The Museum of Samogitian Art in Plungė is preparing for one of the largest ever exhibitions of the 9th World Exhibition of Samogitian Art. The list of artists has already been drawn up, the works are being transported to the museum, and the space is being cleaned. The opening of the exhibition will take place on 22 June. The organising team says that they can confidently start inviting visitors to Plungė and planning summer routes. This week the exhibition was presented to the Vilnius Samogitian Cultural Society.
The organisers of the exhibition, who came from Plungė, Klaipėda and Šiauliai to the Vilnius Teachers' House, presented what they say is one of the most important Lithuanian art exhibitions of the year. Alvidas Bakanauskas, Director of the Samogitian Art Museum, Dr Jolanta Skurdauskienė, Deputy Director and Coordinator of the World Samogitian Art Exhibition, Assoc. Neringa Poškutė-Jukumienė and Goda Giedraitytė, art historian dr. Viktoras Liutkus, cultural historian dr. Dangiras Mačiulis, art historian dr. Skirmantė Smilingytė-Žeimienė, and exhibition architect Antanas Gerlikas. N. Poškutė-Jukumienė, presenting the 9th World Exhibition of Samogitian Art, mentioned that this year the routes of the exhibitions will stretch almost through the whole territory - seven spaces of the Mykolas Oginskis Manor will be open. On the ground floor of the palace, guest artists from outside Lithuania will be exhibited: artists from France, Canada, the United Kingdom, the USA and Germany. On the second floor of the palace is the In Memoriam retrospective exhibition of the work of Rimantas Dauginis, curated by art historian Dr Viktoras Liutkus. Also on the second floor of the palace will be presented a selection exhibition of works by graduates and teachers of the Telšiai Faculty of the Academy of Fine Arts. The palace will also welcome visitors with the works of 45 artists selected in this year's competition. The Stables will be surprised by a renovated hall, which will house Žilvinas Kempinas's TUBE, which has so far only been exhibited at the 53rd Venice Biennale in 2009. The historic clock building will house the work of conceptual graphic artist Evaldas Mikalauskas. Another novelty of this exhibition is the opening of the park space to the public, where the works of Samogitian sculptors will be on display. The eastern outhouse, which is still awaiting restoration, will be equally surprising, as it will house young artists who have chosen to create photography, painting, contemporary graphics, light and sound installations.
A. Bakanauskas, Director of the Museum of Art of Samogitian Art, thanked the curators of the exhibition who have taken on the work with great responsibility and, at the same time, with creativity. According to the Director, this year's exhibition will be exceptional and impressive. The World Exhibition of Samogitian Art, which is held every four years, changes and develops, just like the museum, which has been in existence for 30 years, where new layers of history are opened every year and historical buildings are restored. According to Bakanauskas, it is very convenient to arrive in Plungė, and thus also to the exhibition opening on 22 June, by train, as the M. Oginskis Manor is located next to the railway station.
The organiser of the first World Exhibition of Samogitian Art, the art historian Dr. Viktoras Liutkus, shared his memories of the beginning of the event in 1989, and stressed the importance of the exhibition. The main wish of the organisers of the first exhibition was to bring together not only artists living in Lithuania, but also those who have emigrated but have roots in Samogitia. In 1994, the exhibition was held for the first time at the Samogitian Art Museum, in the then still unrestored M. Oginskis Palace. The art historian was pleased that this year's exhibition will pay special attention to the artist and organiser of the world's first Samogitian exhibitions, Rimantas Daugincis, who would have been 80 years old this year. A retrospective exhibition of the artist's work is being organised in Plungė, curated by Dr. V. Liutkus himself.
The half-year exhibition will be accompanied by an unusually rich programme of cultural events. One of the most solid events will be the scientific conference "Personalities Marked by Samogitia: from Creators to Legendary Heroes". The organiser of the conference, historian Dr Dangiras Mačiulis, said that together with art historian Dr Skirmantas Smilingyte-Žeimiene, they had decided to invite researchers to look at the phenomenon of Samogitia through the lens of the personalities, their works and their social and cultural expression. The conference attracted a great deal of interest from scholars, the organisers received more than 60 applications and the most interesting presentations were selected. The event grew into a two-day conference. "I tell everyone that this year the best art exhibition will be in Plungė," said Dr. D. Mačiulis.
Dr. J. Skurdauskienė, the coordinator of the World Samogitian Art Exhibition, said that she is referring to the history of Samogitian exhibitions, which dates back to the inter-war years. The Samogitian Artists' Association is one of the oldest professional artists' associations, and it carries a very strong ideological charge. "We have had very strong patrons since the first exhibitions of Samogitian art in the world, which is a testimony to the importance of this exhibition," said Dr J. Skurdauskienė. The patrons of the exhibition have been the Prime Minister of the Republic of Lithuania, Adolfas Šleževičius, Bishop Dr Jonas Algimantas Boruta S.J., and this year the Minister of Culture of the Republic of Lithuania, Simonas Kairys, has kindly agreed to be the patron of this exhibition. The World Exhibition of Samogitian Art is one of the most important events not only in the Samogitian Art Museum, but also in the Samogitian Museum of Art, where the organisers' ambition is to work in a new direction, to expand and to become a prominent artistic phenomenon of the whole region. "In the course of half a year we will offer a variety of cultural activities, not only a scientific conference, meetings with artists, the screening of the film "Mončys. Žemaitis from Paris". We have also planned an excursion to the home of the famous Samogitian painter Liudas Truikis in the village of Gilaičiai". Visitors will be welcomed with excursions, educational cycles, album presentations.
So far, about half a thousand artists have participated in the exhibitions of the World Samogitian Art in Plungė, over 2000 works have been exhibited, almost 1000 of which have been donated to the Samogitian Art Museum. The exhibitions have been visited by a quarter of a million visitors.
