Post-Authoritarian Landscapes: Interpreting Built Heritage in Lithuania

• In Event: Landscapes of Memory: Contested Built Environments and Politics in Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia, 1920s-2020s

Abstract

The paper examines the legacy and heritage of built architectural landscapes in soviet-occupied Lithuania following a period of transformation after the 1990 declaration of the independent Republic of Lithuania. It analyzes the current state of these buildings and urban landscapes, societal perceptions towards them, issues of recognition, collective memory, and socio-cultural challenges therein. The paper summarises the research that was carried out in the last twenty years in the field of post-war architectural modernism. How interpretation, perception and preservation of architectural legacy from the period of soviet-occupied Lithuania changed after the Russian full scale invasion of Ukraine? The paper focuses on the conceptual change of memory policy and societal response to the contested heritage.

Author

• Marija Dremaite, Vilnius U (Lithuania)