The history of the Vilnius underground passage is not over: the creators of the rainbow responded with a new drawing

“It is very unfortunate, but our sad predictions made after the first tricolor painting came true: the daily repetitive painting of the Lithuanian tricolor with xenophobic weapons on the wall, which was legal for several street artists, is nothing more than occupying a space free to spread hatred. Therefore, we want to express our solidarity with LGBT people and also with other street artists who are being deprived of their creative space, “write the artists who painted the rainbow in a distributed report.

“On Tuesday several graffiti were painted for the fourth time. Such meddling by these people is intolerable, painting the wall and then even standing guard on the wall and trying to silence all street artists in general, even those whose works do not are related to this human rights issue. We believe that this painting perfectly illustrates that the actions of these homophobes are driven by a completely irrational paranoia and that enemies are sought everywhere. We all know very well from history what xenophobia leads to, which is covered by patriotism.

Not only is the wall constantly being painted in an aggressive way, the drawing of a tricolor wants or does not want to be politicized. We think, well, this is a new contextual background that needs to be taken into account. An LGBT rainbow and a message of tolerance, after which a variety of other people’s graffiti appears on it, and then on everything: homophobes exploit the tricolor, in it the graffiti, in the armed tricolor, in the graffiti, in the armed tricolor, etc. This is silencing. Once it was … well, a strong reaction is conveyed, the wall is all there is. But now it is a tireless silence and a very disrespectful border hijacking, the symbolism of the country is used to oppose the people. Such actions remind something. What reminds us – we show it visually, “say the artists.

In this new work, they say, they refer to the world famous and still used, 1987. A poster of the project Silencio = Muerte was launched in the streets of New York, which became a symbol of the solidarity and resistance of the LGBT community to homophobia.

“The pink triangle is a Nazi-created identification mark that gay, bisexual, and transmotor men were forced to wear in concentration camps (gay, bisexual, and transgender women were also imprisoned but not systematized by the Nazis). More than half of all the people marked with pink triangles died in these camps, and most of those who survived torture remained in other prisons after the defeat of Nazi Germany. However, both on the poster and on this wall, the pink triangle is upside down, assuming this discriminatory sign and turning it into a sign of resistance to homophobic power structures ”, the authors explain.

How can such silence be politely suffered? How many can be considered second-class people? We have always been, are and will be part of Lithuanian society. By suffering and waiting politely, some of the negative attitudes in society have been replaced by tolerance, which is very rewarding. But there are people who will not change their darkness. Human rights are not an opinion. We can no longer allow ourselves to be pushed to the margins of society, ”they say.

The artists in the report also appeal to anyone who expressed opposition to the occupation of the border and said they had been silenced. “We see you and we listen to you! The fact that we are painted every day means that we are visible! We are constantly documenting your visual resistance, but if you’ve captured it yourself, please share it! #sienavisu ”, they call.