My recent posts about mixed media art using amber (specifically the picture of the "mossy hut" of the "Kur bakūžė samanota" folk song) and traditional woven textiles on display at the Balzekas Museum of Luthuanina Culture in Chicago made me think of some photographs my third cousin Osvaldas Guokas sent me last June. They are of an old, empty house in the grange or farmstead of Galaliai in Lithuania, and something he found there. This Galiliai is just south of Žvirbloniai in Šiauliai County and just north of the village of Čelkiai, where my great-grandfather Kazimieras (Charles) Guokas was born in 1863.
Osvaldas also found a "very old bedspread in bad condition...2m x 1.5 m" in size. His grandmother had a loom and knew how to weave; she also made the thread. Osvaldas says he remembers this bedspread from his childhood; he slept on it and he remembers its scent.
Photos © Osvaldas Guokas - 2017. Text © Amanda Pape - 2018 - click here to e-mail Amanda.
Osvaldas wrote that after collectivization by the Soviets, his grandparents Justinas Guokas (1903-1971) and Alfonsa Remeikaitė Guokienė (1906-1989) lived in this house. After the death of Justinas, Alfonsa continued to live there with her sons Stanislovas and Vytautas Guokas. Eventually her sons moved out on their own, and when Alfonsa was very old, she went to live with Vytautas and his family in Pakruojis, where she died. So the house in Galiliai has been empty about 30 years.
Kur bakūžė samanota lyrics with a rough translation - you might see why I thought of these photos:
Kur bakūžė samanota / Where is the mossy hut
Kurioje gimiau? / Where I was born?
Obelis kur augalota / The apple tree which grew
Ką sodne mačiau? / That I saw in the garden?
Kur upeliai platūs, sraunūs, / Where the rivers are flat, flowing,
Tekantys smagiai, / Flowing happily,
Kur tos mintys mano jaunos / Where are young thoughts of mine
Linksmos kaip drugiai? / Friendly as my friends?
Ta bakūžė jau supuvo, / The hut has all but vanished,
Obelies jau nėr, / The apple tree is no longer there,
Ir upeliai jau išdžiūvo, / And the rivers have all dried up,
Vargas viens tebėr. / Maybe a beggar is possibly still there.
Osvaldas also found a "very old bedspread in bad condition...2m x 1.5 m" in size. His grandmother had a loom and knew how to weave; she also made the thread. Osvaldas says he remembers this bedspread from his childhood; he slept on it and he remembers its scent.
Photos © Osvaldas Guokas - 2017. Text © Amanda Pape - 2018 - click here to e-mail Amanda.
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