On Friday, January 23, 2026, at 5:00 PM, the photography exhibition. “Year of the Horse” by photographer Stasys Povilaitis will open at the Šiauliai Art Gallery.
The exhibition will be on view until February 16, 2026.
The best way to begin the Year of the Horse is with the exhibition “Year of the Horse” by Panevėžys-based photographer Stasys Povilaitis. Among Lithuanian photographers, Stasys Povilaitis has perhaps most profoundly understood the essence of the horse—its physicality and psychology, its beauty and its drama. He has devoted many years of his creative practice to studying the photogenic nature of this animal. However, his observation of horses began much earlier. As Stasys Povilaitis recalls:
“My earliest childhood memories are connected with horses. I usually spent my summer holidays with relatives in the countryside. There I learned how to harness and unharness a horse, and there I fell off a horse for the first time. I could even jump a ditch while riding, although today I certainly would not repeat such a feat. I loved visiting the hippodrome. Later, I began traveling to stables. In this way, I journeyed all across Lithuania until I finally stayed longer in the Kėdainiai district, where I discovered the largest herd of heavy draft horses in Lithuania. Over time, this herd became the constant focus of my observations and a source of photographic inspiration. I observed these horses for a long time. I photographed them even longer.”
Stasys Povilaitis was born in Kaunas. Since 1989, he has been a member of the Lithuanian Photographers’ Association. In 2005, he was granted the official status of an artist. He has participated in group exhibitions in Lithuania and abroad (Switzerland, Denmark). He is a participant in two international photography plein-airs, BIALKA.
Major works: From the Life of Horses (1984– ); Faces of New York (1995); Juozas Miltinis (1986–1993); Stasys Eidrigevičius (1992– ); A Day in the Life of a Knife Sharpener (2001); Years and Faces (2009– ); Portraits Based on the Poems of M. M. (2014); Metamorphoses (2015– ); States (2018).
Solo exhibitions: From the Life of Horses, Art Gallery, Panevėžys, 1993; The Great Figures of Panevėžys, Photography Gallery, Panevėžys, 1993; From the Life of Horses, Vilnius Photography Gallery, Vilnius, 1995; Faces from New York, Art Gallery, Panevėžys, 1997; Juozas Miltinis, Algimantas Gallery, Panevėžys, 1997; Horses, Prospektas Photography Gallery, Vilnius, 2002; Horses, Art Gallery, Šiauliai, 2002; Only Horses, ZPAF Gallery, Old Town, Warsaw, 2005.
Group exhibitions: Art Gallery, Panevėžys, 1994; Das Baltische Fotolinse, Schloss Holligen, Bern, Switzerland, 2003; Through Lithuanian Eyes, Photography Museum, Herning, Denmark, 2003.
Photography collections: Lithuanian Photographers’ Association, Vilnius.
Publications: Photographs. Vilnius: Nacionalinė knyga, 2002.
Bibliography: Lithuanian Photography (Vilnius, 1987); Farewell to the 20th Century (Vilnius, 2000); Photography Album. A Gift (Panevėžys, 2002); Lithuanian Photography: Yesterday and Today (Vilnius, 1999, 2001, 2002, 2003). _ _ _ Dear visitors, by attending exhibition openings, you agree that they may be filmed or photographed, and that images may be published on the Šiauliai Art Gallery website, in the media, or on social networks.




