Friday, 27 March, at 6 pm, the National Gallery of Art of the Lithuanian National Museum of Art (LNMA) opens an exhibition Virgilijus Šonta: The answer, my friend, is blowin’ in the wind, the first comprehensive retrospective presentation of the oeuvre of Lithuanian photographer Virgilijus Šonta (1952-1992). The curators Margarita Matulytė and Gintaras Česonis present a selection of more than 200 of the artist’s works, complete with the biographical documents that provide insight into the artist’s enigmatic yet exceptionally sensitive and dramatic personality. The retrospective has been arranged in collaboration with the artist’s family and the Kaunas Photography Gallery. For the first time, the artwork has been drawn from all of the key collections.
“The exhibition presents the life and art of Virgilijus Šonta, a not-yet-fully-discovered or appreciated photographer, who emerged vis-à-vis the oppression of the soviet system. Together with the curators of the exhibition, I invite you to experience his artistic valour and the distinctive aesthetics of his photography,” says Dr Lolita Jablonskienė, director of the National Gallery of Art of the LNMA.
The tumultuous life between the pressure of the system and the inner freedom
Virgilijus Šonta lived in a society of social “norms” imposed by the primitive and brutal soviet rule. According to the curator Matulytė, “in his works, the artist explored the mundane reality capturing its tensions and attempts to embrace freedom. His work took shape between the institutional limitations and personal choices – the pressure of the repressive regime and the longing for inner freedom.”
Česonis emphasises Šonta’s bold candidness and courage to be different, which, according to the curator, no less than his distinct visual language established the artist’s uniqueness in the history of the Lithuanian photography. “This exhibition is an invitation to gain a better understanding of the artist whose life and art were staked on freedom for which he possibly paid the highest price,” says the curator. The artist’s life was short and tragic – he was murdered aged 40. His rich legacy, however, remains important to the contemporary culture of Lithuania.
His art is like a stream of melancholic moods, yet full of wondering at the human nature. His idiom is marked by his special relationship with nature and excentric attitude towards his surroundings. His shots blend humanist documentalism, artistic experiment and subtle photographic aesthetics in a way that establish the lasting significance of his photography artwork.
The codes of the photographer’s life and art
Encoded in this exhibition are the artist’s key creative and biographical trajectories: his analogue photographic work (Ag), studies and the beginning of his creative expression at the Kaunas Polytechnic Institute (KPI), involvement in the activities of the Lithuanian Society of Art Photography (LFMD), the sinister shadow of the KGB that consumed his life (KGB), his hidden identity (LGBTQ+), American citizenship and journeys to “his” land (USA). The exhibition reflects the artist’s life of many secrets, riddles, references hidden “between the lines” and the questions that arose along the way, the answers to which are blowin’ in the wind, like in the chorus of Bob Dylan’s 1962 song, which became the hymn among those fighting for civil rights.
The experience of the exhibition will be expanded by tours and discussions involving scholars and creatives, by creative workshops and educational events. The first curator-guided tour is scheduled on 28 March, Saturday, at 11 am, available with a visitor ticket upon prior booking (register here). Information on events is posted on the website of the National Gallery of Art of the LNMA and on social media. The exhibition will run until 21 June, 2026.
Curators: Margarita Matulytė, Gintaras Česonis
Architect Gabrielė Černiavskaja
Graphic designer Ugnė Balčiūnaitė
Coordinator Giedrius Gulbinas
Producing architect Mindaugas Reklaitis
Copyediting Ieva Puluikienė
Translation Albina Strunga
Lenders of artwork and documents: Miglė Šontaitė-Petkevičienė and Vidonija Šontienė, Lithuanian Photographers Association, Šiauliai Aušra Museum, Romualdas Požerskis, Arvydas Žalpys, Kaunas University of Technology, Lithuanian Central State Archives, Lithuanian Special Archives
Exhibition organiser LNMA National Gallery of Art
Partner Kaunas Photography GalleryProject financed by the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Lithuania
Media partner LRT
Sponsor Exterus:Fundermax
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