or the God of all the spirits.

On that night of souls the frontiers between the dead and living disappear. Therefore, the spirits are present near the table. There are a lot of things you can learn from them, which are usually impossible to discover otherwise: what will happen in the next year? How big will the harvest be? When you will get married or die? On that night many things are settled by lot, which reveals secrets of life e.g. pull a straw from under the tablecloth (the longer the straw, the longer your life will be), wax is poured into the water etc. All wishes made on that night have great power – they come true.

It is important to visit all the animals in the evening and to feed them, visit garden trees and hug them. It is a universal feast. The meal for the souls is left on the table through the night.

Christmas and Christmas Eve – are like one long holiday for doing good deeds and sharing happiness and, of course witing for the beginning of the New Year.

The chronicler of the Pilaitė community dr. Angelė Šarlauskienė noticed that: "Kūčios, Christmas and New Year are similar celebrations for the modern Lithuanian, because at that time we turn back to the past and stand on the tips of our toes to see a glimpse of the future so that we can find the shortest and the most direct route leading to our goals".

According to her everybody prepares for the celebrations by cleaning inside the house and out as well as within themselves, everyone rushes to finish the last pieces of work left over for this year and to prepare to greet the coming year. Usually during the Christmas celebrations the less fortunate are remembered: aid is given to families with many children, the poor and orphans.

The celebrations are similar, but Lithuanians have different perception. Christmas brings joy, because of friends visits, and Christmas Eve is a very private evening full of traditions and rituals. No one should disturb the family during Kūčios.

So, despite centuries and professed religion, there is a strong element of ancient faith in Lithuanian lifestyle, neatly grown in one of the biggest Christian holidays – Christmas.

Translation: Erika Lastovskytė
Photos: Romuva community

Public opinion: European of the Year

Indre — Thu, 29 Nov 2007 12:55:00 +0100

The President of Lithuania Valdas Adamkus was elected European of the Year. The newspaper „European Voice“, which belongs to „The Economist“ group, awards the most distinguished people annually, since 2001.

The candidates are selected by leading European opinion leaders and the readers can decide, which one of them should get the title. There are a few categories of nominations: Commissioner of the Year, MEP of the Year, Statesman / Stateswoman of the Year, Diplomat of the Year, Journalist of the Year, Campaigner of the Year, Business Leader of the Year, Achiever of the Year and Non-EU Citizen of the Year. Then ten of the fifty candidates are selected (according to the number of votes received). The European of the Year is chosen from those ten candidates.

The Lithuanian President was nominated in the category of Statesman/Stateswoman of the Year for helping to broker a deal on the new EU treaty so as not to isolate Poland.

Nobody except diplomats really know what happened during the negotiations, but the President of Poland Lech Kaczynski said something interesting happened during the opening ceremony of the new embassy of Poland in Lithuania. He stated, that after these negotiations, when any of the EU leaders want to make a deal with him, the first call they make is not to him (Lech Kaczynski), but to the President of Lithuania.

Indrė Kumpikevičiūtė

Photos of Presidency of Lithuania

A local expression of the French pattern

Dionizas — Mon, 26 Nov 2007 07:35:00 +0100

Around 4000 people from all over Lithuania gathered to protest in Vilnius last Saturday. They are not satisfied with minimum wages, quickly growing prices of vital food products, and the inconceivable increase of additional payments, which Parliament members get with their salary.

Minimum wage in Lithuania is 700 Lt (200 EUR) and the fifth of the population earns this amount of money in a month. Around 41 % of the population gets the part of the payment “under the table”, in other words unofficially. The middle wage in the country is 1 370 Lt (400 EUR). The members of the parliament, which are making 3 000 Lt (870 EUR), gets almost 5500 Lt (1600 EUR) a month for office supplies, and do not have to explain where they spend the money.

According to survey of Department of Statistics to the Government of the Republic of Lithuania, during 2006 food prices in Lithuania increased by 10,5 % calculating from August. Public utilities, transport are also getting more expensive.

Several trade unions and NGO‘s tried to persuade the government that their activities are insufficient and demanded to take measures, which would stop the growth of the prices in the country. They believe that such increase of prices is determined not only by the free market, but also by the unwillingness of the government to manage with the "big businessmen". Therefore, they organized the demonstration on Saturday.

“More than 4000 people took part in the peaceful protest and it is not too few, knowing how passive the people are. They are frustrated and convinced that it is not giving any results”, - claims the head of the Lithuanian Trade Union „Solidarumas“ Aldona Jašinskienė. However, the demonstration is the form of their expression.

The participants delivered the symbolic envelope with the requirements, which they have already presented before, to the head of the representative of the Lithuanian government. The envelope is the symbol of the bribe, or the „under table“payment in Lithuania for quite a while.

The trade unions are going to wait for the response from the government until the end of the December and then they wish to understand how the government will try to tackle the economic situation.

A year ago, the trade union protested against the proposal to create the ceiling of social insurance, presented by the government. It denoted that social insurance tax rate should not be applied for the part of the salary, which exceeds the level of 4 average wages. For the individual, who earns more than that, the tax would be computed only below the mentioned ceiling. According to the trade union, in this case the State Social Insurance fund board of Lithuania would feel the lack of the money already in few years. The trade unions are also worried with the reconsideration of this offer in the government.

The picture as seen by members of Parliament is also opposite to the one of workers. Last year they barely passed the law, which was indented to guarantee the life annuity for the former parliament members, not depending on their age. The members of Parliament are elected for the term of 4 years. The chair of the „Solidarumas“ thinks that this term should be legitimized with fixed-term employment agreements. Moreover, she is convinced that each member of the Parliament is trying to get the 19 000 Lt of severance payment in the end of his period.

