On December 16th, The New York Times announced that Lithuania is the worst-affected country in the world, according to the seven-day coronavirus infection rate published. The second wave of COVID has stopped cultural life and locked most Lithuanians inside. Yet the non-profit organization Integration Center and I found a way to bring art back into people’s lives amid the pandemic by transforming one of Vilnius’ main streets into an open-air gallery. As people in Lithuania are asked to leave their homes only when necessary, the organizers made it possible to visit the exhibition online too—from the safe space of one’s home.

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Exhibition opening day, Vilnius street, Vilnius city

The open-air photography exhibition “On Goodness” features moments from expeditions to prisons in Peru and South Africa in 2019. The artworks invite the viewer on a trip to a far-away land—a separated and isolated territory of a prison. In times when our capacity to understand isolation is greater than ever, the exhibition calls for compassion and empathy for those locked away.

Expedition – South Africa, Olievenhoutbosch

I think that “On Goodness” is a significant exhibition for me personally, as it pushed me to think about the concept of freedom in ways I never had before. The expeditions to South Africa and Peru allowed me to open unexplored worlds such as slums in South Africa and high-security prisons. One prisoner shared that he found freedom in making peace with isolation. Interestingly, once back home, I had to do the same—build my own relationship with the quarantine measures and a changing world.

Expedition – South Africa, Midrand

Expedition – South Africa, Johannesburg

Inspired by the expeditions and matured during the Spring lockdown in 2020, the expedition “On Goodness” plays with the opposites and invites the viewer to look for the thread connecting the two: to search for freedom in isolation and better understand those whose world we know nothing about.

Expedition – South Africa, Pretoria Central Prison

Expedition – South Africa, Diepsloot slum

Expedition – South Africa, Diepsloot

Expedition – South Africa, Diepsloot

Expedition – South Africa, Johannesburg

Expedition – South Africa, Diepsloot slum

Expedition – South Africa, Cape Town

Expedition – South Africa, Fish Hoek, Cape Town

Expedition – South Africa, Simon’s Town

Expedition – South Africa, Fish Hoek, Cape Town

Expedition – South Africa, Cape Peninsula

Expedition – Peru, San Juan de Lurigancho prison in Lima, Peru’s largest prison

Expedition – Peru, San Juan de Lurigancho prison in Lima, Peru’s largest prison

Expedition – Peru, San Juan de Lurigancho prison in Lima, Peru’s largest prison

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