In the beginning of May, the Irish Lithuanians’ Photo Club organized their first exhibition “Through The Lens” in Carlow. It attracted not only fellow Lithuanians’ attention, but was also noticed by the Irish. The club members produced 100 artistic photographs that were a big hit amongst the visitors. The main participants of the exhibition were: Lina Šimoliūnienė, Gražina Grasienė, Giedrius Rasimavičius, Kristina Kairienė, Vaidas Kurmauskas, Alina Williams, Liudmila Mendelienė, Eglė Morozaitė, Viktoras Gečas, Gintautas Čepaitis, and Lina Bechara. However they were not the only ones whose work was presented. Other photographs exhibited were collected from various contests organised previously by the Photo Club. The Mayor, Jim Deane, participating at the opening said that this exhibition not only beautifully presents Lithuanian art but it also symbolizes the friendship between our two countries.
The idea to organize the “Through The Lens” exhibition was introduced when a new council was selected for the Irish Lithuanians’ Photo Club. According to the current Head of the club, Artūras Račkauskas, the highest point a photographer can reach in his career is an exhibition. This attitude to exhibitions furthered the idea and encouraged all of the members to come together and bring the club’s first ever exhibition “Through The Lens” to life. The exhibition took place in the Carlow shopping center and was dedicated to the celebration of 100 years of the restored state of Lithuania. It was visited by the Mayor, Jim Dean, the Ambassador of the Republic of Lithuania to Ireland, Egidijus Meilūnas and a number of people from around the area, as well as from further parts of Ireland.
Most of the attendees were friends and family of the participants and members of various Lithuanian organizations in Ireland. The Irish attendees were left mesmerized as in most of the photographs they saw familiar places and landscapes of Ireland that brought back old memories. This time however they saw all of these places in new light – through Lithuanian eyes. The photographs varied from “macro” to landscapes to portraits and so it would be very hard to choose the best photographs due to the amount of the different styles used. It was great to meet all of the new people participating in the event and we strongly hope that in the future more of Irish Lithuanians’ communities will collaborate on common projects.
The works shown at the “Through The Lens” exhibition alongside a few new photographs will be presented at the “FRINGE art” festival in Carlow, which will take place June 6-10. We would like to invite everyone to come to this event, as well as the next club’s photography exhibition which is planned to take place next year.
Irish Lithuanians’ foto club member Roberta Leščikauskaitė
Article adapted for English readers by Izabelė Šuškevičiūtė
