Mantvydas Vladas Vilys: "The House of Heavenly Gardens" is an exhibition of interior furniture based on the codes of thatched gardens: sacred geometry and mathematics, natural materiality, and the magical aesthetic tradition. Throughout the creative process, the question that has been with me is: how can the structure and aesthetics of the traditional thatched garden be put to practical use, not just as decoration?
In recent years, I have immersed myself in the creation of installations and objects whose construction recognises the motif of traditional gardens. In this exhibition, I am presenting a functional furniture design for the living room space. Visitors seem to find themselves inside the structure of a traditional garden, taking the place of the straw birds that often adorn it. All the objects in the exhibition work together to create an overall composition that is a larger model of a traditional garden.
Lithuanian traditional thatched gardens are planned to be inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List. Therefore, the aim of the exhibition "The House of Heavenly Gardens" is to recall the importance of the heritage of traditional straw gardens and to foster it.
This is the first personal exhibition of my work, which will be opened by:
Rytis Girskas and Dorotė Girėja - post folk musicians, Vytautas Tumėnas - ethnologist, art historian, doctor of humanities, who will present the symbolism and mythology of the traditional straw garden, Vilnius Ethnic Culture Centre, which has been continuously fostering the culture of the traditional straw garden.
Thank you very much: Agne Muralyte - for editing the texts. To Algirdas Bakas - for photography and optimism. Diana Kirichenko for the poster design and logo. Gediminas Vilias - for technical solutions during the production. Jordi NN, Max Rolain, Šarūnas and Marija Savickas for their trust. Dov Vyšniauskas and Greta Gudelyte for their beautiful friendship and partnership. Vytautas Andrijauskas for his microchips and electronic solutions. Laimonas Staškūnas and Andrius Ciparis for their research and solutions. Adele Vitkauskaitė and James Walmsley for their support. Guoda Bardauskaite for her discoveries. To the "Smoke Factory" for providing space for the exhibition.
Free entry.
The project is funded by the Lithuanian Council for Culture.