From March 5th, 11 am. you can visit a new exhibition “Zenonas Bulgakovas. Photographs” in Kaunas Photography Gallery. Exhibition is curated by Donatas Stankevičius.
In the exhibition text architecture historian Marija Drėmaitė writes: “The Seven-Year Plan, implemented in Lithuania in the 1960s, was the fastest and most intensive stage of modernization, as well as of lifestyle change. The Scheme of Prospects for Industrial Siting and Urban Development, approved in 1964, determined the even development of five new regional centres – Alytus, Marijampolė, Utena, Plungė and Jurbarkas – by building industrial enterprises and using unoccupied land for residential construction. Over a couple of decades, the small town of Alytus, an aspiring resort, with a population of 12,000 (in 1959), was expanded into an industrial centre with a population of 55,000 (in 1979), with large factories and new residential areas.
In Alytus, this period of turbo-urbanization is different from the one which took place in Vilnius, Kaunas or Klaipėda. Here, the Lithuanian village, from which the first settlers come, and the districts of concrete-panelled houses rising in rye fields are in much closer proximity to one another. Here we find pristine and as-yet unexplored modernism, new rituals and entertainment. Here we find people whose faces express surprise at encountering a new reality for the first time; this surprise differs from the empty optimism announced in propaganda media. At first glance, the black-and-white photography with its bright contrast and clean composition resembles a reportage, but in reality, it is an artistic document of universal urban modernity, no matter which corner of the world it is situated in.”
Photographer and folk artist Zenonas Bulgakovas was born in 1939 in Alytus, where he continues to live and work to this day. He is a member of the Lithuanian Photographers’ Association (since 1973) and the Fédération Internationale de l’Art Photographique (International Federation of Photographic Art, FIAP). Having exhibited his works at over 30 personal exhibitions, he is the recipient of awards and prizes from competitions in Lithuania and abroad. Unlike other prominent representatives of the Lithuanian school of photography, whose work includes images from different parts of Lithuania, Bulgakovas talks consistently and often with humour, in his photographs, about changes in his hometown of Alytus and its surroundings, involving the urban landscape, the life of local people, and ecology.
Exihibition runs until April 1.
We will accept war refugees from Ukraine to the gallery for peace of mind free of charge.
Exhibition is supported by Lithuanian Council for Culture.