Acta Academiae Artium Vilnensis
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Thinking-with and Telling Stories: Artwork as a Companion
No full textDailės kūrinių interpretacijos metodologijai ir teorinėms priei goms skirtame straipsnyje svarstoma, kaip remiantis šiuolaikine materia listine filosofija, pirmiausia – Bruno Latouro ir Donnos J. Haraway teo rijomis, plėtoti įžemintą ir spekuliatyvią kontekstinės interpretacijos versiją. Haraway situatyvaus žinojimo paradigmoje dailės kūrinys būtų simpoetinis bendrininkas, kompanionas, įgalintas kartu mąstyti, kelti ne rimą, jungtis į dalinio, įkūnyto ir įvietinto žinojimo tinklus, gedėti, ugdyti atsako galią. Jis ne iliustruoja, o siūlo istorijas, taip pat ir dailės istorijos pasakojimus. Kartais ir ne naujausi dailės kūriniai padeda kartu mąstyti ir Haraway nusakyta prasme – apie rūšių bendrabūvį chtulucene, įvairių padarų giminystę. Aptarus diskursyvias kūrinių emancipacijos, į(si)tinkli nimo ir veikmės sąlygas, antroje straipsnio dalyje nagrinėjamas Antano Gudaičio kūrybos atvejis.The paper is dedicated to the theoretical approaches and metho dologies of artwork interpretation. By drawing from the contemporary materialist philosophy, primarily the theories of Bruno Latour and Donna J. Haraway, the paper aims to develop a version of contextual interpretation that is both terrestrial and spectulative. The paper discusses the conditions of discoursive emancipation, networked inclusivity and agency of artworks, namely: author’s death, the importance of cognition, and Ran cière’s notion of aesthetic regime. Rancière talks about the emancipation of viewer as a result of the unpredictability of sensory cognition and the incongruity of the rules of poetics and aesthetics, which implies the acti visation of artworks (images, texts, etc.). The paper argues that artworks (mediated images) have more agency than texts, which is confirmed by visual phenomenology, psychoanalysis of the gaze, the paradigm of effigies, etc. The artworks are thus the active and notquitedead participants of social interrelations because they keep generating unforeseen performa tive consequences and random meanings, as well as shaping the behaviour of the audiences that perceive them. Meanwhile authors and interpreters are not subjects but ‘mere’ actants – they are notquitealive as they rely on mediatised repositories of knowledge and forms. In terms of Latour’s ActorNetwork Theory (ANT), the perceiving audience (including art the orists themselves) are networked actants, and their interrelations invol ve many other actants, including originary imagery, (meta)stories, ideas, artists, thinkers, atmospheric phenomena, animals, and artefacts. Within Haraway’s paradigm of situated knowledge, an artwork would be a sympoietic companion that joins us in thinking, makes us worry, assemble into the networks of partial, embodied, and sitespecific knowledge, as well as mourn and facilitate our response-ability. If we are able to think together with various human and nonhuman entities, both alive and dead, this su rely extends to artworks too.
Haraway calls the paradigm of cohabitation of species and enti ties Chthulucene, and sometimes it is possible to apply it to the artworks that are not necessarily new. In the second part, I ignore the distinction between the art theoretical text and metatext, and take up the case of Antanas Gudaitis (1904-1989). A master figure of Lithuanian modernism, Gudaitis studied in Paris (19291931), and his later period is marked by the plentitude of references to interspecies cohabitation. In his drawings from the 1970s, we see birds sitting at the table together with people, and his later work features ‘doubleportraits’ that combined the heads of humans and various animals. Depicted in the distinctly expressionist style, objects and animate creatures are turned into equal actants. Gudaitis stresses the optical similarities between humans and nonhumans, which gives his work the quality of the Freudian uncanny. In the conditions of an almost total cultural isolation during the soviet era, the art of Gudaitis, as well as that of the CoBrA collective, with their vision of an empathetic and slightly un canny interspecies cohabitation (which today we would call postanthro pocentric), could have only emerged in the artistic soil already prepared by surrealism. The research of creative contexts, cultural environment and imagery is common in art history, and it is also one of the traits of the si tuative – terrestrial – interpretation, although the reformation of the art theoretical language through a meaningful developing of the speculative dimension is certainly not an easy task
Publishing a Book is Due When Half of Life Is Behind You!
