With Lithuania calling a nationwide lockdown in the lead-up to the holidays, residents of Vilnius are once again making the most of the situation – this time by sharing the holiday spirit from a safe distance. Balconies, windows and terraces have become the new canvases on which to spread holiday cheer and connect with neighbours in a novel way.
Adas Vasiliauskas, the local photographer who made headlines during the first lockdown in March with a series of quarantine portraits shot with a drone, has taken to the sky once again to snap photos of residents in lockdown. Together with the municipality of Vilnius, Vasiliauskas invited people in Vilnius to turn their balconies into miniature Christmas fairylands.
Inspired in part by a group of local artists who created a number of Christmas installations on balconies across the city, dozens of households were up to the challenge and responded by decorating their balconies with things like giant lollipops, shining deer and lots of Christmas lights. Adas has since been visiting the most inventive balcony creations with his drone and publishing photos of them on social media and a website showcasing the project he’s called Christmas on the Balconies.
Dmitrij, a resident of the Žirmunai district who illuminated his 11th-floor balcony with decorations that can be seen from afar even without a drone, is happy to be sharing the holiday spirit from a safe distance. “The holidays are a time to bring joy to our families as well as our neighbours,” he says. “We came up with the design for our balcony with a green Christmas tree surrounded by clouds four years ago, when most of the other balconies remained dark. Now we would like to encourage everyone to have fun during the holidays and cheer others up from a safe distance.“
Since the new reality we all faced during the first lockdown inspired his first series of drone shots, the photographer wanted to make his second project more in tune with the holidays. “My first project revolved around taking pictures of people in fun situations, either on their balconies and in their windows,” Adas explains. “So for the Christmas season I wanted to create something festive yet safe. By inviting people to decorate their balconies as originally as possible, I wanted them to unleash their fantasies and see this as an opportunity to show the world that we can still celebrate and have fun, even in the context of a pandemic.”
With most of the usual Christmas festivities suspended and the city centre much quieter than usual at this time of the year, Vilnius aims to inspire a holiday spirit where people are still safe in their homes and on their balconies and terraces.
