BAXT (Second Edition)

New edition of long-term photo project explores the erased history and resilience of Roma communities in Lithuania.

After more than two decades of work, photographer Andrew Miksys has released a new edition of BAXT, his powerful and deeply personal series about the Lithuanian Roma. The title comes from the Romani word baxt, which means luck, fate, or fortune.

The project began in 1999, when Miksys met a Roma family in Vilnius while on a Fulbright fellowship. At the time, the Roma community was largely invisible in Lithuania’s cultural landscape. Public discourse often framed them in terms of “integration” and “tolerance,” reinforcing stereotypes and casting them as outsiders within the nation’s identity.

Miksys’ first edition of BAXT was published in 2007. This newly released version is more than a reprint. It is a second chapter, featuring previously unpublished photographs, new texts, and a fresh design that further expands the story.

The book also addresses the systematic erasure of Roma history and community spaces in Lithuania. Taboras, a long-standing Roma neighborhood in Vilnius that once housed nearly 500 people, was gradually dismantled by city authorities. The last home was demolished in 2020. Miksys photographed many of the homes in Taboras before they disappeared and captured intimate portraits of those who lived within their walls, preserving the stories of its residents.

In recent exhibitions, Miksys has extended the project beyond photography. Sculptural installations made from salvaged materials such as charred wooden beams, toys, and other remnants have served as powerful memorials to what was lost.

Title: BAXT (Second Edition)
Texts by Laimonas Briedis and Andrew Miksys
Design: Claudia Ott
Publisher: ARÖK books
Pages: 144
Release date: 2025