Exhibition of the work of designer and architect Šarūnas Šlektavičius (1977–2023)
March 26th – April 27th, 2024
Location: Titanikas, VAA Exhibition Halls, Maironio str. 3, Vilnius
A search for balance and harmony between symmetry and asymmetry, for connections between very different and identical forms. The initials Š. Š. and the symmetry of the divided life line: twenty-three years in the previous 20th century and twenty-three years in the current one.
In the spring of 2023, Šarūnas Šlektavičius' numerous creative ideas, pedagogical initiatives, projects and educational ideas stopped with a jerk at their different stages: in the process of coordinating the themes of projects, drawings, and final thesis topics, in sketch binders, in stages of production, in people’s lives. It is obvious today that some of the processes he had started are continuing and creative ideas are being realised. While organising the exhibition and looking at his life and work slightly retrospectively, we can surely say that Šarūnas was a process designer.
Even when graduating from the National M. K. Čiurlionis School of Art, Šarūnas already called design his “conscious choice”. He was a designer with a visionary mindset. His greatest creative ambitions uniting his two professions – design and architecture – are best expressed in the field of transport design. However, due to being immersed in a wide variety of processes, he paid little attention to systematically documenting his portfolio, so in preparation of this exhibition, it was necessary to piece Šarūnas’ creative biography together from individual records, binders, hard discs and other media, memories, and surviving artefacts. Some of these had to be reproduced, others – carefully restored.
When preparing this exhibition, it was important to try and trace the beginnings of Šarūnas’ ideas and creative processes, their changes and transformations, and to reveal the specific professional aspects of his creativity and activity. He strived to combine the gracefulness and purity of form with functionality – human scale, body comfort. This ambition came from jewellery-making and was present in perhaps all of his projects – from the artefacts he had created himself to his requirements for student work. The unconditional dedication to teaching and to jewellery-making are important links to Professor Feliksas Daukantas and his work to which Šarūnas had dedicated many of his projects.
In this exhibition, we want to present, at least briefly, the processes of all the main areas of Šarūnas Šlektavičius’ work: from his early works, the furniture created during his study years to the commissioned works and the projects he had implemented together with various teams, from “Symphony” to Design Foundation and stories told about him, from his perhaps famous project “Uperis” to his surprisingly mature jewellery pieces and another boat that is currently under construction. Drawings, sketches, models and various artefacts reveal the paths of the designer’s thoughts and hands, helping to understand the emerging whole and to discover unknown faces of Šlektavičius.
For the creative team of the exhibition, this process brought a lot of surprises: some of us knew about some of his creative activities, others were aware about others, and some of the artefacts that emerged were new to almost everyone. So, take a look at the results of our search process, which allowed us to better get to know our dear colleague and friend.
Initiator of the exhibition Goda Dapšytė-Šlektavičienė
Curators: Karolina Jakaitė, Gintautė Žemaitytė
Architecture Justinas Dūdėnas
Graphic design Marius Žalneravičius
Design consultant Ignas Survila
Restoration Donatas Stasiulis
Video Karolis Milaševičius
Communication Stefanija Jokštytė
Organised by: Design Foundation and Vilnius Academy of Arts
Funded by the Lithuanian Council for Culture
Partner Lithuanian Design Association
Special thanks go to: Tadas Baginskas, Laima Bezginaitė, Darius Bublys-Laivynas, Juozas Brundza, Dominykas Budinas, Benas, Buivydas, Sigutė Chlebinskaitė, Darius Čekanauskas, Rimantas Dichavičius, Audronė Drungilaitė, Aurelija Džiugaitė, Živilė Intaitė, Rasa Janulevičiūtė, Gintas Kavoliūnas, Miglė Kibildienė, Rokas Kilčiauskas, Ignas Krasauskas, Vladas Lašas, Jurgis Lečas, Aurelija Pakšytė,Albinas Purys, Alina Pūrienė, Simonas Savickas, Kazimieras Simanonis, Birutė Stančikaitė, Gediminas Stoškus, Goda Šuminaitė, Mindaugas Vanagas, Saulius Zakarka, AKO TECHNICAL, musical band Biplan, musical band Skamp, National Museum of Lithuania, M. K. Čiurlionis National Museum of Art, UAB Kintai
Šarūnas Šlektavičius was born on 19 January, 1977 in Vilnius, into the family of well-known graphic artists Gerardas Šlektavičius and Birutė Stančikaitė.
In 1993 he began working in the field of jewellery-making, initially studying with jewellery master Kazimieras Simanonis, and later on his own by fulfilling individual commissions.
In 1995, he graduated from the National M. K. Čiurlionis School of Art and went to study design at the Vilnius Academy of Arts (VDA). In 2000, he went to New York for an internship with jeweller Aleksandras Šepkas, but upon return decided to concentrate more on the creation of design objects, and especially on the design of boats.
In 2009, he began studying architecture, and in 2011 received his Bachelor's degree in architecture at the Vilnius Academy of Arts
In 2004, he began lecturing at the Design Department of the VDA and became its head in 2022. In 2021, he was elected Chairman of the VDA Senate.
For two decades, Šarūnas Šlektavičius had been actively involved in projects for the development and dissemination of design competences, as well as in various international; he was one of the founders and active co-authors of the “Design Foundation” established in 2016. Together with a team of like-minded people, he designed “Uperis” - the eco-friendly ferry across the river Neris, and encouraged others to create ambitious, eco-friendly, and innovative products.
Šarūnas Šlektavičius died on April 13, 2023. He was buried in Vilnius Antakalnis cemetery, Artists Hill.