Further North

Abstract

In June 2017, supported by the School of Journalism, Media and Performance, PhotoUCLan facilitated a research trip to Kaunas, Lithuania. Inspired by the contrasts and comparisons between the two distinct locales of Preston and Kaunas, students and staff engaged with the city and its vibrant culture and community. The research team also made connections with Vytautas Magnus University, the UCLan partner institution in Kaunas. As part of the project the group met with local artists Evelina Simkute and Richard Schofield. Evelina, interviewed for North Magazine below, introduced us to the Šilainiai micro district on the outskirts of the city. The group were given an extensive tour of the site and an opportunity to visually research the space. While Richard highlighted the forgotten history of the city’s Jewish community and the legacy he is attempting to preserve for future generations.

This collaborative publication combines the work of staff, students, and artists from both Preston and Kaunas, Lithuania. Varied methods of response have been employed to build a picture at once personal and collective, specific and overarching. The first half of the book focuses on those responses immediate to the surroundings, the shapes and moments that give structure to our new environment. The mid-section coalesces around the micro district of Šilainai. An attempt to reveal the constraints and freedoms of a vast urban site that intrigues and confuses at every turn. Finally, we concentrate on the people of Kaunas, without whom the city would serve no function. The combination and position of these visual representations serve to provide only a resonance of a place at this or that juncture amidst a multitude of temporal interpretations.