Opening at the National Museum – Palace of the Grand Dukes of Lithuania on May 18, 2019 and on all summer will be Raimondas Paknys' photography exhibition “Wall Stories. The Disappearing Heritage of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth”.
This exhibition will present the architectural heritage scattered throughout the territory of the former Grand Duchy of Lithuania and the Kingdom of Poland – the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth (present-day Lithuania, Belarus, Poland and Ukraine), revealing today's situation of the disappearing churches, castles and manor estates. This is part of the exhibition series by publisher and photographer Paknys, called Time Eternal. The success of his earlier related projects is evident from the Lithuanian public's desire to take an interest in the history of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, and to nurture its historic memory. The author creates artistic images full of historic romanticism, while also prompting us to turn our attention to the architectural heritage of Lithuania that has been deformed over the centuries and is coming closer to disappearing altogether every day: namely, its churches, chapels, monasteries and manor estates, and their interiors and exteriors.
This architectural heritage which is passed down from generation to generation is important in an ethnic, historic, artistic, scientific and aesthetic sense, and is significant in order to gain a thorough understanding of the history and legacy of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. The photographs are noted for their artistry, the expressive images revealing the themes of heritage loss and preservation that are so important to Lithuanian society. The project also helps nurture historic memory and national identity.
The photographer's wealth of experience, his clear creative goals and carefully selected objects and images ensure the high quality of his works. This exhibition shall present analogue photographs that have been enlarged using chromatic printing technology, which determine the technical quality of the images – they maintain a sharpness and picture that is akin to the actual view. The photographs will be exhibited at the new Exhibition Centre of the National Museum – Palace of the Grand Dukes of Lithuania, which is specially suited to displaying large format exhibits. And such exceptionally large format photographs are indeed rare in Lithuania.
About the author
He is a famous Lithuanian photographer who also releases elite cultural publications at the R. Paknys Publishing House, of which he is the founder. The photographer was awarded the St Christopher Statue in 2002, and was granted the status of an artist in 2005. The art researcher, Prof. Dr Giedrė Jankevičiūtė, has described the photographer's work perfectly: “Paknys' photographs have been created without hurrying, and are meant to be looked at for a long time. They are beautiful as pictures, yet there is also something foreboding in them – just as anything that has encroached into our present from the past. It is a real pleasure to take in the aesthetics of an image captured by a skilled photographer's eye, to lose oneself in his masterfully created elegiac mood, only to be struck by the realisation that in front of us we have documentary evidence of the brutally deformed culture of memory. The refined images testify to the tragedy that has stolen people's ability to live in harmony with their past and its symbols”.
Exhibition organisers
National Museum – Palace of the Grand Dukes of Lithuania
R. Paknys Publishing House
Exhibition coordinator
Dovilė ČYPAITĖ
Scientific and cultural program coordinators
Dr Jolanta KARPAVIČIENĖ
Eglė MIKUČIONYTĖ
Exhibition information coordinators
Ramunė VAIČIULYTĖ
Mindaugas PUIDOKAS
Exhibition installation coordinators
Eduardas KAUKLYS
Kęstutis KARLA
