A/W
1  original fiction
2018 / 2019
Lapas publishing house Fiction
Lapas is an independent publishing house based in Lithuania that aims to stand out not only
Architecture
with exceptional quality and a clearly targetted profile, but also by striving to build a literary
Artbooks
community: our team seeks to enhance every book with experiences that bring authors and
Monographs and Essays
readers together into a living social network. The goal of our original fiction series is to discover new talented authors and unheard authentic voices, as well as to help them to edit their manuscripts, be recognised in both the literary society and within a wider audience, apply for awards and get published in foreign languages. Likewise, by publishing architecture books and monographs we aim to help academic authors find their ways to reach a wider public. In 2018, we started publishing translations of both fiction and non-fiction, seeking to extend our profile with new foreign titles.
Fiction
Kastytis Sarnickas-Kastetas
Kastytis Sarnickas is widely known among Lithuanians as Kastetas, one of the members of a famous rap band G&G Sindikatas. The
The Concert Tour
Concert Tour is his first novel about a notorious
Original title: Turnė
(‘Crankshaft’).
Lithuanian Edition
With a music career of 15 years behind and a
imaginary rock band called Alkūninis Velenas
October 2018, p. 216,
ten-day concert tour around Ireland and the UK
126 × 196 mm
ahead, Vėdaras, Raketa, Pigis and Guolis pack
ISBN 978-609-8198-09-6 Translation rights available
up their instruments and follow their manager Rolandas to board a plane, not really knowing why. The times have changed, the culture of rebellion is dead, everything has been replaced by posing for magazine covers and pretty pictures for social networks. Can Alkūninis Velenas, a band born in a mouldy old garage out of friendship and an eternal love for music exist in such a world? Will its members manage to remember why they took those guitars into their hands all these years ago? Or perhaps this quest for answers will just make them drown their sorrows in an endless sea of alcohol?
4 Fiction
Gabija Grušaitė
Twenty-something author and minor media
Cold East
his adoring IG followers – has hit an existential
influencer, Stasys Šaltoka – or Stanley Colder to wall. Abandoning his clichéd and stifling New
Original title: Stasys Šaltoka.
York city life, he buys a one-way ticket to SE Asia
Vieneri metai
in search of life-changing experiences. A chance meeting with an enigmatic Russian, leads Stasys
Lithuanian Edition
into a documentary project – the murder of a
2017, p. 272, 126 × 196 mm
mysterious Mongolian model that implicates a
ISBN 978-609-8198-03-4 Awards:
prime minister and his jewel-hoarding wife.
Jurga Ivanauskaitė Literary Award 2018
Unravelling the truth takes Stasys deeper into
Book of the Year 2018, shortlisted
a murky swamp of extreme corruption, death,
Penang Monthly Book Prize 2018,
Islamophobia and media manipulation. Will he
shortlisted
ever figure out the meaning of life or find a
Rights sold to: English Edition (Malaysia &
decent espresso?
Singapore only)
Gabija Grušaitė (b. 1987 Vilnius) is an author
Clarity Publishing
and curator; Cold East is her second novel.
2019, p. 232
A graduate of Anthropology & Media from
ISBN 978-9670140297-7-8
Goldsmiths College, UK, Gabija’s creative pursuit is defined by the relentless search of new horizons through travel.
5 Fiction
Ayn Rand The Fountainhead Lithuanian title: Ĺ altinis Translated by Marius Burokas February 2019
6  Fiction
Artbooks
Dainius Liškevičius
Labyrinthus by Dainius Liškevičius was first presented in Vilnius in 2014. In the great hall
Labyrinthus
of the Contemporary Art Centre, a square plan structure was built from dark grey plasterboards
Published in collaboration
and divided into 16 rooms. Objects composed
with “M puslapiai”
from everyday things, printed materials and dis-
English Edition 2018, p. 288, 155 × 215 mm ISBN 978-609-8198-06-5
coveries stood in each room; they were protected by glass cases, and the walls were decorated with photographs of mountains and interiors. On entering the labyrinth, viewers were trans-
Lithuanian Edition
ported from ordinary space into the territory
2018, p. 272, 155 × 215 mm
of imagination and dreams. A book of quota-
ISBN 978-609-8198-05-8
tions suggesting the artist’s itinerary helped them to find their way (or maybe misled them). The totality of the installation and texts created an illogical narrative linking human existence to history and cosmic processes, drawing a projection of eternity. This book is a new version of the labyrinth. Its first part is the book Labyrinthus, which was constructed by Dainius Liškevičius as a viewer’s guide through the installation, and has become
8 Artbooks
a literary readymade here. The second part of the book offers a chance to enter the gallery of colour images where things have been hidden and to wander around the rooms of the labyrinth. The third part is a textual labyrinth. Dainius Liškevičius (b. 1970, Kaunas) belongs to the generation of artists, who have significantly contributed to the renewal of artistic expression after the restoration of independence. In his works, he uses installation, photography, performance and other media, further breaking the boundaries between different disciplines and searching for new forms in contemporary art. In 2015 Dainius Liškevičius represented Lithuania at the 56th Venice Biennale, where he presented his Museum project.