No full textPlati ir neaprėpiama konferencijos tema „Kaip papasakoti apie meną“ susiaurės kiekvieno pasakotojo naratyve bei praktikose. Svarbu pasidžiaugti, kad Vilniaus dailės akademija (toliau – VDA) pakvietė dalyvauti ne tik mokslo darbuotojus ir teoretikus, bet ir neinstitucinius meno kūrėjus. Vienas mano pirminių impulsų dalyvauti buvo amžinas rašančių menininkų siekis neatiduoti upės plaukimo atsitiktinumams, institucijoms ir neperiodiškai pasirodančioms menininkų knygoms ar straipsnių rinkiniams. Sulaukusi 40 metų amžiaus, aš manau, kad menininkui svarbiausia yra turėti savo knygą, nesvarbu, kokiais būdais ir metodais ją išleisti, nesvarbu, kokiam velniui parsiduoti, nes kapitalizmo labirintuose „tikslas pateisina priemones“.The text analyses the specific forms and channels of artwork development, namely, it looks into the storytelling potential of the physical space (the closedness of interiors and openness of exteriors), the digital space, and the space of paper publication. While respecing the artistic freedom, the paper stresses the importance of the permanently changing context, although even the most recognised art professionals can forget that, which often produces a comical effect. The research involves some seemingly unrelated topics and a few concrete objects: 1. artwork distribution, 2. the entrenchment of architects in the fabric of exhibition, 3. unseen contexts, and 4. the analysis/slam of exhibition titles from a particular historical period. The paper uses the comparative method that is rich both with refe- rences and personal remarks, and its style is close to that of a writer-artist rather than an academic. It aims to show the artworld as being slightly rough-around-the-edges, governed by distinct sources of power, and rich with absurdity. The research also uses dedicated illustrations to comment on the topical issues and various tragicomical situations related to them. Along with its visual component, irony temporarily relieves us of tensions and enriches the text companion.
The research method is based on the practice of observation of the art field, and the analysis of its exhibition spaces along with individual artists, publishing platforms, and their intersections in the art critical publications, conferences and the internet. The paper tries to study the role of the new participants, specifically exhibition architects, in the exhibition context, while subjectively highlighting both successful and unsuccessful examples. The third part presents the analysis as a clash between randomly picked material (e.g., exhibition titles) on the one hand, and the material of a distinctly different genre (e.g., slam comments) on the other, thus deliberately rejecting the entire sociology of art. Because, when preparing to their exhibitions, artists fall prey to various word games when coming up with their project titles, and end up being torn between family, friends, art theorists and art centre directors on the one hand, and their intimate desire to express themselves on the other. This is also why the third part comes without any conclusions.
The author is happy to live in such a structurally obscure environment (what’s the difference whether you’re self-taught or you’ve got a degree in art management; after all, life is but collection of exceptions), as long as one has the power of an individual voice. The author is but a text, while the polyphony of other people, historical events and texts is but a context, and the latter is always bigger than the former.
