30 November 2023 · Exhibition

The Full Circle moment

Martina Sedda closes her Artihost residency with a photo exhibition in Panevėžys.

The day of the exhibition was met with the first snow of this season. I saw 3 seasons in 3 months. When I arrived in the September it was still sunny and green and +26C like in the middle of the summer. In October the true autumn bursted in with its colourful leaves. And in November on the day of my exhibition opening the winter said “Hi!”. It was full circle moment for me.

The time I spent in the woods with the foresters and the time I spend in Panevėžys medelynas-daigynas gave me the insides and experience of how life cycles happen in the forest. From the little seeds that dive and swim in the nutrient rich brews to become stronger and more fertile to the giant trees that fall down.

I captured it all in my photos : the bark beetles, the seedlings, the wood logs, the people that work there, the animals that live there and so much more.

Even though there is a root problem in the woods that’s destroying the trees, I also saw the beauty of resilience in this process. Forest rangers and nature coming together to help each other, working non stop to tackle pest infections and regrow the green plots of lands that I fell deeply in love in my stay in Lithuania. All the infected trees that were cut down were processed into usable wood materials. Another cycle in a life of nature.

The more I looked around the more of those symbiotic circles I saw. The same happened to me when it comes to the place I held my exhibition in. ‘Pragiedruliai’ was one of the first places that we visited with Artihost curators and my last stop where I presented my work.

And the people I met trough these months, all of those faces were standing in front of me. They came to witness and see, to see the begging and the end. To see the cycle. Even though the snow outside was making its presence I felt wrapped in warmth like on that first and hot day that I’ve arrived. I was happy with the result. I was happy of this cycle.

Project co-financed by Lithuanian council of Culture.

Read how it started: the deforestation and reforestation project and the interview with Martina.

About the exhibition

The Full Circle moment was the closing exhibition of Italian photographer Martina Sedda’s three-month stay at the Artihost Art & Culture Residency II, from September to November 2023. She presented it at the Panevėžys Creativity Centre “Pragiedruliai” – a red-brick manor in the oldest park of the city and the historic homestead of Juozas Čerkesas-Besparnis. It was one of the first places she visited with the Artihost curators, and it became the last stop of her residency.

The photographs show the life cycle of a forest: bark beetles and felled trees, seedlings growing in the Panevėžys tree nursery, stacks of wood logs, the forest rangers at work and the animals that live in the woods. Together they tell the story Martina documented in her project Deforestation and reforestation process: Panevėžys county has one of the lowest forest covers in Lithuania – about 31% – and the people who care for it cut infected trees and plant new forests at the same time.

Want to see more? Browse Martina’s portfolio from Panevėžys, read her interview, or visit the forests yourself – our guide What to see around Panevėžys includes the Pašiliai bison paddock and the nature trails of Krekenava Regional Park. You can also follow her work on Instagram @martisedda.

Artihost is the first continuous professional art and culture residency in Panevėžys. Read more about the residency programme and our other residents.

Martina Sedda at Artihost