Saulius Saladūnas first picked up a camera more than six decades ago, while still a teenager. Since then, he has never parted with it. On the contrary, he has built a remarkable creative journey: organizing more than 20 solo exhibitions, participating in numerous group projects in Lithuania and abroad, and having his works included in the country’s most important museums and private collections.
The artist’s work is distinguished by a subtle and thoughtful perspective on the surrounding world and an ability to reveal more than what is visible on the surface. Details play an important role in his photographs, leading viewers toward deeper meanings, while photography itself becomes not only a visual narrative but also a way of thinking. Themes of identity, memory, and the relationship between people and their environment frequently emerge in Saladūnas’ work, conveyed through a sensitive yet precise artistic language.
Visitors to the Laiptai Gallery are already familiar with Saladūnas’ work. In 2017, the gallery presented his photography exhibition “Planes”. This time, the artist returns with “Reconstruction of Memory After 55 Years: About My Grandmother and Myself”, inviting audiences on a visual journey where personal experience intertwines with broader, universal themes.
“The idea originated from my very first photograph, taken 55 years ago. That faded and rather blurry photograph of my grandmother holding flowers awakened memories of the summers my brother and I spent during childhood at the isolated farmstead in the village of Kruopiniai, where I was born. Today, there is only an empty cultivated field there, while my memories recreate a completely different image,” the author says about the inspiration behind the exhibition.
The artist decided to reconstruct these images through photography. He traveled throughout Lithuania collecting details that matched his childhood memories, his grandmother, and himself. Photography here becomes an intermediary space between what once existed and what remains within a person’s inner world. It is a sensitive, multilayered narrative in which not only the artist’s experience is important, but also the viewer’s ability to recognize their own memories, experiences, and the ways they change over time.
The exhibition will be on display until June 13. Admission to the exhibition is subject to a fee. Ticket price – €2. Information about discounts is available at Laiptai Gallery. Opening hours of the Šiauliai Cultural Center’s Laiptai Gallery: Tuesday–Friday, 11:00 a.m.–6:00 p.m.; Saturday, 11:00 a.m.–5:00 p.m.
Photo from the author’s archive.
For more information, please contact Kristina Alseikė, Event Organizer of the Exhibitions Department at the Šiauliai Cultural Center, tel. +370 658 80 507, email: kristina.alseike@siauliukc.lt.