The voice, in which we tell our stories of art, will be most successful not only when it is unique, but also when it comes out as a scream. One is thus bound to scream loudly and end one’s life with a book
Globalus kolonialumas: XIX a. istorinių paveikslų permąstymas: Acta Academiae Artium Vilnensis
No full textThis study advocates for the necessity of writing more lateral art histories across cultures and geographies in the global 19th century by placing two history painters, the Estonian Johann Köler (1826–1899) and the Peruvian Luis Montero (1826–1869), into conversation. Although the role of indigenous actors within local histories of colonial conquest loomed large for both artists, the enduring Eurocentrism of 19th-century art history has limited how we might understand the commensurability of coloniality in the period. This study serves as an experimental roadmap for transcending these historiographical limitations, establishing the 19th century as a significant period of cultural correspondence between Eastern Europe and Latin America.Straipsnyje gretinami du XIX a. istorinio žanro tapytojai: estas Johannas Köleris (1826–1899) ir perujietis Luisas Montero (1826–1869). Nors meno istorijoje nuo XX a. paskutiniojo dešimtmečio persiorientuojama globalios perspektyvos link, XIX a. meno istorijos tyrimuose Lotynų Amerika ir Rytų Europa vis dar traktuojamos kaip menkavertės provincijos. Iš dalies dėl to kaltas tyrėjų polinkis susitaikyti su tuo, ką Johannesas Saaras vadina „europocentriška kultūros kartografija“. Kolonialumo (angl. coloniality) tyrimai šioje vietoje gali padėti išryškinti XX a. politinį kontekstą peržengiančias sąsajas tarp Lotynų Amerikos ir Rytų Europos. Nagrinėjant sąsajas tarp Kölerio ir Montero, straipsnyje atskleidžiama, kaip paminėtų regionų menininkai, pasitelkdami prestižiškiausią to meto dailės žanrą – stambaus mastelio akademinę istorinę tapybą, kvestionavo autochtoniškumo (angl. indigeneity) vaidmenį kolonijinių nukariavimų kontekste.
Montero drobėje Laidotuvės Atahualpoje (1867) ir Kölerio paveiksle Vienuolių prakeiktoji Lorelei (1887) pripažįstamas iberiškosios ir teutoniškosios kolonijinų kampanijų smurtingumas, tačiau skiriasi dailininkų pozicijos kolonializmo pasekmių atžvilgiu. Montero kūrinyje indigenų mirtys pateikiamos kaip neišvengiama Peru valstybingumo prielaida. Tuo tarpu Kölerio darbas kviečia žiūrovą atkreipti dėmesį į neapibrėžtumus – jame nepripažįstama nei Vokiečių ordino viršenybė, nei absoliutus pačios Lorelei išganymas, taip akcentuojant kolonizatoriaus padėties nestabilumą. Kritiškai sugretinti, šie kūriniai nurodo į kol kas neparašytą platesnę ir įvairiapusiškesnę XIX a. dailės istoriją
Kelias pripažinimo link: lietuvių menininkai Argentinoje: Acta Academia Artium Vilnensis
No full textThe paper analyses the role of the Lithuanian diaspora and its artists in the art field of Argentina in the 30’s and 40’s, and overviews their input into the development of the nativist discourse. The paper employs social art history to show the impact the transatlantic migration had on the social mobility of migrant artists and their careers in South America and Lithuania.Straipsnyje nagrinėjamas iki šiol nei Argentinos, nei Lietuvos dailėtyrininkų neliestas plačiai tyrinėjamo menininkų migracijos reiškinio aspektas – iš Lietuvos atvykusių menininkų integracija ir veikla XX a. 3–5 deš. Buenos Airių meno lauke. Remiantis archyviniais šaltiniais, rekonstruojamas kolektyvinis socialinis menininkų portretas. Akcentuojama, kad tarpukariu į Argentiną atvykę pradedantys dailininkai ir skulptoriai buvo pirmieji lietuviai menininkai šioje šalyje. Milijoninis didmiestis, kuriame dėl dėmesio ir pripažinimo varžėsi daugybė dailininkų, nebuvo palanki terpė iš žemesniųjų visuomenės sluoksnių kilusių pradedančių menininkų imigrantų karjerai. Ypač jeigu jie priklausė sąlyginai nedidelėms imigrantų bendruomenėms ir negalėjo kliautis išvystytu savitarpio pagalbos tinklu, be to, stokojo finansinių resursų. Vieni lietuviai imigrantai tapo žinomais menininkais, kiti, mažiau talentingi ir sėkmingi, liko už kanoninio diskurso ribų. Įsitvirtinti meno lauke labiausiai padėjo užmegzti ryšiai su vietos menininkais, dailininkų sambūriais, galerijomis, taip pat visuomenės lūkesčius atitikusios nativizmo kaip nacionalinio meno krypties plėtojimas. Remiantis skulptoriaus Mato Menčinsko atvejo studija, atskleidžiama, kad Buenos Airės paradoksaliai tapo tramplinu dailininkų karjerai ne Argentinoje, o Europoje. Po septynerių Pietų Amerikoje praleistų metų grįžęs į Lietuvą, Menčinskas įgytą patirtį pavertė simboliniu kapitalu, padėjusiu tapti kultūrinio elito, kuriam skulptorius nepriklausė Argentinoje, dalimi. Šiame tyrime atsiskleidžia nauji migracijos fenomeno niuansai, išryškinamos netikėtos galios slinktys tarp periferijos ir globalaus centro, galiausiai, į Rytų Europos ir Pietų Amerikos meninių ryšių tyrimų lauką įvedami nauji kūrėjai ir kūriniai
