Travelling exhibitions prepared by the Lithuanian Institute encompass all areas of visual and applied arts and present the most outstanding Lithuanian artists and works of art. The exhibitions include collections of art objects (jewellery, design, book illustrations, graphics, drawings, photography, etc) as well as personal exhibitions by individual artists, which are displayed around the world.

Planning exhibitions is an ongoing process. The Lithuanian Institute welcomes new ideas and suggestions, reserving the right to decide, based on the quality criteria, whether a suggested collection or artist should be included in its future exhibitions. Potential partners are invited to submit to the Lithuanian Institute their suggestions for prospective exhibitions.

Jewellery in a suitcase

Jewellery

2007- Portugal, Germany

2006- France, Georgia, Spain, Russia

2005- Russia, Sweden

2004- Italy

“Jewellery in a Suitcase” is a joint project of the Lithuanian Institute and gallery “Meno niša”, which started back in 2004. The collection consists of works by well-established Lithuanian jewellers Birutė Stulgaitė, Eimantas Ludavičius, Solveiga and Alfredas Krivitis, Arvydas Gurevičius, Marytė Gurevičienė, Sigitas Virpilaitis, Indrė Diržienė, Algis Mikutis, Regina Rinkevičienė, Vidas Bizauskas and Vytautas Karčiauskas as well up-and-coming jewellers Dainius Narkus, Šarūnė Vaitkutė, Vaida Druskytė, Ugnė Blažytė and others. The project aims to display around the world works by Lithuanian jewellers, presenting contemporary Lithuanian jewellery making, its achievements, traditions and conceptual tendencies. Lithuanian jewellery is rather low-key, based on the synthesis of idea and form, attracting with its elegance and unexpectedness. Lithuanian jewellers respect the poetic and solid tradition of the 20th century Lithuanian jewellery making. Their works surprise but do not shock the audience. Lithuanian jewellery making is characterized by originality, sarcasm, high standard of craftsmanship and lyricism.

The whole collection fits in one suitcase, an inseparable symbol of long journeys. The project and its symbolic name have proved to be very successful. “Jewellery in a Suitcase” has already travelled to Spain, Italy, Sweden, Russia, France, Georgia, Germany and Portugal.

When talking about contemporary Lithuanian jewellery making, art critic Jurgita Ludavičienė says the following: ‘20th century professional Lithuanian jewellery making is not particularly innovative or provocative; neither is it brutal, drastic or barbarically rich. It is rather soft, low-key, casual and ironic towards both itself and the customer. Primarily, however, it is conceptual and distinctive.’ It is up to foreign audiences to make final conclusions.

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Comic strip exhibition

Drawings

2007-2008- Belgium

The exhibition comprises 20 (180 x 60) best stories from the previously published comic strips. This popular format is used to present Lithuania, its culture and history. The exhibition uses mobile, foldaway constructions which can be easily set up in various spaces. The author of the comic strips is Ineta Aluzaitė.

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Lithuania - my EUurope

Photography

2008-UK, France, Luxembourg

This is a photography exhibition presenting images of Paris, London, Brussels and other places in Europe with Vilnius and other Lithuanian cities in the background. The images are incorporated into the architectural context and Lithuanian cities appear reinvented when juxtaposed with major European cities. Photographs depict people from various social backgrounds- models, trolleybus drivers, intellectuals, priests, students and others. The photographs were taken by Artūras Valiauga with costumes created by Jolanta Rimkutė.

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Lithuanian design exhibition

Design photography

2008- France, Germany, Lithuania

2007- Great Britain

This is a photography exhibition combining interiors with objects of innovative design and works by professional designers and architects with works by artists specializing in visual arts. It presents a number of artists, designers and architects whose works reflect the peculiarities of contemporary lifestyle and creation of interiors. The chosen format allowed pushing the borders of the exhibition and presenting conceptual works that dissolve the line between visual arts and design. The camera not only depicts individual designer objects but also the context in which these objects appear and function. Objects lead their own lives in public and private areas: apartments, cafes, recreation areas, schools, offices and museums. When choosing artists for the exhibition, the main selection criterion was their influence on contemporary Lithuanian design culture. It includes pictures of works by designers who are recognized both nationally and internationally and artists who are capable of creating outstanding interiors. The exhibition comprises 28 photographs (70 x 47 and 105 x 70) taken by Akvilė Anglickaitė.

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Lithuanian architectural heritage

Photography

2007- Finland

This is a cycle of black & white photography presenting Lithuanian architectural heritage. The photographs, taken by Mečislovas Sakalauskas, depict the most significant architectural monuments from a subjective point of view of the photographer.

