Participation of art resascher Algis Uždavinys (1962-2010) in curtural- exhibition activities 1995-2010. The projeckt is dedicated to preserving the existing video archive.

When studying the creative path taken by Algis Uždavinys, the significance of his art and philosophy researches for not only Lithuanian, but also world culture is revealed. In the reports prepared by Ina Kiseliova with world-renowned scientists who knew and worked together with Algis, the uniqueness of his research and encyclopedic erudition are emphasized. The search for imprints of the international activity of Algis Uždavinys, stimulated by this LCC (Lithuanian Council for Culture)-supported project, presenting him at international conferences in 2023, revealed that his thoughts and ideas are admired even by the leading authorities in the respective fields. The results of A. Uždavinys' creative endeavours are alive and are currently attracting more and more interest both in Lithuania and abroad. According to prof. Antanas Andrijauskas, A. Uždavinys did not find peer interlocutors in our region for a long time and was "quietly put aside" by the scientific community. According to fellow student Valentinas Gylys, Algis' field of research was so wide and unique that a new school could be born on its basis. Today, local intrigues having faded away, we can rethink the importance of this personality for Lithuanian culture. We believe that this work, partially financed by the LCC, is extremely important, on its basis we intend to create a film presenting the life, work, and worldview of Algis Uždavinys.
This project also aimed to emphasize the artistic activities of Algis Uždavinys, to preserve, record, and digitize the artist exhibitions presented by him in M.K. Čiurlionis Art Museum, Art Gallery Kauno Langas, Kaunas Artists' House, Balta Gallery, Klaipėda Art Gallery, filmed by cameramen Stasys Dargis and Jonas Ivaškevičius. Most of the interviewees are people from the art world, but since the range of Algis' creative pursuits is very wide, it inevitably intertwines with his philosophy studies. In order to reveal Algis's personality as fully as possible, it was necessary to expand the circle of interlocutors, and their number is still growing. The material presenting the openings of the exhibitions reveals the uniqueness of A. Uždavinys’ thinking in evaluating and analyzing works of art. Today, we do still miss this critical thinker, unafraid to express his opinion in polemic discussions, a tireless participant in art processes.
Every year, in July, the month of Algis's death, fans of his talent, friends, philosophers, art critics gather for the conference Readings of Uždavinys, which usually happens in his birthplace. This is a unique phenomenon and we saw the need to capture it. Scientists and associates of Algis read reports, lecture; more and more young faces join each year. Participants communicate their experiences, time and time again they try to touch the memory of A. Uždavinys, as if he hadn’t departed.

Three interviews with prominent foreign scientists:
1. Dr. Ann Van Ryn is a researcher of Neoplatonism living in Bendigo (Australia), whose scientific consultant during the writing of her thesis was prof. A. Uždavinys.  They were friends during the internship in Australia.
2. Dr. Harry Oldmeadow is an Australian scholar, writer, editor and lecturer whose work focuses on religion, tradition, traditionalism and philosophy. A prominent traditionalist who has published many books on traditionalism, age-old wisdom and traditional cultures and civilizations. He worked with A. Uždavinys in one department at the University of Bendigo, after Algis’ death he wrote one of the most famous In Memoriams: "Algis Uždavinys (1962-2010) and his Antipodean Sojourn".

3. Prof. Dr. Seyyed Hossein Nasr is one of the most famous specialists in comparative cultural studies, religious studies, aesthetics and philosophy of this century. His works are distinguished by astonishing humanitarian erudition, encyclopedic thinking, direct knowledge of Eastern culture and the ability to creatively operate with enormous and complex sources. In his works, Nasr presents an analysis of the intellectual and spiritual confusion of modernism and, emphasizing the loss of the sacred dimension and the secularization of cognition, gives extremely bright shades to the general intellectual life of the Western postmodernist society. They were close friends with A. Uždavinys, they participated in Sufi gatherings in Cairo and made Muslim pilgrimages together. Spiritual companions, although S. Nasr was undoubtedly an authority for A. Uždavinys.

 

Druskininkai:
Speakers: Asta Uždavinytė (sister), teacher Danutė Andrijauskienė, artist-relative Saulius Rudzikas speak.
Representatives of the art world, collaborators and associates:
Arvydas Palevičius, Romualdas Trachimas, Vytautas Rubavičius, Kazimieras Seibutis, Darius Rutkauskas, Aušra Vaitkūnienė, Valentinas Gylys, Aisrė Ramūnaitė, Gvidas Latakas, Alfonsas Vaura, Edmundas Saladžius, Jonas Audejaitis, Rimantė Tamoliūnienė, Antanas Andrijauskas, Ina Kiseliova.
Uždavinys’s readings (called Uždavininės), 2023.08.06
A ten-minute film created by H. Gulbinas, which uses Liudvika Pociūnienė's conversation with Algis Uždavinys and recordings from exhibition openings filmed by S. Dargis.

The project manager is art researcher Algė Gylienė.

Photo by Vytautas Tamoliūnas.

The project is partly financed by the Lithuanian Council of Culture.