Gediminas’s Dream in Art: The Political and Cultural Context
Get PDFStraipsnyje nagrinėjama mito apie Lietuvos sostinės Vilniaus įkūrimą recepcija dailės kūriniuose, tiksliau – Gedimino sapno siužeto ikonografija ir istorinis jos kontekstas, vertinant šio įvykio vaizdinius kaip siekį istorinėje sąmonėje įtvirtinti Gediminaičių dinastijos pradžią ir klestinčios nepriklausomos LDK su sostine Vilniuje įvaizdį, kartu atkreipiant dėmesį į jo svarbą formuojantis moderniajai lietuviškajai tapatybei. Tekste aptariami politiniai ir kultūriniai aspektai, turėję reikšmės Gedimino sapno motyvo vaizdavimo tradicijai susiformuoti ir kaitai dailės kūriniuose.In the article, the theme of Gediminas’s dream and its reception in 19th–21st century art is analyzed with a focus on the political and cultural aspects that made an impact on the formation of the tradition of representing this motif in artworks, and its change. It was not until the middle of the 19th century that this subject popularized by chroniclers and historians appeared in fine art; until then, it was only found in texts.
The Gediminas legend combines real historical events and a mystical vision; thus, it is not surprising that this theme was aligned with the world perception of the 19th and early 20th century. Artists fascinated with the ideas of Symbolism expanded the rather literal iconography of Gediminas’s dream formed in the era of Romanticism, combining a nostalgic view of the past with ethnic motifs. In independent interwar Lithuania, stripped of its historical capital, the narrative of Gediminas’s dream became one of the key topics of propaganda art; its imagery was also successfully disseminated in popular culture. In the Soviet period, when patriotic aspirati- ons were not tolerated in official art, the history of one of the founders of the Lithuanian state, Duke Gediminas, in many cases was reduced to the legend of the founding of the city of Vilnius. Finally, when the country’s independence was restored, the statehood-related connotation of this topic regained prominence, and a monument to Gediminas became probably the state’s most important initiative, and later, in the 1990s, also an object of discussions. The history of the founding of the capital of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania has not lost its relevance today, and its popular symbols (the Iron Wolf, the castle tower and the image of Grand Duke Gediminas) are used in both traditional and somewhat unexpected forms. Analysing how the relevance of the legend of Gediminas’s dream has been changing is one of the most convenient ways to overview and explain the impact of the political situation on the language of art
The Temptation of Christ by Napoleon Iłłakowicz: A Vision of the Struggle Between Good and Evil
Get PDFStraipsnyje aptariamas Lietuvos XIX a. dailininko Napoleono Ylakavičiaus (1811–1861) paveikslas Kristaus gundymas, iki šiol žinotas tik iš paminėjimų literatūroje. Surinkti šios drobės istorijos faktai ir aprašymas 1862 m. paskelbtame dailininko nekrologe leido konstatuoti, kad tai tas pats paveikslas, kuris užfiksuotas 1968 m. Mečislovo Sakalausko nuotraukoje. Šiuo metu paveikslo buvimo vieta nežinoma, tad išlikusi jo nuotrauka yra vienintelis ikonografinis šaltinis, suteikiantis galimybę plačiau aptarti šį Ylakavičiaus kūrybos kontekste išskirtinį kūrinį. Paveiksle įkūnytos idėjos aptariamos išryškinant jų ryšį su dailininko pasaulėžiūra. Daugelis jo visuomeninio ir asmeninio gyvenimo faktų straipsnyje skelbiama pirmą kartą.The article discusses the painting The Temptation of Christ by the 19th-century Lithuanian artist Napoleon Iłłakowicz (Napoleonas Ylakavičius, 1811–1861), which has