The exhibition “Kęstutis Stoškus. Portrait of Vilnius” was held at the Vilnius Town Hall from February 28 to April 1, 2023.
Kęstutis Stoškus (b. 1951) is a talented architectural photographer captivated by the magic of old Vilnius. With his camera, he has wandered through every street, alley, and riverbank of the Old Town, explored courtyards, climbed hills, and examined monasteries, churches, and cemeteries.
As a master architectural photographer, Stoškus often collaborates with historians, art historians, and publishers to illustrate scholarly publications and albums. However, most of his photographs were taken without any commission and later served the purposes of exploring, documenting, and popularizing the country’s architecture.
What fascinates most in Stoškus’ architectural photography is his ability to combine documentary photography with subjective artistic photography, without losing the benefits of either. Achieving precision, he simultaneously imparts a mysterious, melancholic charm to the images. The artist’s greatest asset is his ability to change our perception of the city, encouraging us to protect and cherish it by allowing us to see previously unnoticed wonders.
Kęstutis Stoškus’ photographs of old Vilnius have been successfully exhibited in Latvia, Belarus, Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia, France, Germany, Ireland, Mexico, and China. Solo exhibitions on this theme have been held in Poznań, Gdańsk, Warsaw, Marburg, Kiel, Leipzig, Paris, Münster, Dublin, and Beijing. In Lithuania, Stoškus has had far fewer exhibitions compared to abroad. The largest retrospective was in 2005 at the National Museum of Lithuania in Vilnius. Therefore, it is a great pleasure to see these photographs again on the occasion of Vilnius’ 700th anniversary.
Exhibition curator: Dr. Raminta Jurėnaitė
Exhibition funded by: Lithuanian Council for Culture
Exhibition partner: Vilnius Gallery
Photographs by: Vytas Nomadas
