| Abstract [eng] |
This master thesis (official title: “Conversion of the former Lukiškės prison: analysis of conceptualization axes”) concentrates on the topic of conversion of the former Lukiškės panopticon prison, located in the city centre of Vilnius, Lithuania. The prison that has been working for over 100 years (since 1904), including during the Soviet and Nazi occupations, was closed in 2019: the last inmates were transferred to different imprisonment institutions across Lithuania and the question was – “what to do with this building located in the heart of Vilnius?”. Shortly the organization of Lukiškės building complex was then passed over to a cultural agency called “8 Days A Week”, who were the only applicants that showed interest in organizing social, cultural and entertainment activities in latter complex. Despite a rather positive image of the conversion in the media, this paper shows that the assessments on the topic are not one-sided and include multi-layered problematics related to establishment of the memory of convicts, approach to heritage industry, history and utilization of unused buildings. This study presents two hypothetical conceptualization axes of the former prison as well as a chapter on “Heterotopic Spaces”: the theoretical frameworks were built based on the data collected during the study. The first axe, called “The Deprivation of Freedom” constitutes of Jeremy Bentham’s panopticon concept, subsequently used by Michel Foucault. The theoretical framework of panopticon helps to distinguish the concepts of prison, physical and metaphysical aspects of its organization. The latter axe is further developed with ideas about heritage connections with today's consumption trends; the consequences of commercialization. The second hypothetical axe called “The Freedom Celebration” is constructed from paradoxical principles of popular culture, related to the celebration of freedom in a prison, the concept of carnival, developed by John Fiske and the heritage industry’s trends. As some of the data collected during the study did not fall into any of the latter axes, an additional chapter, called “The Component of Heterotopic Spaces” is presented – theoretical frameworks were built using Foucault’s ideas on “Other Spaces”. The main aim of this paper is to look into the conversion of the former Lukiškės prison and analyse the conceptualization axes among those who chose not to visit the new version of Lukiškės as well as those who visit the former prison and assess the change positively. In order to achieve the objective of this thesis, interviews were conducted with latter persons and collected data was analysed. The study has shown that the evaluation of Lukiškės conversion is not homogeneous, as part of society believes such choice is reducing and denigrating the historical memory. Furthermore, the respondents claim that this decision illustrates the issue of not representing prisoners, or even parallels with the tools of formulating historical memory carried out by the Soviet Union. On the other hand, those who believe that transforming Lukiškės into a place of entertainment was the correct decision, claim that in modern society, progress and the use of old buildings are inevitable. In this side of the conceptualization, the prison was called a cultural centre, Lithuania’s version of Soho – these arguments relate to the functionality of cultural resistance described by Fiske. All in all, this study shows that the inclusion of different groups of society is essential when discussing the new use of old and no longer serving buildings, especially those with a historical and cultural value. It has also shown the unwillingness of a part of the society to talk about the transformation of Lithuanian prison institutions, the representation of prisoners, and the improvement of imprisonment conditions. |
