Song Festival

Musical memories from family video archives.

The musical collage is based on home video recordings from the last decade of the 20th century, of people playing instruments and singing. The beginnings of Lithuania's independence coincided with the popularization of video cameras. People mostly filmed their immediate surroundings and family members. Today, these home recordings are a documentary record of the beginnings of an independent Lithuanian society. They help to understand what is left and what has disappeared, what has become a permanent element of society, and what is only a sign of the times. Full of nostalgia, irony and warmth, this work is an ode to the inevitability of passing time.

The 90s were the beginning of Lithuania's independence, and at the same time the beginning of the adult life of our generation. It was a naive time for those who started and learned to live, accepting everything with open eyes and hearts. It was also a time when our parents gained freedom and the opportunity to capture those times on their own with a video camera. Home recordings in occupied Lithuania were available only to a narrow, privileged group. In the first decade of independence, the number of people making films increased significantly. It was not the approach of a television operator or director trying to portray society, but simply the gaze of people, recording their immediate surroundings and everyday life. Today, as we have reached the age of our parents of that time, these recordings provide an excellent opportunity to look at the origins and roots of who we are today, to understand what shapes our character as a society, and what was only the mark of that particular era. Many events of that period were accompanied by music and singing (this observation appeared after reviewing the material). Hence the idea was born that the most appropriate way to interpret this material would be music.

— Karolis Kaupinis