KAUNAS PHOTO is the largest photography event in Lithuania. It attracts approximately three hundred participants and tens of thousands of visitors each year. Exhibitions take place in a number of different venues: the M. K. Čiurlionis Gallery, photo galleries like the Kaunas Photography Gallery, Meno Parkas Gallery, Ars et Mundus and Post Gallery, as well as in smaller galleries and public spaces which are specially adapted for the festival.
Apart from numerous exhibitions, discussions with artists, open-air nights of photography and workshops are part of the festival. Photographers will have the chance to get their portfolios rated within the KAUNAS PHOTO STAR or consult on them through the online folioPORT.org platform. The experts who will rate portfolios will be joined by three Poles: Grzegorz Jarmocewicz (photographer and director of InterPhoto festival in Białystok), Adrian Wykrota and Michał Sita (creators and curators of PIX.HOUSE). The festival also publishes yearly photo books. During the festival, the Šviesos Raštas NGO, created in 2003 to promote photography, will create a networking hub for artists and publishers.
This year’s theme will be water. The Beach Season exhibition with Krzysztof Racoń’s Zakrzówek will be open 3rd September 2017 in the M. K. Čiurlionis National Museum. Early September will also see the opening of Kacper Kowalski’s solo exhibition including works from his Side Effects series about the relationship between man and nature and the One Day series – a cycle of photos taken during the artist’s beach exploration. During a ‘night of photography’, a 20-minute presentation of Polish photography will take place near the Kaunas castle. Mikołaj Nowacki will present his photos from his Odra series at the River Show exhibition and will take part in a panel with other photographers on 18th September. Furthermore, during the festival, three artists will take part in an artist residency in Kaunas.
One of the main events during the festival will be the Polish Waters exhibition fully dedicated to Polish photography. Between 19th September and 10th October in the POST Gallery, the visitors can see Tymon Markowski’s Brda, Filip Ćwik’s Sinking Industry, Krzysztof Racoń’s Disappearing Lakes, Adam Wilkoszarski’s After Season and Dorota Dawidowicz’s Just Relax.