2026 04 15 – 06 07 exhibition space „Great Aula” of the Academy of Fine Arts in Gdańsk (Poland) (Targ Węglowy 6, 80-836 Gdańsk, Poland)

The Panevėžys International Ceramics Symposium, which has been taking place for more than three decades, represents roughly one third of the entire history of Lithuanian ceramics; for this reason, the event is of exceptional importance to the development of ceramics as an art form in the country. Its significance is further underscored by the fact that it is the only ceramics event in Lithuania to have been held continuously over such a long period, while consistently maintaining a connection with the most relevant trends in the contemporary art field.

The first international symposium was organised in 1989. When the Panevėžys Civic Art Gallery was established in 1990, it assumed responsibility for organising the symposiums. The chamotte clay used in the creative process is often referred to by art critics as “Panevėžys stoneware mass”. Over more than three decades, 25 symposiums have taken place. Until 2002, they were held annually at the Panevėžys Glass Factory; from 2004 they were organised every two years; and since 2006 they have been held at the ceramics company Midenė. This company now operates the largest gas kiln in the Baltic States (height 1.50 m, area 4.5 m², volume 6.75 m³).

The fact that 194 artists from 38 countries have participated in these symposiums is significant in itself. The collection now consists of almost 700 works and compositions. A contemporary ceramics collection of this scale, created using stoneware clay, is unique in the Eastern European region, and in Lithuania it currently constitutes the only permanent exhibition of contemporary ceramics in the country.

A collection of this size allows for the formation of a wide variety of exhibitions and presentations based on different artistic concepts, as well as the realisation of ambitious curatorial projects. One such outcome is the exhibition Home. From the Collection of Works of the Panevėžys International Ceramics Symposium. The exhibition was conceived in collaboration with the Academy of Fine Arts in Gdańsk.

The exhibition consists of works by 16 Lithuanian artists drawn specifically from the symposium collection. It reflects both the work of established masters and that of younger artists, as well as contemporary approaches to ceramics. The breadth of the collection housed in Panevėžys makes it possible, within a single exhibition, to reflect a wide variety of creative narratives, formal approaches, and historical periods. The exhibition is structured to reveal differences between eras, the development of the symposium, and the evolution of Lithuanian ceramics; accordingly, works dating from 1989 to 2025 are included.

The main focus of the exhibition Home. From the Collection of Works of the Panevėžys International Ceramics Symposium centres on the concept of home as a feeling rather than a physical place. In the context of global cataclysms, the definition of home as a safe and peaceful refuge begins to collapse. Over time, these motifs recur in various ways, prompting artists to interpret the notion of a safe home from different perspectives. As a result, in the exhibition Home. From the Collection of Works of the Panevėžys International Ceramics Symposium, this concept is examined in a multifaceted manner. To address this broad theme, artists from different generations are brought together whose work – or particular aspects of it – explore these and related questions.

Within the exhibition one encounters different definitions of home: as emotion, as narrative, and as a keeper and teller of stories.

With the exhibition Home, the aim was to encompass as broadly as possible not only traditional and contemporary Lithuanian concepts of home, but also to present Lithuanian ceramics more generally, while introducing the Panevėžys International Ceramics Symposium. In this respect, the collection is particularly valuable, as it brings together a wide range of leading Lithuanian ceramic artists. At the same time, the event itself and the city of Panevėžys have become something of a second home for ceramicists – a place where creative ideas and ambitions have unfolded, traditions have been formed, and acquaintances and friendships forged.

The exhibition features works by Rimas VisGirda, Nerutė Čiukšienė, Aldona Keturakienė, Juozas Lebednykas (1947–2024), Aldona Jonuškaitė-Šaltenienė, Dalia Laučkaitė-Jakimavičienė, Audrius Janušonis, Rūta Šipalytė, Eglė Einikytė-Narkevičienė, Agnė Šemberaitė, Egidijus Radvenskas, Eugenijus Čibinskas, Neringa Zemko, Rasa Justaitė-Gecevičienė, Rokas Janušonis, and Elena Laurinavičiūtė.

Art critic Aurelija Seilienė

Curators: Aurelija Seilienė, Alicja Buławka-Fankidejska, Dymitr Buławka-Fankidejski

Exhibition designer Egidijus Radvenskas

Designer Rita Raziūnaitė