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Vyžos. A journey to the embodied way of knowing and embedded means of production
2025

Vyžos is a type of footwear made from woven bast, made and used in Baltic region for thousands of years, but now completely disappeared from our lives. Learning about and through vyžos allows to imagine the world through a perspective of this temporary woven footwear. The project reconstructs what ways of knowing guide us to follow a specific lifestyle, following personal journey from being clueless about trees in Eindhoven to getting to know types of willows, river ecosystem, cultural anthropology of a shoe, weaving techniques, Lithuanian village infrastructure 100 years ago. Reconstructing the lifestyle in modern day Eindhoven raises questions of not only what ways of knowing we have and don't have, but means of agency to apply them within the context of public parks. Who has the right to "maintain" trees? Why is the act of making so separated from the things we have, from the resources, skills, from life itself?

What have I learned from the tree?
Different ways of being. Each species and each individual tree has his own life experience, skills, qualities, lifestyles, his friends and foes, his favorite places, patterns, colors...
Adaptability. Trees are constantly in a cycle, to which I have to adapt, and attune my cycle accordingly. Each season is different, requiring different tools and actions. This knowledge is in part lost, when working with machinery and tree farms, because hands and handtools are adaptive, as are living ecosystems.
Responsability. To have a tree as a teacher is to promise to be responsible. Don't use the first or the last tree. Don't put more force and damage than neccessary. Don't waste. Keep the ecosystem at balance. Keep in mind how long does it take for this tree to grow, what other living beings it supports and gives life to.
Gratitude. When I cut a tree, I am grateful that he gave his life for me. I will value the things that I made from the tree. I will give back and care for the trees in return.
Interdependence. A tree is a living being, a part of the whole. By observing, cutting and making, I learn that all different lifeforms need a tree, including a human. I learn from the tree this way of living and this type of making that is based on a cycle of regrowth. By this I learn to see human and natural world as a whole.

Screening and disscussion at Indigenous Culture Seminar: Indigenous culture and contemporary spirituality, 2025