Even if it’s the End of the World at the Pranas Domšaitis Gallery

October 24, at 6 pm, the Pranas Domšaitis Gallery of the LNMA (Liepų St 33, Klaipėda) opens Even if it’s the End of the World: The Landscape in Lithuanian Photography, the first exhibition of the scale in the country featuring landscape photography from the 2nd half of the 20th century through the 21st century. 

Through the lens of 33 photographers, the exhibition evokes the landscape of the country perceived not only as recognizable locations of our life evolving in the flux of geological, mythological, historical and physical time, but also as a space of an unfolding multifaceted world outlook.   

Landscape in photography as a reflection of world outlooks 

“Each generation creates its own landscape as the values from the previous political, economic, social, cultural, ecological development become overshadowed or even erased, and are replaced by new ones of relevance to present-day society. This exhibition introduces the viewer into the phenomenon of landscape by presenting a rich diversity of artistic imagery and the shifting nature of symbolical values attached to it,” Skaistė Marčienė, director of the Pranas Domšaitis Gallery of the LNMA, shares her thoughts of the exhibition.  

Curator of the exhibition, Dr Margarita Matulytė proposes to observe the human-landscape relationship emerging in the Lithuanian photography and encourages to contemplate its character as it may help to overcome the anxiety caused by the divergence of the rapidly changing world and the largely unpredictable future: “Even if it’s the end of the world, to the very last moment, the man will refuse to believe in the imminent apocalypse and will attempt to calm the fear of critical destruction by directing his glance to the distant expanses where the tangible reality encounters and gives in to the world imaginary, there the existential anxiety is overcome by the magic of eternal nature.” 

In the photographic landscape images, this relationship manifests itself as an opening, an aperture between the real and imaginary worlds through which the man attempts to establish his place in the stream of nature. These images are proposed for contemplation as multilayered spaces of imagination, beyond the reality of places shaping the terrain and the skyline.  

The programme of the opening of the exhibition and the accompanying events 

On the opening night, at 6.30 pm, the gallery hosts a musical performance by Donatas Bielkauskas The Dying One. The Town. For Life – a soundscape of Klaipėda composed of the seaport’s vigorous rhythms, the inspiring flux of its waters with ships moving on the Curonian Lagoon and the sea, winds and the hum of the multitude of logistic operations connecting Klaipėda to other seaports of the world.  

The exhibition will be accompanied by tours, educational and other events, such as the discussions on nature and the changes of climate with Marius Čepulis and the representatives of the Ancient Woods Foundation, the screenings of the Acid Forest by Rugilė Barzdžiukaitė and of Darius Žiūra’s film, a photography workshop led by Remigijus Treigys. All of these evolutions will invite to take a closer look at the landscape around us and our footprint on it. 

The display will be accompanied by an academic conference At the Crossroads of Nature and the World Outlook, organized, on November 19-20, held jointly by the LNMA, Klaipėda University, and the Lithuanian Culture Research Institute. It will offer an opportunity of a deeper reflection on the nature-man relationship in the contemporary world. The depth of the concept of the exhibition will fully emerge in a scientific study Kraštovaizdžio semiozė Lietuvos fotografijoje (The Semiosis of Landscape in Lithuanian Photography) to be published early next year by the exhibition curator Margarita Matulytė.  

The exhibition will be on through 1 March, 2026. For information on events and education activities please follow the LNMA website and social media. 

Exhibition authors:  

Vytautas Balčytis (b. 1955) 

Marijonas Baranauskas (1931–1995) 

Algimantas Barzdžius (b. 1960) 

Juozas Budraitis (b. 1940) 

Alfonsas Budvytis (1949–2003) 

Zenonas Bulgakovas (1939–2023) 

Vitalijus Butyrinas (1947–2020) 

Dovilė Dagienė (b. 1981) 

Pijus Ganusauskas (b. 1989) 

Savelijus Golubevas (1935–2007) 

Elena Grudzinskaitė (b. 1987) 

Jonas Kalvelis (1925–1987) 

Kotryna Ūla Kiliulytė (b. 1986) 

Geistė Marija Kinčinaitytė (b. 1991) 

Marius Krivičius (b. 1994) 

Algimantas Kunčius (b. 1939) 

Stanislovas Lukošius (1906–1997) 

Paulius Makauskas (b. 1986) 

Lina Margaitytė (b. 1996) 

Julija Matulytė (b. 1988) 

Remigijus Pačėsa (1955–2015) 

Andrej Polukord (b. 1990) 

Romualdas Rakauskas (1941–2021) 

Liudvikas Ruikas (1938–2004) 

Vaclovas Straukas (1923–2017) 

Kristina Sereikaitė (b. 1980) 

Virgilijus Šonta (1952–1992) 

Remigijus Treigys (b. 1961) 

Raimundas Urbonas (1963–1999) 

Audra Vau (b. 1970) 

Julijus Vaicekauskas (b. 1939) 

Darius Vaičekauskas (b. 1978) 

George Vaitkunas (b. 1956)

 

Curator Dr Margarita Matulytė

Coordinators Skaistė Marčienė and Aurelija Malinauskaitė

Exhibition architect Ieva Glumac

Designer Marius Žalneravičius

Organizer Pranas Domšaitis Gallery of the LNMA 

Project financed by the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Lithuania 

Information partners LRT, JCDecaux, Cgates

Exhibition supporter Grigeo Group

Partners: Kaunas City Museum, Lithuanian Central State Archives, Lithuanian Photographers Association, Šiauliai Aušros Museum 

 

Information provided by Banguolė Žalnieriūnaitė, Public Relations Coordinator of the Communication and Marketing Department of the National Museum of Art (LNMA), tel. +37064946224, email: [email protected]  

The National Museum of Art of Lithuania (LNMA) is one of the largest national art museums in Lithuania, collecting, preserving, researching, conserving, restoring, and promoting art and cultural heritage of national significance. The LNMA collection is exhibited in nine branches located in Vilnius, Klaipėda, Palanga, and Juodkrantė.