Artykuły

In Lithuania, from the first sign in an unremarkable city Panevėžys, we have a huge collection of contemporary ceramics. Perhaps, the local citizens are not fully aware of it, but it is well-known place for the world and Polish ceramists. But lets start from the beginning.

More than three decades ago, in 1989, the first Panevėžys International Ceramic Symposium was organised on the initiative of young students and graduates from the Vilnius Art Institute (now Vilnius Academy of Arts, Lithuania), which was attended by 16 artists of various fields of art. The first international ceramic event in Panevėžys was very different from the current symposiums but it was characterized by vigour, youthful energy and intense creative mood.

The first steps towards the international ceramic symposium began in 1977, when ceramist Alvydas Pakarklis started working at the Panevėžys Glass Factory. His interest in the refractory stone mass used in the glass manufacturing industry led to the experiment with this material. When the Panevėžys Civic Art Gallery was established in 1990, it took responsibility for organising the symposiums. At Glass Factory, the artists used a high-combustion gas kiln to fire the works at 1380 °C. The exceptional size of the kiln (h – 1.80 m, area – 12 m², volume – 20 m3) allowed creating works of impressive scale, which later became the hallmark of the collection and the symposium itself.