CityTelling Festival. Lives. Vandžiogala. Presenting event

Mindaugas Lukošaitis created his exhibition of drawings by researching the life of the town of Vandžiogala and its genius loci - its landscape, history, and people. With his masterful pencil movements, the artist has created a kind of diary of drawings of Vandžiogala, filled with authentic fragments of the place and the artist's imaginative visions.   

The artist says: “When I come to a town, I always try to imagine the first inhabitant who started it all. When I immerse myself in a subject related to history, I don't try to be a historian, let alone an illustrator of the past. I seek first to feel the spirit of the place and to observe the sights that come to me. One historical fact, a story told by a local resident, interesting buildings, and monuments create the tension and direction of the artistic research. So this exhibition is the result of my observations - fragile relationships, painful traumatic events, anxious anticipation of the future... Taking the steps of my artistic research, I allow myself to carelessly sketch "from the ancient times" to today - what I see first. This is how the dinosaurs, the mountains, overlap with the images of the present. These are the first light gestures, strokes, touches on a piece of paper of the domestication of Vandžiogala. These drawings are not illustrations of the history of Vandžiogala or the local landscape. They are my attempt to tame this place, to recognize and imagine it.” 

Venue of the presentation: next to Vandžiogala St. Trinity Church, Parko str. 4, Kaunas District. 

Organizers: Kaunas 2022 

Illiustration: © Mindaugas Lukošaitis