Street art gallery magazine Street art gallery magazine | Page 9

NO . 1 | DECEMBER 2019
On the left – Lauryna Kiškytė,
On the right – Lina Šlipavičiūtė
Why is the historical Jewish Quarter the spot you chose for the artworks?
Lina: Vilnius has plenty of stories we’d like to tell. I am fascinated by cultural diversity,
the ability of people with different religions and ethnicities to coexist and create a
common space for all of them, in spite of all their differences. This is one of the
reasons why I was targeting this exact location  – life here used to be vivid and
pulsated with immense diversity and power. Prior to the Second World War, the
Jewish community in Vilnius was vast and powerful: how they lived, what they
created – all of it left imprints not only on the walls of the Old Town, but also – in our
conscience, though lots of us don’t quite realize how powerful that influence was and
still is.
Since this flourishing culture was almost swept from the face of earth in a cruel and
brutal manner, the subject itself is not easy for both the artist and the society. Some
people don’t want to remember or discuss the dark pages of history, some try to
forget. Walls that Remember is our way of tackling this issue. I think a clear and
honest perception of our history is the only way to advance and prevent horrible
mistakes from repeating. 
Lauryna: We have a tendency to favor the most beautiful moments of history. The
ones we like most – heroism, greatness. And when it comes to controversies, uneasy
questions and things we don’t like about our history – they tend to be ignored. Walls
that Remember is an appeal to remember and face our history, both its beauty and
its grotesque.