Erasing Memory? Toward the Decolonization of Performance Art in Lithuania

Abstract

In this paper, a performance artist aims to present reflexive narrative-building as autoethnography through the photographic documentation of decolonization-themed Lithuanian performance art. The question within this paper is how the narratives of Lithuanian performance art deal with decolonization through a reflexive study of the photo documentation of performance art. This question is answered through a reflexive investigation into the photo documentation of three cases from Lithuania. The performance art projects attempt to rein-scribe the erased (hi)stories, which use sites of performance as loaded narratives. Photo documentation allows us to look into these performances from the distance of time and following political or socio-cultural changes. The memory here is the embodied remembrance of the history of the Soviet beliefs and past governmental structures forced on Lithuanian society during the Soviet regime (colonization). Decolonizing Lithuanian post-Soviet memories means using an arts-based method, creating space for a dialogue that understands the impact of the traumatic past on the present culture. The purpose of this research is, through the reflections of a performance artist, using autoethnography and performance as activism, to narrate performance art dealing with photo images of the three studied cases to include the historical memories and decolonization of Lithuania.