Poetic Documents

Poetic Documents

Photography, poetry and films exhibition 'Poetic Documents' is dedicated to the representation of the Lithuanian Presidency of EU Council in 2013. This exhibition presents work by Lithuanian photographers, writers and filmmakers of different generations, which convey poetically an aesthetic experience of the world, as well as introducing present-day Lithuania and its history.

Although the exhibition takes the form of a collection of important works, the historical context is very important in comprehending and reading it. For Lithuania, the 20th century was a time of dramatic changes, marked by the shift from an agrarian to an urban society, a hostile occupation and the restoration of independence both experienced in a fairly short period of time, totalitarian oppression and democracy, mass deportations and emigration, and the Holocaust. These historical circumstances gave rise to extraordinary human experiences, and posed challenges to artists, such as establishing the relevance of poetic language in the face of such crises. The authors featured in the exhibition, who come from different generations and have different artistic viewpoints and different backgrounds, each respond to these challenges in their own way; but the most important thing is that they are united by their everyday life and a creative identification with Lithuania. This identification cannot be understood in the narrow sense of nationality alone; on the contrary, it is an identity that expresses itself as an inexhaustible source of creative exploration, of the country's landscapes, cities, the people living here, and fundamental notions of time and memory.

Artists participating in the exhibition: Vytautas Balčytis, Šarūnas Bartas, Kazys Binkis, Vytautas P. Bložė, Alfonsas Budvytis, Janas Bulhakas, Sigitas Geda, Almantas Grikevičius, Donaldas Kajokas, Jonas Kalvelis, Arūnas Kulikauskas, Algimantas Kunčius, Aleksandras Macijauskas, Aidas Marčėnas, Marcelijus Martinaitis, Arūnas Matelis, Deimantas Narkevičius, Alfonsas Nyka- Niliūnas, Sigitas Parulskis, Kornelijus Platelis, Romualdas Požerskis, Audrius Stonys, Antanas Sutkus, Henrikas Šablevičius, Indrė Šerpytytė, Algirdas Šeškus, Gintautas Trimakas, Judita Vaičiūnaitė, Arturas Valiauga, Tomas Venclova, Robertas Verba ir Rimaldas Vikšraitis.

Curators of the exhibition: Ieva Mazūraitė-Novickienė, Eugenijus Ališanka, Živilė Etevičiūtė

The organizer of the exhibition: Lithuanian Art Musuem National Gallery of Art

Initiator of the Project: The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Lithuania