Peter Bialobrzeski
Vilnius Diary

Vilnius Diary, July 11–July 13, 2021 / March 25–March 30, 2022

March 25, 2022
“This is the second diary that needs two visits to make it happen. The pandemic cut short the last trip and made another planned one impossible. Now the situation feels altogether different. Russia—well, Vladimir Putin—has invaded Ukraine with the support of his buddy Lukashenko. The weekend before the attack, both gerontopaths enjoyed war games, watching their military perform exercises involving nuclear missiles. Writing this I strangely remember how my high school class in the 1970s had to hide under the desks during frequent mock air raids. These were conducted by Mrs. Merkel, my English teacher, a little lady who had experienced the murderous attacks on Dresden by Bomber Harris during WorldWar II.”

Über die City Diaries
In his global, long-term project planned for 50 volumes (begun in 2013), Peter Bialobrzeski poses the question of whether the conception of the image of a city, shaped by prejudices, pre-existing notions, and media representations, can be translated into real images. For the new four volumes, he traveled to New York, Norderney, Istanbul and Vilnius. He is interested in the cultural differences visible in each cityscape. He poses the question of what has already been superimposed by increasing globalization, or what remains visible. With his consistent, seemingly objectifying visual language, this epochal, documentary experiment can be wonderfully comprehended in each book and especially by comparing the individual books, e.g. for New York or Norderney.

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