been known so far only from mentions in literature and a description given by Adam Honory Kirkor in the artist’s obituary in 1862. The collected facts of the history of this canvas and Kirkor’s description allowed the author of this article to establish that the same painting was captured in Mečislovas Sakalauskas’s photograph of 1968, which today is held in the collection of the Lithuanian National Museum of Art. At the time of photographing, the painting was held in the Church of Saints John in Vilnius; its present location is unknown. Thus, the surviving photograph is the only iconographic source offering us a possibility to discuss this painting, which is quite extraordinary in the context of Iłłakowicz’s work. The ideas embodied in the painting are discussed through their relation to the artist’s worldview. Many facts of the artist’s public and personal life are published for the first time in this article
The Story of Lithuanian Art Thirty Years Later
Get PDFStraipsnyje apžvelgiamas bendrasis Nepriklausomybės trisdešimtmečio, 1990–2020 m., Lietuvos dailėtyros vaizdas: institucinio ir akademinio gyvenimo permainos, metodologinių prieigų spektro pokyčiai, menotyros leidiniai ir autoriai. Šios apžvalgos tikslas – įvertinti esamą situaciją ir skatinti diskusiją užklausiant, ar Lietuvoje jau susiformavo sava dailėtyros mokykla? Jei taip, kokie jos ypatumai, kaitos etapai? Ar dailės istorijos naratyvo pokyčius galime laikyti naujo dailėtyros etapo simptomu? Mokyklos klausimas analizuojamas remiantis keliais kriterijais, kuriais įprasta vadovautis konstatuojant atskiros mokslo ar meno mokyklos buvimą. Lietuvių dailėtyrininkų tekstai, daugiausia knygos, aptariami naudojant kritinę tyrimo metodų analizę. Straipsnyje analizuojamų leidinių atranka ir išvados kviečia diskusijai; teiginių subjektyvumas neišvengiamas, nes šiuolaikinė Lietuvos dailės istorijos istorija iki šiol nebuvo sistemingai tyrinėta, o trisdešimt metų – per trumpas laiko tarpas, kad atsisijotų visi reikšmingiausi dalykai ir atsivertų vykusių procesų visuma.The paper offers a general overview of the Lithuanian art historical research published during the three decades of Independence (1990-2020). The paper discusses the changes in institutional and academic life, the spectrum of methodological approaches, as well as the key art theoretical publications and their authors. The overview aims to assess the current situation in the art historical discipline and fascilitate the debates around the question whether Lithuania has managed to develop its own school of art theory.
The analysis of the publications (mostly monographs) by the Lithuanian art theorists has conclusively shown that such school does already exist. In terms of its organisation, Lithuanian art theoretical school matches all the academic criteria: education is provided at all levels, and the dissemination and continuity of research, both empirical and theoretical, are ensured. The school has already gone through two or even three phases of development. The first stage, spanning between 1990 and 1998/99, was rich with significant achievements in the sector of education: it saw the launch of the first art theory doctorate programme in Lithuania, as well as the establishment of the Institute of Art Research, and the Vilnius Academy of Arts Publishing House. During the period, Kaunas Vytautas Magnus University launched their art theory programme, while the Culture and Art Institute in Vilnius had acquired two art theory departments. The second stage (2000-2010/12) saw a rapid growth of the number of publications, widening of the art theoretical specialisation, and further development of research methodologies. Along with the formal analysis and methodologies of iconography and iconology, came the outlines of social art history. All the spheres of art history became equipped with various methods of source research and interpretation. Among the main fields of research were the history of ecclesiastic and devotional art (patronage and heritage of mansions and urbanite art). One of the leading research problems of the time – the relation of text and image. The third stage covers the period of 2010-2020, and instead of the focus on the oldest examples of art historical heritage to the art of the 19th, 20th, and 21st centuries.
