In 2021, the 18th international photo art festival KAUNAS PHOTO festival will hold its opening tours on September 2 and 3 with the exhibition openings of fourteen artists from different countries.
Both opening days will conclude with an evening programme starting at 20:00 in the BLC “Otto Hall”, featuring a presentation by Chirag Jindal (New Zealand), an artist and topographer working at the intersection of documentary journalism and contemporary cartography, and on 3 September, photography projections of the festival's competition KAUNAS PHOTO STAR Finalists' series and a virtual meeting of the Finalists with the audience. The Winner of the KAUNAS PHOTO STAR 2021 Award will be announced at the end of the evening event on 3 September and will receive a cash prize of EUR 2500. The evening programme will be accompanied by musical improvisations by Patris Židelevičius and piano virtuoso Kęstutis Paulaitis. The exact programme of the festival's opening days can be found at the end of this announcement. The audience is welcome to join at any part of the opening tour. The opening events of KAUNAS PHOTO festival are open to all and free of charge.
The programme of the 18th KAUNAS PHOTO festival will focus on the threshold of adulthood, becoming an adult, the pros and cons, stories and feelings of being young, teenager, parent, mid-aged, retired, with or without grandchildren, hobby, job, retirement savings meeting the sunset of life. The exhibitions and events of the festival will be related to general or specific issues of life choices, crisis, joys, traditions, stereotypes, taboos, social norms and the impact of big data society on age groups. The open call to the festival, which received over a hundred proposals, showed that a critical mass of photographers is exploring an aging society, its joys and challenges.
Although traditionally the winner of the festival's competition KAUNAS PHOTO STAR is announced at the Kaunas Photography Gallery, this year, due to the renovation of Vilnius Street, the gallery is closed, therefore, the works of the finalists of the KAUNAS PHOTO STAR 2021 competition are integrated into the festival's programme and are shown in the outdoor spaces as well as in the galleries, cultural and art venues of Kaunas.
KAUNAS PHOTO 2021 programme in Kaunas will showcase nine photography exhibitions in indoor venues throughout September. Continuing the tradition of open-air exhibitions started in 2014, this year the festival will present seven outdoor exhibitions, placed in Chechnya Square, Kalniečių and Draugystės parks, A. Juozapavičiaus, V. Putvinskio streets, near Kaunas Castle, Vienybės Square. The festival's outdoor exhibitions will be on display until the end of October.
The artistic program of this year's festival is curated by a joint team: Mindaugas Kavaliauskas, Kristina Juraitė, Donatas Stankevičius, Fred Boucher and Karolina Krinickaitė.
Exhibition openings:
16:00 Martha Thomas (USA) “Do Not Forget, You Are Not In Lithuania”, Younes Mohammad (Iraq) “Open Wounds” at Kaunas City Museum Folk Music Branch (L. Zamenhofo St. 12): With the presence of the author Martha Thomas (USA).
16:30 Clelia Rochat (Belgium) “Belles Mômes” at Maironis Lithuanian Literature Museum (Rotušės Sq. 13);
17:00 Cristian Geelen (The Netherlands) “Memories of a man once there…” at Kaunas City Museum Kaunas Castle (Pilies St. 17);
17:15 Alain Schroeder (Belgium) “Grandma Divers” near Kaunas Castle (A. Jakšto St.);
17:30 Grzegorz Jarmocewicz (Poland) “On both sides of the border. Why do I fall in love with Lithuania.” at Kaunas Cultural Centre of Various Nations (Šv. Gertrūdos St. 58);
17:45 Magdalena Stengel (Germany) “±100” at Kaunas Municipal Vincas Kudirka Public Library – Department of Youth, Art and Music (A. Mapu St. 18).
KAUNAS PHOTO NIGHT I
From 20:00 at BLC “Otto Hall” (K. Donelaičio St. 60, A-Block, 1st floor):
– Photography projections featuring the series submitted to the KAUNAS PHOTO Open Call on the theme “Age”;
– “Into The Underworld”. Artist talk and meeting with Chirag Jindal (New Zealand), artist and surveyor who works at the intersection of documentary journalism and contemporary cartography;
– Music by Patris Židelevičius—improvisations that combine the sound of classical instruments like the cello, field recordings and digital sounds.
Exhibition openings:
16:00 Caroline Minjolle (Switzerland) “RENDEZ-VOUS” at Chechnya Square (P. Lukšio St.);
16:30 Michal Solarski & Tomasz Liboska (United Kingdom / Poland) “Cut It Short” at Kaunas Municipal Vincas Kudirka Public Library – Park Branch (P. Lukšio St. 60):;
17:00 Uta Genilke (Germany) “2031” at Kalniečiai park (next to Savanorių Ave.):;
18:00 Rosa Mariniello (Italy) “The Suspended Youth” at KTU III rūmai (Laisvės Ave.);
18:30 Francesco Amorosino (Italy) “The third phase (Paola)” at Žaliakalnis Funicular (V.Putvinskio St. 22);
18.45 Fábio Cunha (Portugal) “The Animal Within” at VMU Multifunctional Center for Studies and Research (V. Putvinskio St. 23);
19.00 Marna Clarke (USA) “Growing Old” at Vienybės Square (next to the stairs leading to the garden of Vytautas the Great War Museum).
KAUNAS PHOTO NIGHT II
From 20:00 at BLC “Otto Hall” (K. Donelaičio St. 60, A-Block, 1st floor):
– Projection of the photographs from the series “Do Not Forget, You Are Not In Lithuania” by Martha Thomas (USA) accompanied by the readings of Daina Klimauskaitė’s memoir of a youth in Siberia. The memoirs will be read by Olita Dautartaitė, Lithuanian theatre and film actress, poetry reader.
– Virtual meeting with the festival’s competition KAUNAS PHOTO STAR 2021 Finalists;
– Photography projections of the KAUNAS PHOTO STAR 2020 Finalists’ series;
– Announcement of the Winner of KAUNAS PHOTO STAR 2021 Award;
– Music by composer, improvising piano virtuoso Kęstutis Paulaitis.
KAUNAS PHOTO is the longest running annual international photo art festival in Lithuania and the Baltic States. The festival founded by Mindaugas Kavaliauskas in 2004 is organized by the public institution “Šviesos raštas”. KAUNAS PHOTO is funded by the Lithuanian Council for Culture as one of the strategic international art events in Lithuania.
