Being a teenager in the gariūnmetis era: jeans, cassettes and the chaotic freedom

In this project, the experiences of teenagers of gariūnmetis era (it is the first decade of an independent Lithuania, named after a famous market place near Vilnius called Gariūnai) are being analyzed by overviewing three different sections: appearance, culture and innovations, and relationship with others. Teenagers of gariūnmetis era were born between 1980-1989 and their memories about this period are comparatively the newest, at the same time these people also have experienced living in the Soviet Union. Interestingly, the general picture of people born at the very end of Soviet occupation of Lithuania is not widely covered in the academic literature. Due to this reason, this generation (whilst narrowing it down to those born in 1980-1985) was chosen for the analysis. The uniqueness of this generation's memory and their exceptional experiences is what drew our attention to this exact period of time - a person witnesses  a political transformation of the whole country while being a teenager and creating his/her very own personality at the same time. It is an indescribable feeling to see the gariūnmetis era through the eyes of (at that time) teenagers. These people, who are now adults, tell their stories with an organic reflection of political and economical situations, but they are also eager to remember their wild teenage years. Lastly, various interesting artefacts (such as music, clothes, discotheques) create a very visual testimony.

See the result of the project here: https://palujanskaitemigle.wixsite.com/gariunmecio-paauglys