What happens to memory when a loss cannot be fully processed — when there is no chance to say goodbye or grieve? How does a person piece themselves back together when war takes away their home and their familiar sense of self? What remains of intimacy when it is threatened by illness, distance and time? The winning projects of PhotoArtDoc 2026 respond to these questions in different ways: through archives, imaginary travel guides, family stories, testimonies to war and photographs created by sunlight.
On 22 October at 18:30, an exhibition of the winning projects from the PhotoArtDoc 2026 competition programme will open at Vilniaus fotografijos namai (Vilnius Photography House), accompanied by the presentation of the festival album.
In each project on display, personal experience becomes a way of addressing what is happening to people and societies today. Jana Nizovtseva assembles an archive of memories of her father Palina Turko (Belarus / Poland) explores the boundary between documentary and fiction as well as the inner changes experienced by people close to her. Evgenii Garkusha (Ukraine / Spain) connects family memory with the experience of the annexation of Crimea and the loss of self-determination Bart Urbanski while Bart Urbanski (Poland / Scotland) turns the movement of the sun into a trace of a phone conversation. The project by Maria Denise Dessimoz (Greece / Switzerland), which received an honourable mention from the jury, explores complex emotional states and the search for inner resilience.
Dates: October 22 – November 14, 2026
Opening: October 22, 18:30
Venue: Vilniaus Fotografijos Namai, Vilniaus g. 39, 2nd floor
tuesday-thursday — 15-19.00 / friday — 15-18.00 / saturday — 12-16.00