Exhibition by Ričardas Dailidė at the Photography Museum. Ph. Edvardas Tamošiūnas

 

From March 6 to April 6, 2025, the Photography Museum will host a solo exhibition of photographs by the photographer from Šiauliai Ričardas Dailidė. The exhibition opening event will take place on March 12, 2025 at 5.30 p.m.

The exposition presents works created in the 7 to 10 decades of the 20th century, in which the author captures authentic everyday life in various parts of the world. Visitors to the exhibition are familiarised with photographs created in Lithuania, Dagestan, Cuba and elsewhere. Every photograph tells a peculiar story: from fragments of local people’s lives to signs of social change.

R. Dailidė observes everyday life through the lens and documents real events, avoiding artistic staging or special directing. The author’s photographs reveal both simple everyday moments and significant turning points marking transformations in society. Although the geography is wide, the works are united by a sincere interest in people and the environment, a desire to convey the reality of life as accurately as possible, unembellished by excessive artistic means.

This exhibition reveals the value of R. Dailidė’s reportage style, inviting viewers to reflect on how photography can preserve living testimonies of societal change. The author’s ability to peer into everyday life turns his works not only into a visual archive but also into a living narrative about the time period that is constantly changing.

Ričardas Dailidė (born in 1937) is known to many as an active creator, a man of action, a public-spirited person. Having tried the field of performing arts at the beginning of his creative path, he eventually chose photography and has remained faithful to it to this day.

Although he could devote only his spare time to photography after his main professional activity, during more than 5 decades of his creative activity, R. Dailidė created memorable photographic cycles: “Time Passes through the City”, “Shrove Tuesday in Kurtuvėnai”, “Lost Labyrinths of Time”, “Chronicle of Rebirth of Lithuania”, “Colleagues”, “Life in Jazz”, “Window to Cuba”, etc. He has held several dozens of solo exhibitions, participated in numerous group exhibitions in Lithuania and abroad, and has won over 30 various awards. R. Dailidė was among the authors introduced at the Lithuanian pavilion at the Venice Biennale in 2011 in Darius Mikšys’ project “Behind the White Curtain”.

His creative work has been published in Lithuanian photography almanacs, annuals, albums and authorial publications “The Hill of Crosses” (1993), “In Time Labyrinths” (2007). R. Dailidė has also prepared and published reviews, interviews, and overviews on photography. The author has been a member of the Lithuanian Photographers Association since 1973 and was a long-time member of the board of this organization.

In 2002, R. Dailidė was elected Šiauliai City Photographer of the Year. He was awarded the Šiauliai City Culture and Art Prize (2002, 2007 and 2017) for his long-standing creative activity, organized solo exhibitions, and promotion of photography. For his merits in the field of photography, R. Dailidė was awarded the Badge of Honour of the Šiauliai County Governor (2007).

The exhibition features works of R. Dailidė from the division of Šiauliai Aušra Museum – The Photography Museum, the collections of the Lithuanian Photographers Association, and the very author’s personal archive.

Exhibition curator: Valentyn Odnoviun

Exhibition communication designer: Darius Linkevičius

Organiser: The division of Šiauliai Aušra Museum – The Photography Museum

Partner: The Lithuanian Photographers Association