9 Artbooks
Liudas Parulskis
The paradoxical relation between architecture and photography found in Liudas Parulskis
Baroque and Concrete.
Album of photomanipulations
photo manipulations actualises the importance of artistic creativity. Liudas Parulskis, who was initially trained as an architect, creates buildings-
Original title: Barokas ir
centaurs: he merges details of Baroque architec-
betonas. Fotomanipuliacijos
ture into mass-construction apartment buildings and vice versa. These conceptual puzzles em-
Published in collaboration with
phasise different modalities of time, interactions
Lithuanian Photographers Union,
between architecture and ideology. Parulskis’
www.photography.lt Lithuanian Edition 2016, p. 96, 190 × 240 mm
work is a series transformations of physical and virtual urban landscapes; it activates the processes of thinking and reflecting.
ISBN 978-609-95484-5-6
Liudas Parulskis (b. 1971 in Vilnius) studied architecture and started working as a graphic designer afterwards. He has been designing the layout for one of the main Lithuanian daily newspapers every day for 20 years and creating photo manipulations for leisure. These distinctive yet non-pretentious works of his have received extensive public attention, were put together into an exhibition and bought by multiple collectors. 10 Artbooks
Architecture
Vilnius 1900–2016.
An Architectural Guide
Vilnius’ architecture of the 20th and early 21st centuries ranges from the Modern Style to HighTech, and reflects all the architectural trends and
Edited by Marija Drėmaitė,
Rūta Leitanaitė, Julija Reklaitė
political shifts that swept across the city during this period. At the dawn of the 20th century, the elegant Central European Sezession style was
Published in collaboration with Architecture
still in vogue. Architecture later progressed to
Foundation, www.archfondas.lt
the stripped-down interwar Modernism of the
English Edition 2016, p. 356, 150 × 170 mm ISBN 978-609-95484-9-4
1920s and 1930s, and after the Second World War it ventured into the controversial Sovietimposed Neoclassicism. After ‘totalitarian’ architecture was officially discredited in the
Lithuanian Edition
mid -1950s, postwar Modernism flourished. At
2016, p. 356, 150 × 170 mm
the end of the Soviet period, Late Modernism
ISBN 978-609-95484-6-3 Rights sold to:
saw a large number of public buildings appear around the city centre. With the reestablishment
German Edition
of independence in 1990, and with the conse-
DOM publishers, Germany
quent changes that took place in the economy
2015, p. 252
and in society, Vilnius experienced yet another
ISBN 978-3-86922-356-8
wave of urbanisation. Private houses were
Polish Edition Centrum Architektury, Poland November 2018
built again, filling the city to the limits, and a spectacular steel and glass city centre took shape on the right bank of the River Neris.
ISBN 12 Architecture
Kaunas 1918–2015.
