FROM REBELS TO RECOGNIZED, BUT FORGOTTEN AUTHORITIES: KLAIPĖDA IS HOLDING THE FESTIVAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY ONCE MORE

On the 17th of November, 2017, Friday, from 5 PM, the Union of the Lithuanian art photographers Klaipėda department invites you to the KCCC Exhibition Hall (Didžioji Vandens str. 2, Klaipėda) which is taken over by the art of photography and promises a real celebration for the photo-gourmets. The guarantee of the festival – six photography exhibitions, introduction of publication, photo session and, none the less important, – an authentic experience assuring the company of citizens of Klaipėda, its guests, the organisers and authors.

The eagerly awaited – the greatest retrospective photography exhibition of Violeta Bubelytė to this date. The photographer has created auto-acts from 1981 to 2003 and has assured her position in the history of art of Lithuania as a unique artist that broke down many taboos, in 2015, after a 12 year break she started photographing herself again. Therefore, in the exhibition “Own Body” you will be able to see the archive of V. Bubelytė and her latest works, which have been created during the last three years. In 1989 after the first exhibition of her acts, the author received many letters from the outraged prudes that accused the author of iniquity and immorality. It’s quite interesting what reactions will be received after the exhibition of auto-acts after almost twenty years, whatever the case, it will be possible to get acquainted with one of those “famous” letters.

Another retrospective – a photography exhibition of Gintautas Stulgaitis, one of the members of “Carnivore Division” that operated inKaunas, represented by V. Luckus photography centre just six months ago. Exhibition consists of six cycles “Family Portraits”, “The Feast”, “Old Town Etudes”, “Belvederis. The Summer of 1986”, “Mists”, series that have been created at theKaunaszoo, as well as individual portraits. The fragment from his diary depicts the author’s distinct and still particularly relevant approach: “I don’t want my works to depict the approach of what I’m photographing, not even the life as a whole, but a glimpse into life’s contradictions and relations as a whole. In short, I want people to think”.

Untraditional, provocative approach to the art of photography is typical to the exhibition “Photo-salon. Musninkų str.” of Kęstutis Šapoka and Benigna Kasparavičiūtė, and to the project “Deconstructions” of Darius Vaičekauskas which has been continuing for over ten years. Neither B. Kasparavičiūtė, nor K. Šapoka create the art photography in a narrow sense; however, a large part of their interdisciplinary projects were realised with the help of photography. This exhibition is an attempt to take a look around the margins of photography – “do it yourself”, “soapboxes”, (anti)aesthetics and principles of the domestic photography. Meanwhile, the project of Darius Vaičekauskas is more of an anti-exhibition, looking from the perspective of exhibition hall spaces. The works are split in different areas of Klaipėda, ant the exhibition hall is just one, interim exhibition space, where only one work is exhibited and the list of coordinates is provided, according to which the scattered works can be found in the city.

An initiative “Save Zine”, born to three friends talking in the little kitchen inBrighton, should draw the attention of the younger generation. The main idea of the project is not to demand any formal narrative for the works, which Paul Butkus, Henrikas Riskus and Valus Sonov publish in the zines. Having rounded up nearly twenty authors from different countries, the curators state, that they never give any instructions of what they expect; therefore, the result depicts the essence of the project itself, as well as the practice of modern life: everything about creativity and sharing. This is a part of the continuous photography project “OTHER 8”.

Another awaited accent of the festival, related to photo books – introduction of “Posters” by Agnė Narušytė and Gintaras Zinkevičius, during which the cycle of works under the same name by Gintaras Zinkevičius will be projected. There are the stands which the author had photographed consistently in 1982-1996, where posters were put up, at first – those of Brezhnev propaganda, afterwards – of perestroika, later on – of the beginning of Awakening and Independence.

During the marathon of the opening of exhibitions, from 5 PM to 7 PM, the photo artist from Klaipėda, Artūras Šeštokas, will be taking photos of the guests using an old wet collodion technique. The opening of exhibitions is expected to take place at 5.30 PM. According to the curator of the festival, ULAP Klaipėda department chairman, Darius Vaičekauskas, “there hasn’t been a festival of photography in Klaipėda for a long time and it was lacking. I am glad that for the second year, in autumn, we can invite the lovers and gourmets of photography to the port city. We will introduce the traditional, classical photography, as well as the works of avant-garde, modern day, and young artists – I invite you to celebrate photography together!“

The festival of photography in Klaipėda is organised by the Union of the Lithuanian Art Photographers Klaipėda Department.

Curator Darius Vaičekauskas

Partners: Klaipėda Culture Communication Centre, PI “Culture Menu”, Vitas Luckus Photography Centre, Museum of Photography “Save Zine”.

Sponsors: Lithuanian Council for Culture, Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Lithuania, Klaipėda City Municipality, S. Jokužis Publishing-printing House, “ONI grupė”, UAB.

The exhibition will be opened until the 10^th of December, 2017.

Recommended age – from 14 years.

Ticket –1,70 / 0,85 €.

KCCC Exhibition hall (Didžioji Vandens g. 2, Klaipėda) working hours: Wednesday – Sunday 11 AM -7 PM (closed on public holidays).