Panorama of the Week: Woodcarving Workshop – Vilnius, Lithuania
Filed Under: Panorama by Daniel NollAn old school Baltic woodcarving workshop, unusual and cavernous. Where good secrets are hidden, work is done by hand with careful strokes, and old fragments beg to be rediscovered by a good walk in the basement.
Panorama: Old Town Wood Carving Workshop – Vilnius, Lithuania
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I have a special place for Vilnius, Lithuania in my heart. For all the Baltics, for that matter. During my first trip to Europe in 1999, Lithuania was one of the places I visited by myself (while Audrey was in Estonia). In those days, Vilnius was dark and dilapidated — in a touching way. It was full of nooks and crannies, workshops and galleries, people painting and carving — and probably wondering where, as we always do, where life would take them.
(A special thanks to the Bugailiskis family for a walk — circa 2008 — around their workshop at the top of Ausros Vartu.)
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August 2nd, 2011 at 11:56 am
Looks beautiful. But reminds me of the dwellings of Hobbits in Lord of the Rings. Were the walls kind of low?
August 2nd, 2011 at 11:57 am
No insult to the Bugailiskis family btw (or Hobbits or Middle Earth for that matter). Just that the place seems small for tall people.
August 3rd, 2011 at 11:52 am
I couldn’t begin to be able to create stuff like that. Looks like my uncle’s basement, he carves all kinds of stuff outta wood.
What are all the carvings of? Religious stuff? Kings? Gods? Just plain ol people?
August 5th, 2011 at 2:04 pm
Cute panorama view!
August 7th, 2011 at 6:06 pm
@Sutapa: Beautiful, but definitely underground and some might say dark, others might say mystical. Walls were low and arched, like a good old northern European cellar ought to be. I’m sure the Bugailiskis family won’t mind your description. I think the appearance is by design.
By the way, sometimes the world can be a small place for tall people. The scars on top of my head (and I’m not even exceptionally tall), are evidence of this.
@Matt: Carvings are just about anything, including all that you list. Kings, woodsmen, trolls, demons, religious icons, nature spirits and various creatures (real, mythical, plain ol’) from the forest and the Curonian spit.
Your uncle’s basement sounds like fun. Take a photo!