Thanks to the successful publishing activities of Kaunas Photography Gallery, Lithuanian photography is winning great acclaim and is increasingly recognised on the international scene. This year, the Gallery presented its publications at no less than 6 major international events.
22 – 25 February, Kaunas Photography Gallery together with the Lithuanian Photographers’ Association invited to get acquainted with various publications by Lithuanian and foreign photographers at the 24th Vilnius Book Fair, which took place at the Lithuanian Exhibition and Congress Centre Litexpo.
Among the new publications presented was the group catalogue “Women’s Workshops” by Cale Garrido, whose designer Miglė Ceinorytė-Mitašiūnė won a prize in the category of artistic and documentary photography in the Book Art Competition. In the same competition, designer Inga Navickaitė-Drąsutė received a diploma for her design of Gintaras Česonis’ publication “The Modernity of Rear Facades” in the category of Bibliophilic and Experimental Publications. Other new books presented at the fair included a catalogue by Alytus photographer Zenonas Bulgakovas, a publication by Litvak photographer Dorothy Bohm.
10 May – 12 May. Kaunas Photography Gallery together with the students and teachers of Applied Graphic Arts at Vilnius Academy of Arts Kaunas Faculty participated in the annual international independent publishing event “Fanzineist Vienna Art Book & Zine Fair” in Austria, where they presented the latest publications of the gallery and students’ self-publishing projects, such as comic books and author books.
16 May – 20 May Lithuanian photography publications were presented in London: at the studio of Litvak artist Dorothy Bohm, where the books were added to one of the largest collections of photography publications, at the Photographers’ Gallery Library and at Photo London at Tate Modern’s Off Print Fair.
17 – 22 September. Kaunas Photography Gallery participated simultaneously in the Unseen Amsterdam photography book fair in the Netherlands and the Valenciaphoto festival in Spain. Unseen Amsterdam is one of Europe’s most important platforms for contemporary photography, and the festival’s annual book fair is dedicated to independent book publishers, over 60 of whom presented unique, often hard-to-find publications this year.
At the Valenciaphoto Festival, the Biblioteca Pública de València Pilar Faus, Valencia’s central library, presented publications by the Lithuanian Photographers’ Association and Kaunas Photography Gallery, as well as the catalogue of photographs by Gintaras Česonis, “The Modernity of Rear Facades”.
Kaunas Art Book Fair 2024, organised by Kaunas Photography Gallery and contemporary art bookstore Six Chairs Books, took place for the sixth time on 28-29 September. It is the only professionally organised annual art book fair in the Baltic States. On the occasion of the fair, Kaunas Photography Gallery published the second colouring book dedicated to the fair “Burnakojo akis”.In the middle of autumn, on the occasion of the Lithuanian season in France, Kaunas Photography Gallery in cooperation with the contemporary art centre “Captures” in Rouen, France, presented the exhibition “Despite the Passing of Time – Contemporary Lithuanian Photography”. The exhibition is a temporary installation of a library of Lithuanian photographic publications.
And from 6 to 10 November. The Kaunas Photography Gallery Bookstore presented its publications for the eleventh consecutive year at the Polycopies International Book Fair in Paris. More than 80 French and foreign publishers and booksellers welcomed visitors to the unique venue of the Concorde-Atlantique ship and the Seine quay in front of it.
From 9 November to 19 January 2025 Lithuanian photography publications will be on display at the Nieps Museum in France alongside the spectacular exhibition “Between Lithuania and France” by B. H. Tiškevičius. This is one of the most solid presentations of Lithuanian photographic publications in the museum’s exhibition. Books from Kaunas Photography Gallery, the Lithuanian Photographers’ Association, the National Gallery of Art and NoRoutine Books were also added to the museum’s exhibition during the Paris Photo institutional exhibition at the Salon d’honneur at the Grand Palais.
The dissemination of a range of Lithuanian photography publications, which reveals the diverse and deep tradition of Lithuanian publishing, provides foreign audiences with an opportunity to get to know the artistic vision and creativity that characterises the Lithuanian photography and cultural scene. Art publication fairs are a great opportunity to discover new works and to get acquainted with Lithuania’s rich photographic heritage and contemporary trends.
The dissemination of Kaunas Photography Gallery’s publications at fairs and festivals abroad is partly financed by the Lithuanian Council for Culture and Kaunas City Municipality. The patron of Kaunas Photography Gallery is AON.