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Migratory birds

Photography, video art, painting

2008- Berlin, Germany

2007- Brussels, Belgium

2007- Klaipėda, Lietuva

This is an exhibition of photography, video art and paintings created at the plein air event “Migratory Birds”. It comprises works by Lithuanian artists currently living in Portugal, Germany, Poland, Belgium and Lithuania presenting various lifestyles or inner migration. The concept of the exhibition was created by Jolanta Rimkutė.

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Celebration

Textile

2007- Ukraine, Netherlands

Imagine a table full of treats, ready for celebration. All the objects are life-size, created in textile and assembled into a lively and colourful composition.

A celebration in archaic cultures was the time of restoration and re-creation of the world, the time when people got together and communicated with gods. The work “Celebration” recreates the archaic tradition of community meetings associated with communication and treats at the table. Eating is an intimate act and therefore eating together is an expression of special connection. In some culture, eating together even signifies a religious act. The video film conveys this mood especially well. Six young women dressed in white share food with each other. They eat, talk and celebrate sitting together at the table covered with a white linen tablecloth full of various dishes. The scene is reminiscent of the times when a celebration at the table reunited all the dead with people alive.

Respect for tradition makes us rethink the ever-relevant issue of the meaning and value of interpersonal relations. Sharing food is associated with ideas, energy and information received through works of art, art being food for the soul. The authors of this project are female artists known by the name of “White Moths”.

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Lithuanian book illustrations

Graphics

2008- Ukraine

Lithuania has a long tradition of book illustrations. At the end of the 1950’s and the beginning of the 1960’s there appeared a new generation of graphic illustrators (Albina Makūnaitė, Vytautas Valius, Sigutė Valiuvienė, Birutė Žilytė, Algirdas Steponavičius and others), brought up by Antanas Kučas, Vytautas Jurkūnas and Jonas Kuzminskis. Their distinctive and original works gained them recognition in Lithuania and abroad. The collection of traditional illustrations is complemented by the latest achievements in the field.

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Upcomming exhibitions:

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Lithuanian graphic collection

Graphics

Lithuanian graphic works are famous not only in Europe but also worldwide. This mobile and easy to transport and set up exhibition presents the peculiarities of contemporary Lithuanian graphics. It comprises 35 graphic works (selected by Marius Danys) and reflects the diversity of graphic techniques from classical lithography (works by Giedrius Jonaitis) to digital printing (works by Marija Marcelionytė).

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Sculpture garden of Lithuanian letters

Mobile exhibition

The sculpture garden of Lithuanian letters and an exposition of the art of bookmaking (curated by Sigutė Chlebinskaitė) is a mobile exhibition presenting the Lithuanian language and the history of bookmaking. It focuses on 8-9 Lithuanian letters performing various functions: ę serves as a bench for musicians and the audience, Į is an information post, Ę is turned into a bookshelf, Č is a stand for an object, Ė becomes another bookshelf, ž can serve as a CD and audio rack, T is a table for sand drawing and the letter L is a plasma holder. The “Tree of Languages” is a rotating sculpture with information on it, made from a specially designed material and equipped with an engine.

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Paper cuts exhibtion

Paper cutting

Lithuania is famous not only for its visual arts but also professionalism in other forms of art, one of them being paper cutting. It is an original art form which became popular in rural areas, where locals would decorate with paper cuts their homes and villages for various celebrations. The exhibition presents a collection of masterfully done paper cuts. Various artists present their works which are dominated by the symbol of the mythical tree, the central axis of the Indo-European culture, also frequently used in other forms of Baltic art. The exhibition is presented in a contemporary way, only recycled paper from various offices was used to make these paper cuts.

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Algis Griškevičius

Painting

This is a personal exhibition by a Lithuanian artist representing the middle generation of Lithuanian painters. The artist reflects on his memories of life in the Soviet Union. Everyday objects here gain a theatrical spirit and an unreal situation is created. The atmosphere of a dream reflects the state of the artist’s subconscious inner self.

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Everyday life

Photography

The exhibition comprises 32 photographs. It attempts to look at everyday life from a different and unexpected angle. The usual domestic appliances and casual elements of the interior become objects of close scrutiny and their fragments turn into poetic reflections. The author of the exhibition is Joana Deltuvaitė.

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Eglė Ganda Bogdanienė

Conceptual textile

The textile pattern “Don’t Believe in Love/ Beauty” as well as other conceptual objects created using felt, embroidery and other techniques. The artist uses surrealist aesthetics and unexpected combinations of textures and objects. The exhibition analyses the female identity and the relation between the man and the woman within the family.

