Museum on culture and identity of Lithuanian Jews will open doors
On January 18th, a new historical-cultural object will welcome visitors in Vilnius: the Museum on Culture and Identity of Lithuanian Jews will open to the public.
It will function as the largest sub-division of Vilna Gaon Museum of Jewish History under the Ministry of Culture located at the historical four-story building of the former Hebrew Tarbut Gymnasium (Pylimo g. 4A).
The Museum on Culture and Identity of Lithuanian Jews is the first one in the country’s history to present the unique Jewish culture, customs, and faith in an organised manner and from varying perspectives.
According to the Minister of Culture Simonas Kairys, we often speak about Lithuanian Jews as a whole. “We mention figures, general facts, and all of them are indeed very important. However, it is important to remember that there were people behind all those statistics and numbers. Living people who were building a better society and a better Lithuania”, Simonas Kairys says.
The museum devotes a lot of attention to the world-renowned Litvaks who were born in Lithuania, resided in Lithuania, or were associated with Lithuania. They include Nobel Prize winners Aaron Klug and Bernard Lown, artists Mark Antokolsky, Jacques Lipchitz, Neemija Arbitblatas, Hollywood stars Ruth Roman, Al Jolson, and Laurence Harvey.
Additionally, the museum’s visitors will be able to get closely acquainted with one of the most prominent 20th-century Lithuanian Jewish artists from Vilnius, Raphaël Chwoles, and his works. The exhibition dedicated to this artist covers three main periods of his work: Vilnius, Warsaw, and Paris. In total, about 3,000 of Chwoles’ paintings and 6,000 drawings are exhibited.
The four-story building houses 17 exhibitions of contemporary design (the project’s author is Vytautas Biekša, principal architect of the Processoffice architectural bureau). The visitors are introduced to authentic exhibits and are able to interactively familiarise themselves with the history of Lithuanian Jews.
In order for the new museum to operate in the historical building, EUR 7.1 million investment project co-financed by the European Union and the state was implemented. After completing the building’s maintenance and major repairs as well as acquiring the equipment and furniture required for high-quality cultural services, the potential and valuable qualities of the building, which had not been utilised until then, were revealed. The project of the museum’s building’s major repairs and maintenance was prepared by UAB Projektavimo ir Restauravimo Institutas (head of the project: Marija Nemunienė) and was implemented by UAB Ekstra Statyba.
The implementation of this investment project has created the opportunities to preserve Jewish heritage and ensure its promotion among wider circles of our society.
Photo from the archive of Vilna Gaon Museum of Jewish History
Last updated: 02-02-2024