Studio Practice: Lithuanian Folklore/Pagan History Research Brief

Initial Ideas

Ideas that have developed from the research stage, and aim to collate that research:

- A calendar with the key Lithuanian holidays/festivals. Each month would explain/educate more in depth about one of these holidays.

- A publication about the Lithuanian myth gods and goddesses, and their meanings. Maybe it could be a poster/post card series? Could also be in the form of a prayer book, when and how to contact the ancient gods and goddesses.

- Lithuanian folk art. Publication or postcard series that informs about the creative/crafty traditions that have survived since the pagan times. Could also be in the form of a calendar?

- Folklore songs/poem. A songbook containing illustrations that bring the songs/poems to life.

- An instructions manual on how to create the Lithuanian folk art, what they are used for and their meanings. Could be in the form of a book, or a video?

- A focus on the visual/imagery rather than text, simply have a poster or postcard series that showcases Lithuanian folklore stories. The story and explanation could be on the back but it is secondary to the imagery.

- A publication/zine about traditional Lithuanian textiles/fabrics, what the meanings are of the symbols and patterns used within them. Also, possibly an instructional side to it, to teach the reader how to weave/knit the patterns themselves.

- 3D/Sculpture of various Lithuanian folk art objects. This would give the audience the ability to experience hands-on Lithuanian traditions. Maybe each object came with instructions on how to use, and it's purpose.

- A spiritual handbook that includes some of the rituals from Lithuanian folklore. Could take the form of a medical/remedy book, and include recipes and directions on how to do the rituals.

- An illustration of the World-Tree in the form of a poster/map, and including information about it's meaning and purpose. The illustration could also include various other elements from folklore/myth stories, and become like a collection of them all.

- Astronomy/Zodiacs. A star-map of ancient Lithuanian names and meanings for the constellations.

I decided to move forward with the idea of creating a informative publication or postcard series about Lithuanian folk art. I choose this because out of all the ideas, I thought that this would allow the reader to learn the most about Lithuanian folklore and traditions, and also be the easiest to understand. Some of the other ideas, such as the instructional manuals, would have content that would be too complex for a an audience member to understand if this was the first time they picked up anything about Lithuania and its culture. I wanted my outcome to be accessible to a large audience, even people who have never heard of Lithuania before. Therefore, by creating something that informed more broadly about a variety of different topics within Lithuanian culture, and traditions that are present to this day, the outcome will be able to act as an introductory guide, and be easily understood by a large range of audiences.

The Lithuanian Folk Art subjects/themes I will focus on are:

Crosses

Easter Eggs

Jewellery eg. Amber Stone

Metalwork

Straw Decorations eg. 'Gardens'

Textiles/Fabrics eg. 'Sashes'

Wood Carvings eg. 'The Pensive Christ'

Palm Sunday Flowers

Lithuanian Mardi Gras eg. 'Uzgavenes' Masks

Visual Research

To aid my design process, I decided to do some visual research for the subjects/themes of Lithuanian Folk Art that I will be working with. I needed the visual research so that when I came to creating imagery for the content of my outcomes, I had realistic and accurate references I could work from.

Crosses