IN THE EYES OF LISA
In the Eyes of LISA (aka Lithuanians in Scotland) 2019
The exhibition and film are built on the history of the Lithuanian migrant community that helped to build the Victorian city of Glasgow. This group was the largest after Irish and Italian in Lanarkshire, yet their legacy and input in the economic growth of the city were not properly addressed in either cultural or academic fields. The memory of Lithuanian migrants, largely erased, is still lurking in the shadows of contemporary Glasgow. “In the Eyes of LISA” film tells the story of the Lithuanian migrant community in the late 19th and early 20th centuries in and around Glasgow as well as their input to the mining, steel and brickwork industries that contributed to the industrial success of Scotland.
The first wave of migration was partly prompted by the industrial success of the country, needing ‘cheap labour’ to power the mining industries. Lithuanian miners were sought by Scottish industrialists to work for less pay and their vulnerable position was strategically exploited by turning Lithuanian workers into the strike-breakers. The media’s hostility towards the new immigrants benefited the case of the mine owners to apply a rule and divide strategy to keep low pay and minimum social security amongst workers. Yet it didn’t take long before Lithuanian socialists became strongly involved in unionising with their fellow Scots to fight against the exploitation.
In the work the narrative and costumes were made with the material gathered thanks to Cait McGlinchey and her family, Alan Poutney, James D. White, Gintare Venzlauskaite, Daina Bytautiene, The Lithuanian Social Club Bellshill, Summerlee Museum of Scottish Industrial Life - Culture NL, National Mining Museum Scotland, Motherwell Heritage Centre, “Saduta” Lithuanian folk group and Bereyozka Ltd shop for their input and support of the project.
Exhibited at Civic Room, Glasgow (2019)