Jeans, rock, and political change

The period of Sąjūdis, the movement that brought Lithuania to the restoration of state independence in the 1980s and 1990s, is embedded in the collective memory through photographs of important political events. Some of these photographs have already become icons not only of history but also of Lithuanian photography – images that are recognisable to viewers and have symbolic meaning. However, the albums devoted to these historical events contain few or no photographs of an important part of Sąjūdis – the Marches of Rock – despite the fact that the cultural and symbolic significance of the photographs capturing rock concerts is just as important as that of the photographs documenting political events. The photographs taken at the Marches of Rock by Virgilijus Usinavičius-Augulis are a significant addition to the iconography of the Sąjūdis era. Some of the images have not been shown publically before. They chronicle a period when the rock subculture, which came to Lithuania from the West in the 1960s, became important to a large part of the population and revealed its potential to contribute to broad cultural and political changes. Virgilijus Usinavičius-Augulis’ photographs evoke a famous saying by Václav Havel, president of Czechoslovakia, that the Soviet Union was brought down by jeans and rock.

Photographs of the Marches of Rock by Virgilijus Usinavičius-Augulis

Tomas Pabedinskas holds the positions of Associate Professor at the Vytautas Magnus University Faculty of Arts and Head of the Department of Contemporary Arts where he teaches photography and visual culture. He also works as an independent photography critic and has published two monographs on contemporary Lithuanian photography.

Photo by Ričardas Šileika