“Shelter” is the publication accompanying the inaugural exhibition at the Sapieha Palace. It includes an exhibition guide, photographic documentation, and texts written by or about the participating artists and their work.
The exhibition “Shelter” sought to give voice to the Baroque building and to ask what it means for contemporary art to enter Sapieha Palace at this particular moment. Rather than recounting the building’s history through the names of noble families, successive owners, bloodlines, or even the biographies of the distinguished artists and architects who created the palace, the exhibition adopted an unconventional approach. Instead, it ventured into the realm of history inscribed in material and speculative (re)constructions, searching for new meanings in the affects embodied within the architecture.
The exhibition’s title, “Shelter,” refers to the Latin inscription on the marble plaque above the main entrance, which proclaims that “the great palace, risen from ruins, will protect those weary from war in the peace of tranquil calm.” Perhaps today’s visitor, too, is weary from war, and it is to them that this inscription—recently restored to the building’s façade—is addressed. Perhaps here, within this exhibition, the artists’ incantations, meditations, and visions create both a space for dialogue and a refuge that makes it possible to endure when simply being becomes difficult. The works in the exhibition often explore different ways of enduring, permeated by themes of war and shelter, illness and healing, miracle and hardship, beginning and end.
The editors hope that this publication will extend the experience of the exhibition. For those unable to visit, it may partially recreate the atmospheric walk through the exhibition space, accompanied by shifting light and ephemeral sounds.
Texts by: Edgaras Gerasimovičius, Erika Grigoravičienė, Virginija Januškevičiūtė, Alexander Kluge, Marianna Maruyama, Alina Popa, Post Brothers, and Darius Žiūra.
Photography: Andrej Vasilenko, Emilija Filipenkovaitė, and Saulė Gerikaitė.
Graphic design: Vytautas Volbekas.
Editing: Dangė Vitkienė.
Translations: Paulius Balčytis, Alexandra Bondarev, and Aistis Žekevičius.
Project funded by: the Lithuanian Council for Culture.
Language: English
Price: 27.00 €
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