Not of One’s Free Will

From 11 November to 31 December 2025, the Vilnius Graphic Art Centre gallery ‘Kairė-dešinė’ will host an exhibition ‘Not of One’s Free Will’ (curated by Monika Krikštopaitytė). The opening will take place on 11 November 2025 (Tuesday), 6 pm.

Why is it worth talking about the soviet era? First and foremost because we are still unable to grasp how large and all-encompassing the tangle of trauma of that time is. The unspoken content, embedded in everyday words that have a completely different meaning, is still stuck in our throats. One of those words is “the army”.

In general, one may consider the draft of young people into the soviet army (hereinafter referred to as the SA) as the longest, most consistent and widespread, well-organized crime against the fundamental human rights to health, life and dignity that was carried out by the soviet system.

How many Lithuanian men did this institution mutilate, rape, intentionally and negligently kill; how many committed suicide, how many are still suffering from post-traumatic syndrome – we will never find out the exact numbers, because the data was falsified and classified, while relatives were silenced with threats. Yet we are talking thousands of men.

Revisiting this trauma is meaningful both because of the tense current situation, when it is necessary to keep in mind the neighbouring country’s methods of action, and because of the fact that with regard to the scale of the phenomenon, it has been discussed disproportionately scarcely.

Based on the time of service, the artists of the exhibition can be divided into two groups. The first one includes those who served in the 1960s: Arvydas Šaltenis (1964–1967, Gusev / Gumbinė, Kaliningrad region), the late Povilas Ričardas Vaitiekūnas (1964–1965, Duobelė, Latvia) and the late Romanas Vilkauskas (1968–1970, Kaliningrad region).

Meanwhile, the second group consists those who did their compulsory military service in the 1980s, as Lithuania’s aspirations for independence were gaining momentum, when young people from the Baltic countries were considered increasingly unreliable by the occupational authorities: Saulius Mažylis (1982–1984, Kharkiv, Kyiv, Ukraine), Gintaras Zinkevičius (1983–1985, Tukums, Latvia), Jonas Vaitekūnas (1984–1986, Vilnius), Ričardas Šileika (1986–1988, Ulan Erge, Kalmykia Autonomous Region), Darius Žiūra (1988–1990, Khabarovsk, Russian Far East), and Aidas Bareikis (1987–1989, Afghanistan).

The 1983–1985 photographic series Reservists by the late Romas Juškelis reminds us that even after discharge from the army, the soviet government had the right to summon the reservists for training at any time.

Despite the differences in geography and time of service, the same elements recur in all the stories: poverty, hunger, meaningless activity, time frozen by danger and boredom, loneliness, non-statutory relationships based on psychological and physical violence, and their bloody consequences.

The exhibition aims to reflect on this lump of pain, shame, disillusionment, disgust, horror, and mourning against the backdrop of today’s circumstances, as well as to contribute to the redefinition of the meaning of words like ‘manhood’, ‘army’, and ‘honour’ according to the values dear to us.

Monika Krikštopaitytė

Participants:

Aidas Bareikis (g. 1967), Romas Juškelis (1946–2016), Saulius Mažylis (g. 1961), Arvydas Šaltenis (g. 1944), Jonas Vaitekūnas (g. 1966), Povilas Ričardas Vaitiekūnas (1940–2025), Romanas Vilkauskas (1949–2018), Gintaras Zinkevičius (g. 1963), Darius Žiūra (g. 1968)