Keeping the Past Visible

While I think that it is appropriate that the independent Lithuania removed ideological statues — such as Lenin and other Soviet leaders — and statues commemorating the Red Army victory in World War II, I am glad that not all examples of Soviet-era art have been removed from public spaces in Kaunas and Vilnius.  Lithuania was a part of the Soviet Union and this period of its history should not be erased from public view.  Keeping good examples of monumental socialist-realist art is, I believe, an appropriate way to acknowledging that past.  Socialist-realist art was defined as socialist in content, realist in form.  This means that the content had to show ideological reality rather than the “real” reality (in other words, happy workers and peasants).

Socialist-realist worker at its monumental best (Kaunas)

 

Another piece from the set of concrete socialist-realist scupltures in Kaunas

 

I thought that I wrote a 2009 blog post about the statues on the Green Bridge in Vilnius, but apparently I didn’t.  And now I can’t find photos of the statues, although I was sure that I had taken some.  I’ll try to get photos next time I am in Vilnius and post those.  They are another great example of socialist-realist monumental art that I am glad has been preserved.