Serpytyte’s work examines issues of memory, trauma and loss, through the post-war and recent history of her native Lithuania, using a sophisticated combination of archival research, sculpture and photography. Her project 1944-1991 is exemplary in this regard, beginning with a series of photographs of sites of repression and violence, which then form the basis for her own complex and nuanced negotiations and representations of these same places. Working within and between media, her work nonetheless displays a great commitment to the specific histories and critical potential of the photographic medium.

Simon Baker

1944-1991

In 1944 a Cold War began, a war that was brutal, inhumane. A war that has now been almost forgotten. The Western powers continued to consider the occupation of the Baltic and Eastern Countries by the Stalinist powers to be illegal despite the post war conferences that had recognized the borders of the USSR. Hidden behind the Iron Curtain, the occupation of the Soviet block continued for fifty years and destroyed the lives of millions. It is estimated that there were at least 20 million deaths. Many believe that the real figure is closer to 60 million. Despite not receiving any backing from the West, the partisans’ resistance fought against the Soviet regime. These partisans had to abandon both their families and homes and seek sanctuary in the forests. In numerous villages and towns, domestic dwellings were attained by KGB officers for use as control centers, interrogation, imprisonment and torture. These homely spaces were converted into places of terror. As a result the forest not only became the place of refuge but also the place of mass graves. The most active and forceful resistance came from the Lithuanian ‘forest brothers’, which lasted for ten years.

www.indre-serpytyte.com

Framing by Circad, Paris.