Author: Dovile Tumpytė
Keywords: avant-garde, photography
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View of the exhibition. Photo: Algirdas Šeškus (courtesy of Algirdas Šeškus).
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View of the exhibition. Photo: Algirdas Šeškus (courtesy of Algirdas Šeškus).
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View of the exhibition. Photo: Algirdas Šeškus (courtesy of Algirdas Šeškus).
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View of the exhibition. Photo: Algirdas Šeškus (courtesy of Algirdas Šeškus).
Date: January 24–February 14, 1985
Participants: Algirdas Šeškus (1945) and Alfonsas Budvytis (1949)
Organizer: LSSR (Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic) Art Workers’ Palace, Vilnius
Location: LSSR Art Workers’ Palace, Vilnius
This series of photographs, created in 1984, was an interpretation of a state commission. Algirdas Šeškus and Alfonsas Budvytis, at the time outsiders of the official art-photography scene, authored the project. “Ignoring the standards of the portrayal of public figures and experimenting with the models’ characters and psychological types and the composition of the shots, these artists have expanded the space of the traditional aesthetics of Lithuanian photography,” noted art historian and curator Margarita Matulytė.[1] The collection of sixty works was first presented at the Yermolova Theater in Moscow in 1984, accompanying the State Russian Drama Theater’s official tour, and then traveled back to be exhibited in Vilnius: it was exhibited in the theater as well as presented at the LSSR Art Workers’ Palace in 1985. The press did not take notice the project at the time, and its innovative character and the artists’ avant-garde attitude have only recently been highlighted.
[1] Margarita Matulytė, Annotation for the exhibition “Portraits of the Actors, Directors, Composers, and Set Designers of the State Russian Drama Theater”, National Gallery of Art, Vilnius, 20 April – 27 June, 2010.
Author: "pARTisan"/ Olga Kopenkina
Keywords: artists’ union, censorship, painting
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Exhibition “1+1+1+1+1=6.” Invitation card for the exhibition. From Andrei Plesanov’s archive. Courtesy: “pARTisan”.
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Exhibition “1+1+1+1+1=6.” On the steps of the House of Writers’ union. Minsk, February 12, 1985. Artists: Ihar Kashkurevich, Ludmila Rusava, Adam Hlobus. Courtesy: “pARTisan”.
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Exhibition “1+1+1+1+1=6”. The visit of the official committee appointed by Ministry of Culture and government agency, which later banned the exhibition. House of Writers’ Union. Minsk, 1985. Photo from Adam Hlobus’ archive. Courtesy: “pARTisan”.
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Exhibition “1+1+1+1+1=6”. View of the installation. Artist Serhey Malishevski. House of Writers’ Union, Minsk. 1985. Adam Hlobus’ archive. Courtesy: “pARTisan”.
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Exhibition “1+1+1+1+1=6”. View of the installation. House of Writers’ Union. Minsk, 1985
Courtesy: “pARTisan”.
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Hanging exhibition “1+1+1+1+1=6” at the House of Writers’ Union. Ihar Kashkurevich’s painting “Still-life” is carried upside down. From Adam Hlobus’ archive. Minsk, 1985. Courtesy: “pARTisan”.
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View of exhibition “1+1+1+1+1=6” at House of Writers’ Union, Minsk. 1985. From Adam Hlobus’ archive. Courtesy: “pARTisan”.
Date: 12 February 1985
Participants: Adam Hlobus, Ludmila Rusava, Ihar Kashkurevich, Siarhei Malisheusky, Jauheniya Lis, Uladzislau Kufko
Organizers: Union of Writers
Location: House of Union Writers, Minsk
The exhibition was organized with support from the Union of Writers, thanks to the efforts of Viktar Karamazau, Mikhas Stratsou and Maksim Tank. Nevertheless, the authorities banned the exhibition even before it was opened. Union of Painters allowed using their premises for a day-long exhibition of paintings. Number of official painters, among which were well-known Mikhail Savitsky and Zair Azgur, subjected the exhibition to heavy-handed criticism blaming the participants in betrayal of socialist realism. The show was met with great appreciation in Belarus artistic circles and stands out as the first open attempt to show to the public new artistic forms and ideas.
Source: Volha Archipava. Belarusian Avant-garde of the 1980s. ‘pARTisan’s Collection’ series. Minsk 2012. http://partisanmag.by/
