The book "Secrets of Vilnius". Lina Laura Švedaitė
The book "Secrets of Vilnius: visions, memories, dreams" is a look at today's capital and its inhabitants. The book seeks answers to the following questions: what are the visions of the capital? What makes up the collective memory of Vilnius? What is hiding in the city's subconsciousness? What is the relationship between Vilnius and it's people? Much attention is paid to the city's residential or ''sleeping'' areas and fringes. "Secrets of Vilnius" consists of conversations about Vilnius, memories and testimonies of Vilnius' residents, poetic texts, photographs, records and prints of the capital's surfaces. The heroes of the interviews and the authors of the texts are not afraid to put their feelings into words, thus a certain reality of Vilnius emerges. Various professions, different ages and social groups, children and animals speak in the voice of Vilnius.
The gray cover of the book is like a piece of concrete - a brick, a dusty historical relic. This is what a 700-year-old city is made of. The color code of Vilnius is: grey, green, blue. Large format photographs guide the reader as the city is traversed across time - from early morning to the invisible night – as well as the faces of the city's heroes - a punk, a philosopher, a trolley driver, a market seller. The thin line illustrations capture the litter found in the streets: a beer cap, a mask, a clothespin, a torn Mcdonald's advertising mockup and etc. The blue pages of the book are a direct stamp of the city, created in the most primitive, primary form of graphics: paint, roller, paper and ...spoon.
My work: idea, art direction, design, layout
Client: writer Lina Laura Švedaitė, The publisher "Slinktys"
Photographer: Denis Vėjas
