Category: Exhibitions

Getting Ready for the Exhibition “Lithuanian Diaspora Media after the 1990s”: The Lithuanian Times

The front page of the first issue.

There were ten issues of The Lithuanian Times. Juozas Algimantas Kazlas founded the publication and edited the first 9 issues, from January 1989 to September 1991. Aukse Trojanas was the editor of the last issue, in September 1992.

The Lithuanian Times was intended primarily for New York and especially Manhattan Lithuanians, many of whom were young and middle-aged professionals who had arrived from other parts of the U.S. The title was a deliberate imitation of The New York Times, and the contents provided quick information to busy people in English with an occasional dash of humor. Each issue consisted of two sides of one sheet of paper of standard American size. In addition to making it a compact source of information, this format also made it easy to duplicate and to mail. Duplication was often done by Kazlas using a photocopy machine at work after hours, at the Shearson-Lehman financial corporation on Wall St., or in the office of a lawyer friend. With his wife, theatre director, actor and instructor Rasa Allan Kazlas, they would stuff several hundred copies of the newsletter into envelopes, attach stamps and mail them.

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Exhibition about the History of Lithuanian-Canadian Community, Inc.

Exhibition about the history of Lithuanian-Canadian Community ran from Sep 23 to Oct 31.

From September 23 to October 31, the visitors of the National Library of Lithuania had an opportunity to see the exhibit dedicated to Lithuanian-Canadian Community, Inc. and its political, cultural, and educational activities over the past 67 years. The organizers of the exhibition are the Lithuanian Museum-Archives of Canada and the Lithuanian-Canadian Community, Inc.

The exhibition presents the history of Lithuanians in Canada: the establishment and development of the Lithuanian Community, its political, cultural, and social activities, as well as significant support to Lithuania, especially in the early 1990s. The stands showcase the photos from the first Lithuanian Days in Canada, the World Lithuanian Community Congress in New York, and the first World Lithuanian Youth Congress in Chicago. The exhibition also demonstrates the cooperation of the Lithuanian-Canadians with the Reform Movement of Lithuania and the state of Lithuania after the restoration of independence, and reminds of many other important events that took place during the 67-year-old history of the Community.

The exposition was supplemented by a video which was specially prepared by the staff of the National Library of Lithuania. In the video, various people from the field of culture, diplomacy and politics share their thoughts about Lithuanians in Canada, the development of relations between Canada and Lithuania and other important issues. The video in Lithuanian can be found on “Youtube”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hFmRiZJyT0Y

The Lithuanian Minister of Culture Visited the United States

The Minister of Culture visited the Balzekas Museum of Lithuanian Culture in Chicago.

In the early September, the Lithuanian Minister of Culture, Mindaugas Kvietkauskas, visited New York and Chicago. In New York, the Minister met with the director of YIVO Institute for Jewish Research, Jonathan Brent. They discussed the cooperation between the Institute and Lithuania and other relevant issues in preparation for next year’s commemoration of Vilna Gaon (born Elijah ben Solomon Zalman) and Lithuanian Jewish history.

The Minister participated in the Litvak Days organized for the first time in New York and Chicago on the initiative of the Consulate of the Republic of Lithuania in NY. The event included a public lecture and three debates. In New York, Kvietkauskas, along with writer Tomas Venclova and Prof. Saulius Sužiedėlis participated in the discussion “Challenges of Multiculturalism in Contemporary Lithuania.”

While in New York, Kvietkauskas also visited one of the world’s largest American avant-garde film archives, Anthology Film Archives, founded in the early 1960s by Lithuanian-American Jonas Mekas. The Minister participated in the opening of the exhibition of the Lithuanian American artist Vytautas Ignas and met with representatives of the Lithuanian Alliance of America and the Lithuanian National Foundation.