In Lithuania, the methodological innovations started gradually taking root only after the year 2000, therefore there are still many possibile routes to explore. Most texts emoploy a combination of different methodologies, varying between iconology, phenomenology, and semiotics. This helps the research to better grasp the multiplicitous nature of the analysed phenomena, although this sometimes comes at the expense of the narrational coherence and constructiveness of conclusions.
The Lithuanian school is predominantly national-based. This has many advantages, although sometimes this makes it difficult to distribute the research internationally. Despite all the developments within the Lithuanian art history as a discipline, international collaboration via conferences, projects, publishing, and media still leaves much to be desired.
Due to the reliability of documented information, Lithuanian art historians are able to produce a particularly high level of in their work with sources. Rather than emerging as a circle of followers around a particular prominent individual, the Lithuanian art theoretical school is a result of a number of colleagues – art historians and critics – practicing mutual support and exchange of ideas
Women’s Art Education According to Stasė Gudonytė-Bizokienė: Personality as a Source of Stories
Get PDFStraipsnio tikslas – pristatyti pedagogės ir privačios mokyklos savininkės Stasės Gudonytės-Bizokienės (1896–1943) veiklą tarpukario dailės švietimo (konkrečiai – moterų ugdymo) srityje, apibūdinti jos nuveiktų darbų svarbą to laikotarpio Lietuvos pedagogikos ir kultūros kontekste. Remiantis archyviniais dokumentais ir šeimos narių prisiminimais, pasitelkus kompleksiškai taikomą istorinę-kultūrinę, socialinę ir faktografinę metodologiją, siekiama rekonstruoti mokyklos steigėjos įtaką kultūriniams procesams. Tai ne tik atvejo studija, bet ir bandymas per gyvenimo viešumon patekusios asmenybės veiklą atkurti svarbius praeities dailės ir kultūros įvykius.The paper overviews the history of the privately owned Kaunas Women’s Arts and Crafts School (1927–1940), established by the craftswoman Stasė Gudonytė-Biziokienė (1896–1943). Her work is analysed in the context of the interwar arts and crafts education. The school was continuing the tradition of women’s crafts education that formed in the 2nd half of the 19th century. Being part of the interwar elite, Gudonytė-Bizokienė, was considered one of the founders of Lithuanian high fashion. During the period of 1935-1936, the school introduced three additional courses: hat making, women’s fashion, and children’s clothing design and tailoring. The paper uses archival material and memories of family members to present the biography of Gudonytė-Bizokienė. The paper also describes the school with its educational aims, structure, institutional reforms of 1935, and its curriculum. The paper overviews the remaining samples of the students’ work that reflect the interwar ideals of a cosy home space, and feature a mix of art deco and modernised folk style. The significance of the school is demonstrated by tracing the careers of its graduates in the general context of arts and crafts education of the time. Apart from Kaunas Art School and Dotnuva Academy of Agriculture (1924–1945), Kaunas Women’s Arts and Crafts School was the only higher education establishment with speciality in arts. The school’s aims matched the Lithuanian demands. Gudonytė-Bizokienė’s tailoring courses were on par with the educational programs of the notable tailors of the interwar Kaunas. The paper concludes that it was the artistic crafts that Gudonytė-Bizokienė saw as her main goal, while the fashion salons were only an appendage to her educational work. Crafts education was credited with a higher status in the Lithuanian schools of vocational education. However small, the group of the school’s graduates that the re- search was able to identify demonstrates excellent professional skills and readiness to work in the sphere of crafts education
Unveiling the Development of the Church of Our Lady of Consolation Through Archaeological Excavations: Acta Academiae Artium Vilnensis