An Architectural Guide
There are two most distinguished periods of Lithuanian architecture – Vilnius Baroque architecture and Kaunas Modernism of the Interwar
Edited by Julija Reklaitė
Intro text by Giedrė Jankevičiūtė
period. Plenty of books are written about the first one, whilst Kaunas modernism is beginning to receive the deserved attention only
Published in collaboration with Architecture
nowadays. Extremely short period of the first
Foundation, www.archfondas.lt
independent Republic of Lithuania showed that
English Edition 2017, p. 336, 150 × 170 mm ISBN 978-609-8198-02-7
even a young state can emerge with exeptional architecture. These structures had a significant influence over the Soviet period, as well as on contemporary Lithuanian architects. 243 build-
Lithuanian Edition
ings – original and distinctive, from Interwar and
2015, p. 336, 150 × 170 mm
Soviet Kaunas, together with architecture of to-
ISBN 978-609-95484-3-2 Rights sold to:
day, can be found in Kaunas Architecture Guide, published for the first time. Here, illiustrated
German Edition
with photos and drawings, their history is being
DOM publishers, Germany
told. The book also has a special forfeiture chap-
2017, p. 352
ter – with stories of already demolished or aban-
ISBN 978-3-86922-441-1
doned buildings, which still remain very impor-
Polish Edition Centrum Architektury, Poland
tant to Kaunas‘ genius loci. Kaunas Architecture Guide is dedicated to professional researchers
October 2018
as well as to common readers, to everyone who
ISBN
cares about the city and its’ elements. 13 Architecture
Architectural guidebooks to seaside resorts
Neringa Architectural Guide Texts by Viltė Migonytė-Petrulienė, Liutauras Nekrošius, Marija Drėmaitė, Martynas Mankus, Vasilijus Safronovas Palanga Architectural Guide Texts by Viltė Migonytė-Petrulienė, Liutauras Nekrošius, Marija Drėmaitė, Martynas Mankus February 2019
14 Architecture
Le Corbusier
Jane Jacobs
Vers Une Architecture
Death And Life of Great American Cities
Lithuanian title: Apie architektūrą Lithuanian title: Didžiųjų Amerikos Translated by
miestų mirtis ir gyvenimas
Neringa Mikalauskienė Translated by Gabrielė Gailiūtė February 2019 April 2019
15 Architecture
Not Yet Decided
Lithuanian Architects. Unfulfilled Projects
This album contains 20 projects by Lithuanian architectural studios, immortalising ideas that were never fulfilled, or ones that were incredibly close to becoming a reality. These are projects
Edited by Saulė Gabrielė
Petraitytė, Gabrielė Jurevičiūtė
in which the architects still believe and projects that were personal discoveries, the perfect answers to questions raised by certain situations.
Published in collaboration with EASA
The album is also a vital and personal creative
Lithuania, www.easa.lt
space, a notebook for ideas and sketches.
English-Lithuanian Edition 2016, p. 120, 140 × 210 mm ISBN 978-609-8198-00-3
This notebook poses no threat of creative blocking because it has already been started with unfulfilled ideas.
16 Architecture
Audrius Ambrasas Architects. Works 1998–2014
In the summer of 2013, while preparing for an exhibition about the work of the Audrius Ambrasas Architects for the Kaunas Architec-
Edited by Audrius Ambrasas, Dovilė Krikščiūnaitė
ture Festival, many sketches, drawings and photographs were assembled, showing various projects and their development. Over the course
English-Lithuanian Edition
of time, it is easy to forget the what, when how
2014, p. 256, 225 × 280
and why. Therefore, the idea came up to make
ISBN 978-609-95484-1-8
this material the basis of a book about the work of the studio, which would also serve as a mark of appreciation to all those who participated in the creation process of the projects. This book is a retrospective look at Audrius Ambrasas Architects, which was established in 1991 and since then has exceptionally performed in the field of architectural design. More about Audrius Ambrasas Architects: www.ambrasas.lt
17 Architecture
Monographs and Essays
Tomas Vaiseta
“Summerhouse” is the social history of the Vilnius psychiatry located at Vasaros g. 5
Summerhouse: Social History of the Vilnius
Psychiatry (1944–1990)
(Summer street 5) during the Soviet period. By investigating one hospital’s case, the book tells us about the modernisation of psychiatric practices in Soviet Lithuania: how the psychiatry
Original title: Vasarnamis:
became a medical institution, what therapy
Vilniaus psichiatrijos ligoninės
methods were used and how they developed,
socialinė istorija (1944–1990)
how it was influenced by the occupational government’s policies, what life and treatment
Lithuanian Edition
conditions were like at the hospital, and how
December 2018
its patients perceived themselves and their experience in the context of modernising psychiatry. Tomas Vaiseta (b. 1981 in Vilnius) is an associate professor at the Vilnius University Faculty of History and a historian with a PhD in Humanities. His major field of research is the social and cultural history of Soviet Lithuania, he has published a monograph called “Nuobodulio visuomenė: kasdienybė ir ideologija vėlyvuoju sovietmečiu (1964–1984)” (Society of Boredom: Daily Life and Ideology in the Late Soviet Period (1964–1984)) (2014). Vaiseta is also the Chief Editor of a cultural magazine “Naujasis Židinys-Aidai” and a writer, having published a collection of essays “Paukščių Miegas” (Bird Sleep) (2014) and a novel “Orfėjas, kelionė pirmyn ir atgal” (Orpheus: A Journey There And Back) (2016).
