For the first time, Vilnius University Library will launch an exhibition presenting the little-known yet significant collection of artists’ books that is kept at the Graphics Arts Cabinet. On 25 November, at 4 pm, an event in the White Hall will symbolically close the Library’s 455th anniversary celebrations. The event, which will feature a performance by the contemporary music ensemble “Twenty Fingers Duo”, is open to library readers, friends, colleagues, and anyone who cares about the Library and the treasure trove that it holds.
At the exhibition MATERIALIZED SOUL, visitors will be invited to explore books as objects of art, with particular attention paid to their artistic value. The six-part exhibition will present artists’ manuscripts, illustrated monographs, limited editions, bibliophile editions, conceptual books, and other types of artists’ books.
The Graphic Arts Cabinet at Vilnius University Library, which has a rich collection of these books, has been operating since 1969. Its establishment was initiated by the then director of the Library Jurgis Tornau, whose goal was to build an exhaustive collection of the Lithuanian graphic arts, allowing researchers and artists themselves to use this archive for research and art. As the Cabinet opened up to the public, pieces of graphic art created by artists working in exile were being sent to Vilnius University Library. Graphic art and manuscript collages by Žibuntas Mikšys became a significant part of the collection. Pieces of art donated by Mikšys’ friends living in Paris—graphic works, artists’ books, and drawings—were also delivered to the Library.
Jonas Mekas. Idylls of Semeniškės. Illustrations by Vytautas Leonidas Adamkevičius. Kassel: Giedra, 1947
Significant works by contemporary Lithuanian artists of the late 20th century, including the first conceptual artists’ books, were included in Vilnius University Library’s holdings in 1982, when artist and art historian Linas Jablonskis was head of the Graphic Arts Cabinet. The books he created will also be on display at the exhibition.
The beginning of artists’ books in Lithuania is associated with the restoration of independence at the outset of the 20th century, after the lifting of the ban on the press, when striving to create a modern European state. During the Soviet occupation, the development of books as a form of art and education was halted, and only revived in the 1990s, after Lithuania regained its independence.
V. Kisarauskas. Album of drawings in the control copy of the publication “La monda lingvo-problemo”, 1970-1971
The curator of the exhibition is artist Viktorija Rybakova, who currently manages the activities of the Graphic Arts Cabinet at Vilnius University Library. She is actively engaged in the research of the culture of artists’ books in Lithuania; besides that, Viktorija Rybakova has designed her own artists’ books.
Opening of the exhibition: 25 November 2025, at 4 pm in the White Hall of Vilnius University Library (Universiteto str. 3).
The exhibition will be on display until 30 January 2026.
2025-11-13