Minister of Culture Kairys opened an exhibition in Kraków celebrating the 700th anniversary of Vilnius, met with the ministers of culture of Poland and Ukraine
Minister of Culture Simonas Kairys participated in the opening of an exhibition at the National Museum in Kraków on the evening of 23 May, Vilnius-Wilno-Vilne 1918–1948. Vienas miestas – daug istorijų (Vilnius-Wilno-Vilne 1918–1948. One city – many stories).
The seven-part narrative of the exhibition shows how the artists of the multi-ethnic and multi-cultural city perceived Vilnius. More than 250 creative works, including paintings, graphics, sculptures, photographs and books, were selected for the exhibition from the collections of Polish and Lithuanian museums, libraries and archives.
"Throughout its long life, Vilnius has seen and experienced everything, and survived a multitude of changes. But the city is not the only thing that changed. Vilnius has left its mark on the world. The city has permeated the creative work of artists, photographers and writers of other countries. The city forever changed the fates of emigrants from Vilnius scattered around the entire world. In the enormous choir of the world's cities, Vilnius has preserved its own voice: dignified, firm, loud. A voice which defends a rich history and eternal values," Minister of Culture Kairys said at the exhibition's opening. "It is a pleasure to attend this exhibition bringing us together in Kraków, where so many witnesses to Lithuania's and Poland's history remain to this day. At the beginning of the 20th century, and in the much more distant past as well, we had to stand together against many evil assaults. And we must do so in these days, too".
According to the Minister, Lithuania and Poland are united by a shared foundation of values and the resolution to take the lead as well as by the Lublin Triangle and the will to create a strong region, together. But this is impossible without a strong Ukraine, without a path for Ukraine to join the European Union and attain full-fledged membership in it.
Piotr Gliński, Poland's Deputy Prime Minister as well as Minister of Culture and National Heritage, and Oleksandr Tkachenko, Ukraine's Minister of Culture and Information Policy, also attended the opening of the exhibition. Minister of Culture Kairys discussed with them the issues of cultural cooperation and support for Ukraine. Minister of Culture Kairys informed them that Lithuania will contribute to preservation of Ukraine's cultural heritage through a project initiated and coordinated by the Lithuanian Association of Architects and funded by the Creative Europe Programme, U-RE-HERIT / Architektai Ukrainos paveldui: atkuriant atmintį ir tapatybę (U-RE-HERIT / Architects for Ukraine's heritage: restoring memory and identity), offering specific solutions and involving Ukrainian architects and cultural heritage specialists, actively drawing local communities into the process of restoring Ukraine's war-devastated cultural heritage.
In the trilateral meeting, the ministers of culture of Lithuania, Poland and Ukraine signed the Lublin Triangle Declaration, in which they stated their goals of supporting Ukraine in various international formats to protect its cultural heritage and cultural values, to provide comprehensive support to Ukraine's artists and cultural professionals creating and working in Lithuania, Poland and Ukraine, and to contribute to the sustainable and aesthetic restoration of Ukraine.
The exhibition "Vilnius-Wilno-Vilne 1918–1948. One city – many stories", which was initiated by Lithuania's cultural attache in Poland, is co-organised by the Lithuanian National Museum of Art and the National Museum in Kraków. The exhibition's curators are Prof. Giedrė Jankevičiūtė and Prof. Andrzej Szczerski. Marking the 700th anniversary of Vilnius, the exhibition will travel to Vilnius in November.
Photograph courtesy of Danuta Matloch
Last updated: 29-05-2023