19 Monographs and Essays
Marija Drėmaitė
The industrial architecture from the First
The Meteor of Progress:
is at the core of this publication, exposing
Modernisation and Industrial Architecture in Lithuania, 1918–1940
Independent Republic of Lithuania (1918–1940) aspects of industrialisation and modernisation. It’s all evident in the changing landscapes, cities that were establishing new industrial structures and facing problems that came with
Original title:
it, also in the peculiarities of industrial buildings
Progreso Meteoras. Modernizacija
and the personalities responsible for them.
ir pramonės architektūra Lietuvoje
Over 300 historic illustrations are included to
1920–1940 m.
add to the texts.
Published in collaboration with Vilnius
Marija Drėmaitė holds a PhD in History of
University, www.vu.lt
Architecture and is an Associate professor
Lithuanian Edition 2016, p. 336, 190 × 220 mm ISBN 978-609-95484-4-9
at Vilnius University, Faculty of History. Her academic interest is focused on the 20th century architecture, modernism, both industrial and architectural heritage.
20 Monographs and Essays
Architecture of Optimism: the
Kaunas Phenomenon 1918–1940
After Kaunas suddenly became Lithuania’s provisional capital in 1919, the city’s subsequent transformation was nothing short of miraculous.
Edited by Marija Drėmaitė
Kaunas’ identity changed radically: in less than twenty years, its residents transformed the city
Original title:
into a modern, elegant and European capital.
Optimizmo architektūra:
Architecture played a particularly important role
Kauno fenomenas 1918 –1940
in that transformation.
Published in collaboration with UNESCO
Architecture of Optimism is more than just the
Lithuania, Kaunas 2022 – European
story of one city and its architecture. It is about
Capital of Culture English Edition
the perpetual birth and death of hope, about creative endeavour and inspiring productive
2018, p. 292, 190 × 220 mm
optimism, about the migration of ideas and
ISBN 978-609-8198-08-9
forms, about the local and the global, about art and freedom, war and oppression. It is about
Lithuanian Edition 2018, p. 300, 190 × 220 ISBN 978-609-8198-04-1
changing forms and ideas and their relationship with the present day. Texts by Vilma Akmenytė-Ruzgienė, Norbertas Černiauskas, Marija Drėmaitė, Giedrė Jankevičiūtė, Paulius Tautvydas Laurinaitis, Viltė Migonytė-Petrulienė, Vaidas Petrulis 21 Monographs and Essays
Karolina Jakaitė
In August 1968, a pavilion representing Lithuania as a Soviet republic opened in London
Cold War Capsule: Lithuanian Design in London 1968
at the Earls Cour Exhibition Center. It was the most important exhibition the Soviet Union held abroad in 1968. Next to the main space-themed
Published in collaboration
section, with undertones of Cold War rivalry,
with Design Foundation.
special attention was devoted that year to a
English-Lithuanian Edition January 2019
presentation of ‘the Baltic republics’. In 1868 young architect Tadas Baginskas developed a pavilion concept that combined Lithuanian ethnic symbolism with minimalist proWestern design solutions. It presented Lithuanian products of the highest artistic level, the best examples of industrial and household production, and the most progressive achievements in technology and design, created especially for London. The story of the pavilion could be compared to a ‘cosmic odyssey’, or even time travel. The pavilion and all the objects shown in it formed a kind of cosmic capsule, whose mission was interrupted by unforeseen political circumstances. Soviet tanks invaded Czechoslovakia on the night of 20 and 21 August, and calls for shutting down the exhibition altogether were voiced during protests in London. Due to these circumstances,
22 Monographs and Essays
and the fact that it was a display of exports, the Pavilion did not receive proper acclaim at the time – inviting us to rediscover it 50 years later. One of the discoveries – 140 slides made by Baginskas with the Fed camera on Orwo colour film. They capture the colourful and vivid life of London streets in 1968, seen with the eyes by Eastern artist who broke out from the totalitarian regime to discover the free Western world. Karolina Jakaitė (b. 1978) PhD, design historian and a postdoctoral researcher at the Vilnius Academy of Arts, co-founder of Design Foundation. In 2012 she defended her doctoral thesis on Lithuanian Graphic Design in 1950s–1970s: between National and International. In 2011 she conducted her research internship on Soviet trade exhibitions in the 1960s in London at Royal College of Art. Her professional interests include topics from design studies in the 20th century, design and identity, national exhibitions, Soviet design and architecture, contemporary design and policy.