No full textŠvč. Mergelės Marijos Ramintojos bažnyčia iki pastarojo meto buvo menkai tyrinėta paveldosaugos specialistų, o archeologiniai tyrimai joje ir artimiausioje jos aplinkoje pradėti tik 2020 metais. Iš ankstesnių vietovės archeologinių tyrimų rezultatų žinoma, kad bažnyčia pastatyta jau gerokai anksčiau apgyvendintoje vietovėje, XVIII a. statytosios vietoje būta ankstyvesnės cerkvės. Naujausi archeologiniai tyrimai įgalino nustatyti bažnyčios statybos ypatumus ir iki šiol neišlikusių priestatų tikslias vietas, iš dalies atskleisti jos pastato santykį su kitais netoliese buvusiais pastatais, statiniais, sužinota naujų faktų apie laidoseną bažnyčios aplinkoje. Tai leidžia ne tik apibendrinti naujai nustatytus faktus, bet ir numatyti tolesnes archeologinių tyrimų gaires.Until recently, the Church of Our Lady of Consolation has received limited attention from heritage conservation specialists, with archaeological excavations in the church and its immediate surroundings starting only in 2020. Previous excavations have revealed the existence of earlier settlements in the area, and it is known that a pre-existing Eastern Orthodox church stood on the site before the construction of the Catholic church in the 18th century. Archaeological excavations were initiated in preparation for the repair and reconstruction of this unique single-tower Baroque church, which deviated from the typical architecture of Vilnius, and had been converted into a storage facility during the Soviet era. The works will involve excavating the ground during construction, thus one of the primary objectives of the ongoing archaeological excavation, initiated in 2020, is to understand the archaeological situation of this site.
In 2020, five exploratory trenches were dug. The subsoil in the explored area lies at a depth ranging from 0.8 to 2.2 meters and more, and could not be reached in all trenches, with the cultural layer extending from 0.8 meters to over 3.4 meters thick. The earliest cultural layer horizons, dating from the end of the 14th century and the 15th century, were exclusive to trench 3. In trench 1, our excavations unearthed a bell from the 18th century, alongside human bones from disinterred graves. We were unable to reach the subsoil even at a depth of 2.4 meters from the basement floor. Meanwhile, trench 2 revealed a fragment of a brick-paved floor from the first half of the 20th century, which was left undisturbed. In the southern part of trench 3, the subsoil was reached at a depth of 80 cm. However, in another section, early cultural layer horizons were compromised by a farm pit or another excavation. Our excavation efforts revealed arched foundations of the church, complete with a bricked-up opening under the span of the arch. A small fragment of pavement or natural stone paving was found at the lower part of the foun- dation. Trench 4 proved fruitful, uncovering a previously unknown brick underground structure measuring 2 meters in width at an unknown length, potentially designed for burial, at a depth of approximately 1 m. Two graves from the 18th or 19th century were discovered in an expanded segment of trench 4, reaching the subsoil from a depth of 2.2 meters. Lastly, in trench 5, we encountered relatively well-preserved remains of a brick building dating back to the 16th century or the first half of the 17th century. The excavation further unveiled horizons of a cultural layer, believed to have formed in the 17th or 18th century. The subsoil was not reached in this particular trench.
In 2021, extensive archaeological excavations were conducted near the south western part of the church. Employing advanced archaeological methods, the primary objective was to pinpoint the foundation site of the no longer existing winter sacristy. The goal was to ascertain the precise location of this former church extension. Two digs were explored, revealing brick structures from the sacristy that aligned with the contemporary masonry of the church. Consequently, the quite accurate location of the sacristy could be determined.
While the cultural layer and potentially archaeological structures in the church’s proximity suffered damage during the installation of underground engineering networks, there is a renewed focus on uncovering remnants of other structures once connected to the church. An all-encompassing research approach is considered the most promising avenue