Both the form and content of the J.U.S.T. project are motivated by a desire to counter one of the effects of global- ization, particularly visible in, though by no means limited to, Eastern Europe. This is the sense that development is only possible when international capital is interested in investing in a particular site. The challenge of the J.U.S.T. project is to reverse this logic – can jamming spaces on a local level act as a catalyst for urban transformations aiming at greater so- cial justice? Urban interventions have long been utilised in criti- cal or artistic approaches.What this project aims to do is test their potential for providing alternative development strategies for underused spaces without flirting with power structures.
In Vilnius, the transition from Soviet to post-Soviet has been marked by changing modes of consumption and leisure. Certain spaces, such as the old town and shopping centres, have been highlighted as places for leisure and its commodi- fication, while the sites of the leisure of Soviet times, wheth- er it be stadia or bars, despite having central locations, have fallen off the map of the city. In the age of sporting mega- events and the much vaunted creative class, it is striking that
the potential of the Soviet entertainment infrastructure re- mains so underused. The JUST project wonders what are the reasons for this and whether focusing on such sites can bring about modes of social interaction that obviate the in- tense commodification of leisure witnessed in the old town or shopping centres. Is there a potential for entertainment to accumulate something other than capital in Eastern Europe?
Thus, the J.U.S.T. project proposes an experimental intervention for three underused sites of Soviet era leisure in Vilnius. By reanimating and changing the software of these spaces, we propose new forms of self- and spatial- organization that bring these spaces back to the map of the city and enable new forms of exchange and entertain- ment that aim at social inclusion and greater fairness. Jam-
ming Underused Socialist Treasures – JUST do it yourself!
Just Booklet
