The Incompatible mythologies of nationhood: Andrew Miksys’ Disko series

LTReikšminiai žodžiai: Lietuvos fotografija; Tautinė tapatybė; Mitas; Andrew Miksys; Andrew Miksys; Lithuanian photography; Myth; National identity; Lithuanian-American photographer.

ENThe article analyses the series Disko by Lithuanian-American photographer Andrew Miksys. After moving to Lithuania, Miksys photographed discotheques in villages and small towns between the years 2000 and 2010. The series Disko sparked controversy beyond its artistic context when it was appropriated by foreign and Lithuanian mass media and was said to represent Lithuanian nationhood. The contradiction between the denotative and the connotative aspects of Disko and between the different actual and possible functions of the series in particular social, political and cultural contexts are the main issues analysed in this article. It concludes with an assertion that this contradiction can be resolved by understanding the photographs as an opportunity to prevent the common and idealized myth of nationhood from becoming established ideology in art and politics. [From the publication]

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