23 Monographs and Essays
Rasa Antanavičiūtė
The subject of this book is the history of the modern political marking of the main
Art and Politics in Vilnius
Public Space: First Half of the
20th
Century
public spaces of Vilnius in 1895–1953. During this stretch of time seven political regimes substituted each other in the city: the late Russian Empire, Germany, the Lithuanian Soviet
Original title: Menas ir politika
Socialist Republic and Litbel, the Republic of
Vilniaus viešosiose erdvėse,
Lithuania, the Republic of Poland, the Nazi
20 a. pirma pusė
Germany, and the Soviet Union. The research covers both realised and unrealised projects
Published in collaboration with Vilnius Academy of Arts Lithuanian Edition December 2018
which legitimated different and often hostile political governments. Well illustrated the book also serves as a visual history of Vilnius city in the first half of the 20th century. Rasa Antanavičiūtė has a PhD degree in Art History from Vilnius Academy of Arts. Her main research interests lie in the relation between politics, history and identity construction, and instrumentalization of the public space (cities, museums, etc.) for political goals. She also works with contemporary art and is the executive director of Nida Art Colony of Vilnius Academy of Arts.
24 Monographs and Essays
There and Not There:
(Im)possibility of a Monument
The book presents, in a concise and engaging narrative, how the 11th Kaunas Biennial questioned the concept of monument: what, when
Edited by Paulina Pukytė
and why should a monument be or not be? While opposing the populist practice of remo-
Published in collaboration
ving-erecting and conservative traditionalism
with Kaunas Biennial
of monuments, the Biennial sought to stimulate
Lithuanian-English Edition February 2019
radically new approach to commemoration by inviting artists to explore Kaunas, its history and monuments. The book also presents the main ideas from the Biennial’s oral programme, in which the problems of monument building today and various cases of alternative forms of remembrance were discussed by acclaimed international specialists in contemporary commemoration, including James E. Young, Jochen Gerz, Horst Hoheisel, and others. Paulina Pukytė (b. 1966 in Vilnius) is a Lithuanian artist and writer based in London. She writes critical and satirical articles on cultural issues, as well as experimental fiction, poetry and plays. She is interested in miscommunication, in flaws of perception and memory.
25 Monographs and Essays
Felix Achermann Labai blogai arba liuks Authorised translation from German by Nerijus Šepetys Original German Edition Mein litauischer Führerschein: Ausflüge zum Ende der Europäischen Union, Suhrkamp, 2017
26 Monographs and Essays
LAPAS Authors
Gabija Grušaitė
Tomas Vaiseta
Kastytis Sarnickas
Felix Ackermann
Marija Drėmaitė
Karolina Jakaitė
Rasa Antanavičiūtė
Liudas Parulskis
Paulina Eglė Pūkytė
Dainius Liškevičius
LAPAS publishing house www.lapasbooks.lt Based in Vilnius Publisher
Ūla Ambrasaitė ula@leidyklalapas.lt Sales
lentyna@leidyklalapas.lt fb Leidykla LAPAS ig lapas_books #lapasbooks
Photo by Tadas Baginskas from book Cold War Capsule: Lithuanian Design in London 1968 by design historian Karolina Jakaitė. London, August 1968 This is the time a Lithuanian architect Tadas Baginskas broke away from the iron curtain with a hope to discover the free Western World everybody was dreaming of. During his journey, he used a Fed camera with an Orwo colour film to make 140 slides that were discovered only 50 years later. 28 original fiction