Eldership artisans
Shoemaker
Gediminas Stasys Paplauskas
Gediminas Stasys Paplauskas, master of the craft of shoemaking, which is vanishing in Lithuania, but survives in the Alytus district and is especially cherished.
If we take a broader view, as we know, shoemaking is an endangered craft that has been suppressed by the mass production of shoes. Thus, there are very few of these old craftsmen left in Lithuania, only one other. One of them is Gediminas Stasys Paplauskas, a master of one of the oldest traditional crafts, shoemaking, assisted by his wife Dalia.
Some of the products can be found in the Crafts and Education Space of the Alytus District Municipal Culture Centre.
Of course, everything is available for purchase when you visit the shoemakers themselves:
Address Dariaus ir Girėno g. 2, Krokialaukio mstl., Alytus r.
Phone 863676293
On their small farm in the town of Krokialaukis, they produce slippers that children and adults love to wear. The word about the durability and naturalness of the latter is spreading far and wide. Those who have bought them more than once say that the slippers are durable and comfortable to wear. They say that they wear out faster than slippers wear out.
As a child, Gediminas used to spend all his free weekends and holidays with his shoemaking uncle and cousin, which is how he chose his profession. This skillful trade has not been forgotten in the Paplauskas family for more than a century. The history of shoemaking has been passed down in the family for many generations. Gediminas is a professional shoemaker, who graduated from the School of Crafts in Kaunas and has been practicing his craft for over 40 years.
Gediminas makes slippers using a hand pressing machine made of iron, which has been in use for more than a century. The production process itself has never been improved and is unique without any signs of modernity.
Gediminas and Dalia are happy to present their craft at various events and fairs throughout Lithuania. Gedeminas has already taken more than one pair of slippers abroad, and there are more than a dozen such countries. Shoemakers from the Krokialaukis region are also welcome at fairs in foreign countries. The Paplauskas have been to several craft fairs in Poland. In this way, Gediminas and Dalia travel from one fair to the next, from one festival to the next, showing, teaching, advising and rewarding everyone with a genuine smile and a kind word.
The craft of shoemaking, like all other crafts, is time-honoured, celebrated in folk songs, mentioned in stories and marked by proverbs. As they say: "If you don't sew shoes, you don't become a shoemaker", which shows that the most basic work, the crafts from which bread is earned, are best verified and reflected in the longevity, the meticulous, responsible and quiet but very eloquent products that the craft produces.
Gediminas and his wife Dalia sell slippers and demonstrate the disappearing craft live at various fairs and events.
