Textile Work Exhibition – “Weaving Classics”

WEAVING CLASSICS
I chose the classical tapestry technique while studying at the Kaunas Faculty of Vilnius Academy of Arts. Since then it has accompanied me for many years. During that time, the themes, scale of works, and their concepts changed, but the weaving principle itself remained important in my creative work.
Classical tapestry (from French tapisserie – hand-woven wall carpet) is an image woven by hand, where the picture is created with colored weft threads woven between the warp. Unlike weaving ordinary fabric, here the most important thing is not the fabric itself, but the image created with it. Color, form and line emerge from countless small weaving movements. It is a slow, meticulous and time-consuming process.
In this exhibition, I present works created at different stages of my creative journey. The beginning of the exhibition is marked by works created during my studies – my bachelor’s diploma work “Sisters” and master’s diploma work portraits – “Miss Agnė” and “Mrs. Adelė”. In them, I paid the most attention to the person and their image. I created the portrait not by painting, but by weaving – from colors, forms and threads.
Later, the human figure in my work did not remain confined to a single portrait. More people appeared, more of their stories and the possibility to create together. At the Kaunas Culture Center textile studio “Gijų sodai”, the project “Tapestry Mosaic: Lithuania – My Face” grew. Many people from different parts of Lithuania took part in it, weaving small tapestry fragments. Later, these individual works were combined into one large work.
It is important to me that different periods of my creative work meet in this exhibition. From my first works during my studies to the large collaborative project, considerable time has passed, but the classical tapestry technique remained the same. Only what I wanted to say through it changed.
Exhibition opening on October 2 at 5 p.m. at Liudviko Rėza Culture Centre (L. Rėzos g. 8B, Neringa).
The exhibition will be displayed until November 5.
Agnieta Janušaitė-Vitkūnienė