Come to the Yard (Išeik į kiemą)

What: a series of tours to the yards, guided by the locals Come to the Yard (LT: Pasakojimų-pasivaikščiojimų serija „Išeik į kiemą“).

Idea: Shared yards are places of collective memory. Even though we grew up in similar spaces, the stories and things we like about our childhood and adulthood spaces differ. We invite people to open their yards and local knowledge for a small group of visitors and share stories on the topic they want – childhood games and secret places, neighbours and friends, animals and plants, urban gardening and equipment repair, architecture and planning, etc.

Method: Storytelling, walks-and-talks, guiding groups into local activities and memories connected to those activities. During the walk, we can also test what you are talking about – i.e., we tested well-forgotten childhood games during the first walk (in this case, the guide brings his or her equipment).

Anyone who applies can become a guide. Just note the district, the location in it and the topic of the walk. Don’t hesitate to contact julius@laimikis.lt & laimikis@laimikis.lt

Why we are doing this: Nowadays, Vilnius courtyards are mainly taken by cars, and people give away the yards as a place for games. Through the stories of the residents, we seek to open up the potential of the green spaces in Vilnius.

Locations: We have already visited yards in the Šeškinė district in Vilnius and explored the games we played in 70-90’s. We visited yards in the lower Žirmūnai district in Vilnius and explored the networks between the neighbours. We visited yards in Šnipiškės and explored urban gardening; some flower beds are gorgeous! However, the district can repeat.

Launched: since 2023, reoccuring.

In media: You can learn more about our research on the courtyards and “Come to the Yard” initiative from Julius Narkūnas interview at LRT Opus, “District” by Donatas Šukelis (2003 March).

Documentation:

#1 – Yard as a gaming console (by Julius  Narkūnas)

Before the dawn of computer games, the yard served as a playground where you could launch many group games, such as “Stuku stuku”, “Hali-halo”, “Ali-baba”, and so on. Julius invites you to his yard in the Šeškinė district to talk about yard games in the 80s.

More about the event: Facebook. Registration is needed.