Užupis Television: The Republic's Memory in Video
Since 2010, Užupis television has recorded the life of the Republic. Together with older media material, it is the country's main video archive: Independence Days, Constitution unveilings in many languages, Wind Days, ambassador inaugurations and more.
Credits: Užupis photo archive
Užupis Television: The Republic's Memory in Video
A Republic without an archive would quickly become only a legend. Užupis television is what turns legend into memory: since August 30, 2010, the date of the first broadcast, it has recorded how the Republic lives, celebrates and changes. Together with older media material, it is the country's main video archive.
What the Archive Holds
Videos are arranged year by year and cover all the main strands of the Republic:
- Independence Days - April 1 parades, flag ceremony, border posts.
- Constitution unveilings in various languages - from Samogitian, Estonian, Danish, Finnish and Norwegian to Arabic, Tibetan and Latin, blessed by the pope in 2018.
- Wind Days - November programmes from almost every year.
- Ambassador inaugurations, including the first inauguration of an "ambassador in the wind" in 2001.
- Celebrations and rituals - Traps, White Tablecloth Day, Fool Championship, Christmas tree raising.
- Individual events - unveiling of the Angel, pavement tiles, presentation of the "Silver Garlic Bullet" and more.
The oldest recordings reach back to 1997: the opening of the Užupis cafe and Jonas Mekas' mass.
Where to Watch
At present, the recordings are available on the Užupis YouTube and Facebook channels. On the new website, they will be arranged by year and topic, connected with the Timeline and Independence Days, so that each event can be not only read, but also seen.
Further work: migrate and catalogue the media archive from 1997 to today with year and topic filters; attach video to every important timeline event; preserve and describe Romas Lileikis' films about Užupis, including "K+M+B" and "Sasha".