In Chicago, Kvietkauskas paid a visit at the University of Illinois at Chicago, the Poetry Foundation in Chicago, and met with the leaders of the Lithuanian World Center in Lemont. At the UIC, where students can learn Lithuanian language as part of their academic curriculum, the Minister participated in a discussion “The Narratives of Pluralism: Lithuania’s Past and Present” and met with the students of the Lithuanian Culture course.

The Lithuanian Charter Turns Seventy

Dalia Cidzikaitė

On June 14, 1949 in Augsburg, Germany, Lithuania’s Supreme Liberation Committee published a pocket-size book World Community of Lithuanians (Dr. Haas & Cie., KG., Augsburg), also known as the Lithuanian Charter. The document laid the foundations of the Lithuanian World Community, Inc., brought together and provided the new meaning to thousands of Lithuanian war refugees.

The Lithuanian Charter empowered Lithuanians, who after WWII once again found themselves homeless, to continue to fight for Lithuania’s independence and to strive to maintain at all costs not only the family and kinship, but also the national connection, so that “each countryman met abroad [would] be like brother.”


The Lithuanian Charter is exhibited at the National Library of Lithuania.

The publication of the Lithuanian Charter was Committee’s response to the rapidly changing situation of Lithuanian war refugees in post-war Germany and the future full of anxiety and uncertainty. At the end of the war, it became clear that Lithuania would not regain its independence yet, therefore many refugees decided to take advantage of the opportunity to immigrate to Canada, Australia, the United States and other countries not affected by war. Prelate Mykolas Krupavičius, the chairman of the Committee, and other members of the organization decided to establish a Lithuanian community in each country and create one united Lithuanian community abroad.

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The LAC Exhibition at the National Library of Lithuania


The exhibition at the Library. Photo: National Library of Lithuania

The travelling exhibition “We Created the Lithuanian State Together: The Lithuanian-American Community, Inc. 1951-2018” at the National Library of Lithuania highlights the fact that Lithuanian-Americans have always kept close contact with the homeland and have contributed to country’s development.

Lithuanian diaspora is an integral part of Lithuanian history. Despite the geographical distance, the Lithuanian immigrants tirelessly worked on behalf of Lithuania. Various initiatives of many relief organizations, the financial support, active propaganda work, and the establishment and strengthening of political, economic, and cultural relations between the US and Lithuania are undeniable evidence of the united struggle for Lithuanian independence.

Fighting for the independence of Lithuania was one of the main goals of the Lithuanian-American Community, Inc. founded in 1951. When Lithuania regained its independence, the LAC, which unites all Lithuanians living in the US, has actively cooperated with the homeland and its institutions, contributed to the development of ties between Lithuanian and the US government and business representatives.

Today, the ultimate goal of the LAC is to preserve Lithuanian culture and traditions and pass it onto the future generations. The organization’s main emphasis is on Lithuanian education, cultural, scientific, social, economic, religious, and sport and other activities in the US. It cooperates with other Lithuanian-American organizations, the US non-governmental organizations, and introduces Americans to Lithuania. Americans of Lithuanian descent and their non-Lithuanian spouses are also welcomed in the LAC.

The exhibition, which runs at the Library until the end of May, testifies to the glorious history of the LAC and introduces to its past and present activities.

Exhibition and Discussion about Russian Diaspora Publications and Publishers

At the start of 2018, a Swiss Arminio Sciolli decided to donate part of his Russian diaspora literature collection to the National Library of Lithuania. The collection consists of rare books, not yet seen in Lithuania. The geography of the collection covers a wide range of places – from South Africa to China – where Russian diaspora communities lived at the beginning of the twentieth century.

On September 21, 2018, the Library invited to the exhibition “Russian Diaspora Literature” opening and discussion about Russian diaspora publications and publishers. Dr. Pavel Lavrinec, Vilnius University professor, provided a broader context and a general overview of the exhibition. Prof. Tomas Venclova, Yale University emeritus and professor of Slavic literature, talked about the history of Russian diaspora in Harbin, China, its cultural life and his impressions from recent trip there.