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Paper short abstract

The paper focuses on the interaction between artistic and creative initiatives and the aesthetic qualities of industrial ruins in contemporary Lithuania. It raises the question of how these industrial ruins are transformed and re-appropriated, and what kinds of mnemonic emotional narratives emerge.

Paper long abstract

In Lithuania, the industrial past is marginalised and imbued with complex emotions and memories, particularly in relation to the Soviet-era industry, which is closely associated with the Soviet political regime and its colonial policy (Dovidaitytė, 2021). In post-Soviet industrial cities, both officially protected factory buildings constructed before the mid-twentieth century and Soviet-era industrial complexes were overlooked by the public and city authorities for a long time. However, today in one of these cities, Panevezys, a variety of events, including exhibitions, excursions, open-air galleries and festivals, have emerged, revitalising the industrial ruins. The decaying industrial sites have become fertile grounds for artistic and creative initiatives. Within these spaces, the aesthetic and emotional qualities of ruination intertwine with various practices of re-appropriation of industrial heritage. This paper discusses the emerging hybrid and paradoxical condition of industrial ruins shaped by creative interventions and imbued with diverse layers of meaning, memory, and emotion. It examines how artistic and creative initiatives engage in the revitalisation of decaying industrial sites, how these interventions contribute to their transformation and reactivation, and what kind of mnemonic emotional narratives are created through the collision of artistic and creative initiatives and the aesthetics of ruins. The paper is based on ethnographic fieldwork conducted in the Lithuanian city of Panevezys, a locality characterised by industrial heritage originating from diverse historical periods and by deindustrialisation that unfolded following the restoration of Lithuania’s independence in 1990.