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Karaims

Photography

Lithuania is home to more than 10 ethnic communities, all of them with a distinct history and religious beliefs. They make up about 16 per cent of Lithuania’s population. The author of the exhibition is interested in the communities that came to live in the country during the period of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, namely Karaims, Tatars, Jews, Lithuanian Gypsies (this historic name is only used in Lithuania), Poles, Russians, Ukrainians and Belarusians. The author observes the surroundings that ethnic communities live in and the people themselves as part of the historic legacy. He realizes that the sense of belonging to a certain ethnic community is an ever-changing process and is interested in the results of this process in today’s context. The photography cycles concentrate on the historic places of the formation of ethnic communities (15th- 18th centuries). These are the places where observations start and the change in cultural and consumer traditions can be seen.

The cycles are made up of individual panoramic photographs assembled by editing selected images.

The exhibition is based on the concept of a single house with different rooms inside. The works are part of the ongoing photography project “Identity. Between the History and Future”. The project was supported by the Lithuanian Ministry of Culture. The photos were taken in 2007 by Artūras Valiauga.

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Kazimiera ZIimblytė (Kazė). “Moments”

Painting, ribbons, monotypes, drawing (1968-1985)

Kazė Zimblytė (Kazė) (1933-1999) is the founder of Lithuanian abstract minimalism. Having to create in the times of the Iron Curtain, she intuitively felt the art tendencies ruling the world at the time. Her works are clear examples of contemporary Lithuanian art. Kazė Zimblytė is also known as the first artist to create installations in Lithuania. In 1978-1979 in her summer cottage and the sculpture park in Jeruzalė she exhibited ribbon installations made from paper.

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New Lithuanian Photography

Photography

The exhibition presents the new Lithuanian photography. It includes works by U. Gelguda, A. Anglickaitė, K Šapoka, M. Wirz, A. Olšauskas R. Pralgauskas, R. Juškevičiūtė, U. Ratnikas, V. Aukštaitis and others. The works reflect their specific visual thinking which is different from the reporting style of the old generation photographers. Young photographers’ thinking is conceptual, innovative and bold.

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“Black & white film” (From the life of Lithuanian immigrants)

Video film

This is a video film by artists L. Stasiulytė and A. Gudaitis presenting a shop run by Lithuanians in Great Britain. It is also a film about the life of Lithuanian immigrants told through their personal experiences.

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Patricija Jurkšaitytė

Painting

This is an exhibition by a young Lithuanian artist who reflects on the world cultural heritage. She repaints the interiors from the classical paintings eliminating the characters in them. By repainting famous works of classical art, she questions the value of the originals.

She is interested in the things that may seem unnoticeable at first sight, as the viewer primarily concentrates on the characters depicted in the paintings and other attributes. However, each painting also contains some unusual marginal areas which could potentially result in a new plot. The artist takes random and marginal fragments of paintings and tries to establish whether they bear any hidden messages. In this artist’s works, the marginal peripheral areas of paintings become central and second-plan characters become the main objects of her study. By putting these characters in the new contexts, the painter reinvents them.

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“Return to Vilnius” (Jewish Vilnius)

Photography

This is a cycle of report photography by Lithuanian Aviation Captain, topographer and amateur photographer Mečys Brazaitis (1903–1952), which takes us back to the Vilnius of 1940. The majority of the photographs were taken on the same day, June 9, shortly after Vilnius was given back to Lithuania and just one week before the Soviet occupation started in Lithuania. The photographer used the “Contax” and “Exakta” lenses to capture the images of the narrow streets of the Old Town and the life of the locals. Mečys Brazaitis concentrated on the Jewish quarter of Vilnius and its expressive everyday life.

The photographs are taken from Valentinas Gylis’ personal collection.

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Colour photography of Vilnius from 4th and 5th decade

Photography

This is a cycle of landscape photography by Lithuanian Aviation Captain, topographer and amateur photographer Mečys Brazaitis (1903–1952), which takes us back to Vilnius in the 4th and 5th decades.

The photographs are taken from Valentinas Gylis’ personal collection.

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Drawing exhibition

Drawing

This is an exhibition of conceptual drawings, which constitute an independent form of artistic expression, capable of dealing with everyday and historic topics alike. The authors of the drawings are Gintaras Makarevičius, Linas Jablonskis and Mindaugas Lukošaitis.

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Independent stories

Painting, video

This is an interdisciplinary project. Three different artists are asked to paint the three colours of the Lithuanian national flag (240 cm x 480 cm paintings). Each of them tells a different story while painting his colour. The national flag of the country that is hosting the project is painted alongside, based on the same principle. The project is also accompanied by audio and video projections.