November 18 – December 18, 2021
Exhibited at Photography Gallery (Vasario 16-osios st. 11, Panevėžys)
„Audrius Balčėtis, through the aqueducts portrayed in his photographs, streams stories of centuries past and displays the soul of the times. With a need to quench his curiosity, the author visited the aqueducts of Spain, Portugal, Israel, France, Turkey, Russia, Greece, Lithuania and the Balkan countries. The buildings photographed by Balčėtis in this variety of countries awe with their greatness, their hydro technical uniqueness and the author’s angle of approach. People gather from great travels at the aqueduct of Segovia in Spain; water like wine flows at the Convento de Cristo (1160) monastery; Arenes de Nimes still awaits water and spectators in France; we find piety much like in a chapel in the Rostokino aqueduct in Moscow. Audrius almost becomes like water himself, traveling long distances and filling the dried up, historically significant aqueducts, this way he gives these constructions new life and condemns them to immortality in his photoalbums. This is a titanic and professionally done job. It is a photographical ode hailing water and the path it takes, watering our memory, sprouting wonder: Aqueducts are like a vessel of life, the antithesis of thirst, a vein of your heart that carries oxygen.”
Algimantas Aleksandravičius,
Lithuanian National Prize for Culture and Arts Laureate
„I try to photograph. In my photographs I try to capture and present archaic architecture that keep my interest and symbolize the path of life. Seeing such things I feel like I’m being refreshed from the vitality of the water, I want to build and keep myself strong in the face of decay. “All of these objects, which are next to me, are unique.” I say to myself, taking the camera into my hands. “You can capture this uniqueness, transfer it.” If these photographs can say anything meaningful to my children, then that’s wonderful. I was here, I existed, I felt young, happy and I had someone so essential in this path, a person that helped me capture all of these scenes.”
Author