THE FOURTH FESTIVAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY

On Friday, 15 November 2019, at 18:00, Union of the Lithuanian Art Photographers Klaipėda Department invites you to the KCCC Exhibition Hall (Didžioji Vandens St. 2, Klaipėda), where the Festival of Photography will take place for the fourth time. The festival presents: three photography exhibitions, a macro photography project, and exhibition tours. Two more photography projects will be exhibited at the Exhibition Hall and the public areas of the seaport city at the end of the month.

This year, the photography exhibition of Rimaldas Vikšraitis “Farmstead Dreams” is the linchpin of the Festival of Photography. R. Vikšraitis (born in 1954) occupies a special place on the stage of Lithuanian photography. His works should be attributed neither to the traditions of Lithuanian photography nor to the dominant trends of modern photography. Staying apart from established trends of photography, the author conveys realistic and, at the same time, extremely individual images of modern-day Lithuanian countryside, significant not only in the narrow context of photography art but also in a general cultural and social context of today.

A sincere language of Rimaldas Vikšraitis’ photographs seems to be understandable and relevant not only to the Lithuanian spectator. While recording a local way of rural life, the Lithuanian author created photographs that received an international recognition in the major European Photography Festival Rencontres d’Arles in 2009. Herein, Vikšraitis won the award of Discovery of the Year for which his works were nominated by the famous British photographer Martin Parr. Both authors are open to the surrounding world and are ready to show tragicomic aspects of our life; the difference is that one artist discovers them in a globalized world, whereas the other does in a small provincial village.

Photographer Arūnas Baltėnas, in his exhibition “We Work. We Are”, is showing Lithuanian people, too. Working people, captured by the author at their workplaces. Most of this photo exhibition was created in 2016-2017. The heroes in these photographs are representatives from various professions. Over the course of several years, specialists from approximately 200 fields of work were photographed, but only one third of the exhibition was shown due to the large volume. And the rest of the material, along with the photos in the exhibition, should find itself in one of theLithuanianState archives. This work was conceived as a collection of photographs of the most extensive variety of professionals currently living inLithuania, and meant for our descendants. This specific “portrait” of a working country was created at a particular moment in time.

Photography exhibition “Searches” of Edis Jurčys is a cultural bridge betweenKlaipeda and theUnited States. E. Jurčys invites residents ofKlaipeda to the exhibition to see the new cycles, which have not been exhibited yet and which he had been working on for the last five years. With the exception of the project-cycle “Both Sides Now”, all other works of the author find insights in the human being. Whether it is theParisMuseum or a visit to a small town ofOregon, with the old cowboy rodeo tradition still alive, the main focus is always on the human being.

How much do you know about the air you are breathing? Do you know that we inhale on average 21,600 times a day? On 22 November 2019, at 16:30, the KCCC Exhibition Hall is opening the exposition “A Particle.” The exposition is aimed to present the situation of air pollution in cities in a realistic way and to educate on its impact. This is the first step of the pollution control initiative in the seaport. The exposition is presented by electric buses “Dancer” together with Klaipedians’ Initiative for Democracy and Ecology (KIDE) and Klaipeda University Marine Research Institute. At the opening of the Festival of Photography, you will be able to see the exhibition installation – macro photography of solid particles collected from the air ofKlaipėda.

The KCCC Exhibition Hall will exhibit one more photography project at the end of November – “Deconstructions. Decay – Disappearing Images” of Darius Vaičekauskas. While public spaces ofKlaipėda, the intersection of Naujoji Uosto and Danės streets (Naujoji Uosto St.3), will become the seat for the exhibition of the photographer Savelijus Golubevas “Boundary Mark.”

The Festival of Photography inKlaipėdais organised by theUnionof the Lithuanian Art Photographers Klaipėda Department.

Curator: Darius Vaičekauskas.

Partners:KlaipėdaCulture Communication Centre.

Sponsors: Lithuanian Council for Culture, Ministry of Culture of theRepublicofLithuania.

The exhibition will be opened until the 15th December 2019.

KCCC Exhibition Hall (Didžioji Vandens St. 2, Klaipėda) working hours: Wednesday – Sunday 11:00 – 19:00 (closed on public holidays).

The event will be photographed and filmed, so please be advised that visitors can be seen in the photos or videos of the event, and such photos or videos will probably be made public on social networks or media.