Photographic series taken throughout The Shepherds' Residency, which is a part of the Neringa Forest Architecture programme at
@nidaartcolony
In August 2021, I became the shepherd for a flock of 30 Skudde sheep, this included daily grazing walks in dedicated forest areas.
The flock of sheep belong to artist Laura Garbštienė’s, her recent practice encompasses temporal art forms and reflections on natural phenomena, ecological awareness, domesticity, and the decline of rural life. Since 2013 Garbštienė has lived in Šklėriai, a small village near Dzūkija National Park, with a small herd of Skudde sheep, where she promotes spinning as an anti-capitalist movement to unite people from diverse cultural backgrounds. In 2017 she started Verpėjos (The Spinners) – an artist run initiative to research and discuss rural traditional lifestyle and nature preservation on a local and global scale.
The Shepherd’s Residency and Neringa Forest Architecture programmes are developed in collaboration with the Curonian Spit National Park, co-funded and organised as part of NERINGA - Lithuanian Capital of Culture 2021.