Demonstration in Vilnius is the reflection of the events, which took place in France and Latvia. Furthermore, the message from the representative of The International Transport Workers' Federation (ITF) Janina Malinovska arrived. She reported that members of The Estonian Transport & Road Workers' Trade Union organized the event next to the Lithuanian embassy in Tallinn and expressed their support.

According to A. Jašinskienė the fact that Lithuanian employees woke up and are trying to grasp the situation is so delightful. "The trade unions are the only organizations, where they can defend their interests. Since soviet times the conviction is dominating, implying that trade union was not designed to defend the rights, rather to give a flat, or a coupon for refrigerator. Only now this approach is changing."

She is looking to the future with optimism and wants us to trust Lithuanian trade unions are consolidating and shifting from conflicts to collaboration. If they would work together, they would be able to show more courage when claiming employee rights.

Indrė Kumpikevičiūtė

Translated by Dionizas Bajarūnas

Photos made by Jovita Meškauskienė

The bravery of the Pilaite citizens (video)

Indre — Wed, 07 Nov 2007 22:22:00 +0100

One of the most actively expanding parts of Vilnius – Pilaitė might soon become one of the most popular parts of the city. It is evolving rapidly, attracting new inhabitants and gaining fame as a comfortable, safe and well developed neighborhood.

However this might not have happened. Only a few years ago the community of Pilaitė became famous when they stood up to the Vilnius city municipality that wanted to allow the "Žvėrynas golf club" to build golf courts in Pilaitė. These would not only have destroyed the only green oasis of the then newest part of Vilnius, but also separated Pilaitė from the rest of the city, because the fields would have been fenced off and impossible to cross.

Everything begun in 2002 when the inhabitants of Pilaitė were shocked by the news, received form the municipality, that 120 ha of forest would be felled in order to build a golf course. Everyone believed that the angry inhabitants of the district, opposed to the idea, would meet their defeat, as Lithuanian laws of tend to not work when faced with big money.

Thankfully, a part of the inhabitants of the district were not afraid to act. An official community of Pilaitė was established. Together with the Green movement, this community organized fourteen protests, concerts and other mass events in two years, which attracted thousands of Vilnius’ inhabitants. The people gathered then made it clear that they do not want or need the golf courses in Pilaitė.

However none of the events then or later changed the minds of the men in power. Thus, in fall 2002 judicial proceedings began. The group acting in public interest was victorious, after 1.5 years of trial the Supreme Court of Lithuania determined that the Vilnius city municipality had acted illegally in selling the Pilaitė forest to the privately owned Žvėrynas golf club. The decision of the court is final and can not be appealed.

This decision of the court was, in a small way, caused by the efforts of the community. Presently this community is aiding other communities and the inhabitants of other city districts (Žvėrynas, Šeškinė, Karoliniškės, Žirmūnai) to defend their rights. The battle they have won is a perfect example that it is possible to defend local interests through the efforts of decisive and caring citizens.

The fight for the forest has not been the only one for the inhabitants of Pilaitė. In 2004 – 2005 a battle was waged over the beaches of the Gilužis and Salotė lakes. There was a threat that these beaches would be privatized and fenced off due to the rapid expansion of the city. Thus the community requested that these beaches would be reserved in public interest. Unfortunately, the municipality has yet to buy enough of the territory of Gilužis, thus the beaches were privatized and fenced off. The Salotė lake has been restored to its pre-soviet owners as private property, even though this should not have been allowed, a facto confirmed by parliamentary supervisors. Thus the members of this community can not yet rest. At least not until influential and wealthy people loose the ability to use legal loopholes to take away public spaces from the locals.

The Pilaitė community is famous in Vilnius and Lithuania not only through its efforts to defend the public interest. They organize Shrove Tuesday and Spring Poetry festivals for the inhabitants of the district and the whole city. The festivities have taken place in the Pilaitė forest for the past five years. This year the festival was dedicated to the goddess of love – Milda and the famous Lithuanian actor Laimonas Noreika gladly performed for all participants.

Vilnius has been famous in Lithuania for its unique Verba’s (Easter bouquets made from dried flowers), but few know that they come from Pilaitė and its surrounding area. One of the villages in the Pilaitė district is even now famous for its Verba makers.

The community has been publishing books with writings by their members “Pilaitės giesmininkai” (“The Bards of Pilaitė”) – illustrated collections of prose and poetry, written by schoolchildren and adults in Russian and Lithuanian languages. Furthermore in 2003 the community published a book titled “Pilaitė. Past, Present, Future”. It was intended to inform the readers about what Pilaitė is, the history of the district, it’s claim to fame in the past and now, what objects are located there, etc.

The results of the survey regarding the prepared project for the golf course are also presented in the book. Here you may also find out that more than a half of the persons living in this district have resided here for 5-10 or more years. The newest residents are generally young persons. Most of the respondents state that they visit the Pilaitė forest at least once a month. Only a few percent are in favour of making a golf course.

Another book they published is full of advice on defending the public interest. This district can now enjoy the created and constantly expanding infrastructure: comfortable and quick transportation, supermarkets, branches of banks, a church, plenty of shops and services – such as a laundry, pharmacist’s stores and cafés. 92 % of the locals want the forest they so vehemently defended to be declared a forest park and all economic activities to be forbidden within its boundaries.

It is most likely that only then the members of the Pilaitė community will be able to rest, knowing that no one will be able to threaten their green oasis.

Aiste Jurcyte

Translation Vytautas Jurgaitis