Kęstutis Kasparavičius’s exhibition “Everything Comes from Childhood”

From 23 April to 21 June, the exhibition “Everything Comes from Childhood” by the renowned graphic artist, book illustrator and children’s writer Kęstutis Kasparavičius is on view at the Exhibition Hall of the Klaipėda Culture Communication Centre (KCCC), Didžioji Vandens g. 2. It is a retrospective of the artist’s work, presenting several decades of his output. The exhibition is part of the Book Art Festival.

„Sometimes I wonder where all those images come from – the ones that inspired my strange little stories and illustrations. The answer is very simple. It all comes from that place.

When the snow rose above our heads, when we rolled snowballs bigger than ourselves to build a snowman. When I couldn’t fall asleep at night because of the lake ice cracking in the frost. When I woke in the morning to the squeak of my mother’s galoshes in the snow – she would be coming back from the well with a full bucket of water. When we sledged down the hill until we no longer had the strength to climb back up. When we tied a fir tree to the sledge and, panting, dragged it home from the forest. When I slipped through an ice hole in my coat and felt boots – my eldest brother pulled me out by the collar and carried me home, soaking wet.

It feels as if we had become part of those houses and the hundred-year-old trees, bushes, snowdrifts and the frozen lake around them – just as much as the hares, squirrels, birds and the fish beneath the ice. We all lived there together.“

(Kęstutis Kasparavičius: Kasparatorija, Vilnius: Grafikos meno centras, 2025, p. 18)

This exhibition presents a retrospective of Kęstutis Kasparavičius, bringing together several decades’ worth of work. It unfolds as a kind of creative territory and laboratory, where the artist’s characters live out their ‘lives’.

Throughout his career, Kasparavičius has remained devoted to a single field – books and children’s illustration. He has illustrated numerous classics of children’s literature (including Oscar Milosz, Hans Christian Andersen, E. T. A. Hoffmann and Carlo Collodi), as well as poetry books. While working on a book by Edward Lear, he discovered the aesthetics of nonsense, which later became a defining feature of his own work. After illustrating books by other authors, he began writing himself, going on to write and illustrate more than twenty books for children.

His illustrations are marked by a distinctive style – meticulous watercolour, close attention to detail, and a sense of everyday realism. Elements of self-portraiture appear alongside objects from his own domestic environment, and his narratives occasionally reveal recognisable buildings in Vilnius.

Transparent watercolour gradations, anthropomorphic characters and a richness of detail define Kęstutis Kasparavičius’s work. His books address both children and adults, and their impact is therapeutic and enduring – they have shaped generations of readers in Lithuania.

The artist’s work has received numerous awards and recognition in Lithuania and abroad.

Curator: Jolita Liškevičienė

Organiser: Klaipėda Culture Communication Centre

Funded by: Klaipėdos City Municipality; Lithuanian Council for Culture

Partners: Vilnius Academy of Arts, Klaipėda Faculty; Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Lithuania; Klaipėda City Municipality Immanuel Kant Public Library

Architect: Miglė Nainytė

Assistant architect: Monika Ščerbiakienė

Graphic designer: Morta Žukauskaitė

Communication: Dora Žibaitė

Opening hours of the KCCC Exhibition Hall (Didžioji Vandens g. 2, Klaipėda): Wednesday–Sunday 11.00–19.00 (closed on public holidays). Admission to the exhibition is free on the opening day; afterwards there is a charge. Please note that participants may appear in photographs and video recordings of the event published in various media.