The Srebrni vrt / Silver Garden exhibition presents the work of the renowned Lithuanian photographer Emilija Petrauskienė, whose series of photographs of plants is based on playing with the past and the enchanting beauty of nature through the rare photographic technique of the wet collodion process.

The Srebrni vrt / Silver Garden exhibition is the result of a long-term creative project by Emilija Petrauskienė. The name of the project comes from the photographic technique that uses silver and, in a metaphorical sense, the collection of works represents a kind of modern herbarium created on photographic plates. 

The wet collodion technique is a long photographic process that, in artistic terms, adds a sense of sentimentality to the images, capturing an impression of transience and the past, and highlighting their graphic texture. 

About the author
As a medical doctor by profession, who devotes her free time to photography, Petrauskienė's work emphasises the importance of escaping into beauty, as it has a beneficial effect on the mind and body.
Ultimately, the photographs created in this way can be an extremely interesting museum medium – a way of documenting the present and giving a sense of the captured past with a high degree of accuracy, documentary character, communicativeness and authenticity, which is very important in a museum approach. 
As part of the Srebrni vrt / Silver Garden project, the author photographs plants and thus creates a garden in parts – with flowers, weeds, vegetables, herbs and trees. One could say that she uses photographs to collect and catalogue the plants in her garden, as most of them grow in the garden which she has created next to her home on the outskirts of Vilnius.
On display are photographs of plants taken by the author both in her native Lithuania and in Slovenia, and more precisely at the Gril Homestead near Velenje.

Meet the author: a presentation on photographic technique
You are kindly invited to meet the author at the opening of the Srebrni vrt / Silver Garden exhibition, the Lithuanian photographer Emilija Petrauskienė, who will present the photographic technique of wet collodion on glass plates.
The event will give you the opportunity to learn about her work in the field of botanical photography using this now rare and fascinating technique. The artist will take you through her creative journey, present a unique technical process in the context of reviving analogue photography, and guide you through the exhibition.

The event will be held in English.

The exhibition was created in collaboration with the Velenje Museum and with the support of the Embassy of the Republic of Lithuania in Austria.