Museum opening

Stasys Museum opens May 31, 2024.

A new contemporary art museum, named after Stasys Eidrigevičius, an artist who has left his mark around the world, is opening its doors in Panevėžys, and it is set to enrich the cultural landscape of Lithuania. Stasys is a master of all trades: he is a painter, graphic artist, photographer, set designer, writer and director; he is also the creator of installations, sculptures and performances. The spaces of the Stasys Museum will reflect his multi-layered creative world and its various artistic techniques.

“This is the path of art and it is punctuated with stops. At the stops, I open my sketchbook, take a pencil or pen and draw a line to remember what I find important,” says Stasys, encoding many meanings in that one sentence, just like in what he calls his one-line drawings.

The exhibition ICON-O-STASYS presented by the Stasys Museum opens up space for interpretation not only with its contents but also with its title. The latter draws attention to the new cultural phenomenon in the North of Lithuania, while the O symbol might be seen as representing a Stasys-style face, or perhaps the pupil of an eye, both of which are significant motifs in Stasys’s creative output. The exhibition will cover more than 1000 sq. m. area, including three museum floors and an outdoor installation. The curators of the exhibition are Lina Albrikienė and S. Eidrigevičius' son, Ignacy Eidrigevičius.

“In my work, the boundaries between painting and illustration, between photography and graphics, between sculpture and scenography, between drawing and mural often disappear,” says Stasys. His work has received more than 40 international awards around the globe, including the Grand Prix at Barcelona’s International Book Fair (1986), the Gold Hugo at the International Film Festival in Chicago (1987), the Grand Prix of the first International Biennale of Illustration in Belgrade (1990), the Gold Medal from the New York Society of Illustrators and Grand Prix of Salon des Posters in Paris (1993), gold medals at the 4th International Poster Triennial in Japan (1994) and the Polish Poster Biennale in Katowice (1999).

The museum, opening on May 31, 2024, stands out with its panoramic rooftop terrace, a gastro-café to catch a break of inspiration and a coming-soon cinema for non-commercial films.

Welcome, and follow the museum here.