Garliavos apylinkės l Contemporary Neighborhoods
a district in the Kaunas suburb, has joined the “Kaunas 2022” project “Contemporary Neighbourhoods” in 2019, and it stands out from other Kaunas districts due to its non-traditional initiatives and the involvement of neighbouring settlements in the project. Residents of Garliavos apylinkės want to become a contemporary neighbourhood and thus have raised a goal for themselves to discover the physical and semantic connections and a common identity with the communities of neighbouring settlements and districts.
In 2019 Hugo Herrera Tobón, a graphics designer from Columbia, created a subjective atlas of the Garliavos apylinkės district which has revealed a common identity connecting three communities: Juragiai, Ilgakiemis, and Sąnaša. It has been revealed that nature and hard-working people are the strong sides of Garliavos apylinkės. During that year, Garliavos apylinkės’ community was creating a narrative which connected the district and its neighbouring settlements. It was implemented as installations of physical objects that were telling the region’s common story. Objects were manufactured using the steampunk style which became more popular during the lockdown: the residents of Garliavos apylinkės had been encouraged to give unused items to artists from which they created works of art and in this way revived those items for a second life.
Agnė Vodčičienė, the organizer of Ilgakiemis leisure hall events, says that during the project many young regional artists, artisans, collectors, people who love and create art, were found. Also, that there was a lot of involvement from newcomers, young families in the cultural activities.
In 2020 the final event of the neighbourhood – “Historical Transit” – took place in an unusual place – on a train, the route of which (Kaunas-Garliava-Mauručiai-Kaunas) led through the objects located in the nature of the eldership of Garliava area. The trip by train not only reflected the common identity revealed by the subjective atlas, but also opened another topic important for Garliavos apylinkės neighbourhood – armies and public figures who had been moving in the territory for centuries. Some of the waypoints on the route were live characters, elsewhere there were active points or smaller, larger objects that gave meaning to various stories and connected the surroundings of Garliava.
A few steampunk installations in the Garliavos apylinkės district have appeared in 2020 (in the 3rd fort, in Juragiai, in Ilgakiemis) and in 2022 a whole steampunk festival is being planned. The activities in the Garliavos apylinkės district from 2019 to 2020 laid the groundwork for further “Contemporary Neighbourhoods” events from 2020 to 2022 in this part of the Kaunas suburb and a special connection between the region’s residents with nature. Garliavos apylinkės has future plans to create a live route, local guides, and other events to encourage the steampunk art even more.
Statistics briefly. 63 people have participated in workshops of the Garliavos apylinkės district. More than 80 works have been created which reflect the day to day life of the residents of Garliavos apylinkės, the dreams of the residents, what the residents are proud of or what they are annoyed by. All of this has been put on display in the Juragiai TV station and in a radio retransmission station. 220 people have visited the exhibition. 4 partners were involved in the activities that happened in 2020 in the Garliavos apylinkės district, in total 18 activities were organized and 1 event. 74 participants were involved in the event and activities organizing processes. There were 90 viewers. 11 professionals and artists have participated in the creative and communal processes. 2 long-term art works and cultural objects have been created: an installation and an exhibition. If you would like to know more about the wonderful, exciting activities in the Garliavos apylinkės district and / or maybe even get involved in them, do not hesitate and please contact us via e-mail: [email protected].
