exhibition – Lituani(sti)ka

The Exhibition on the Great Flight in 1944

By Dalia Cidzikaitė

The exhibition has been very popular among the Library’s patrons. Photo: National Library of Lithuania / Vygaudas Juozaitis

The new National Library of Lithuania exhibition, which opened on June 26, 2024, tells about the great flight that took place in the summer of 1944. At the end of WWII, as the German-Soviet war front approached from the east, the inhabitants of the Baltic States, Eastern and Central European countries moved en masse to the West. Nobody knew that they would not return.

The necessity of leaving home caught most Eastern Europeans little or completely unprepared. The rapid collapse of the German front in the east and the approaching Soviet army prevented any deliberation or planning. Since the flight was hasty, people did not have much time to think about what to take. Some took a photo album, others a prayer book or pictures of saints, and others a high school diploma or a dissertation. Still others grabbed books and textbooks, which were especially useful when schools and universities were later established in West Germany.

The first part of the exhibition “Stranded from the Native Land” features the pictures of saints taken from Lithuania, the passport of Adolfas Domaševičius (Damušis), his graduation diploma of from Vytautas Magnus University Faculty of Technology, the graduation diploma of Damušis’ future wife Jadvyga-Aleksandra Pšibilskytė (Damušienė) from the Klaipėda Pedagogical Institute, and the prayer book written by Adolfas Sabaliauskas “Šlovinkim Viešpatį,” published in 1928 [imprint: 1929] in Klaipėda.

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.

For Freedom. Lithuanian American Support for Lithuania’s Independence and Recognition

Photo credit: The Balzekas Museum of Lithuanian Culture

In celebration of the 100th Anniversary of Lithuania’s Independence, the Balzekas Museum of Lithuanian Culture opened a new historical exhibit “For Freedom: Lithuanian American Support for Lithuania’s Independence and Recognition.” The exhibit explores Lithuanian Americans’ passionate and energetic support for the cause of Lithuania’s independence one hundred years ago. Using photographs, documents, publications, and other historical artifacts, the exhibition gives an overview of Lithuania’s fate at the dawn of the twentieth century as a subjugated part of the Russian Empire; briefly portrays the Lithuanian American communities in America; and summarizes their significant cultural, political, and financial achievements.

The exhibition’s central focus is the vital role played by Lithuanian Americans as their native land seized a unique and complex opportunity to end its 125-year Russian subjugation. It demonstrates that Lithuanian Americans’ support for freedom in their native land did not end with the declared independence in 1918 nor with its recognition by the United States in 1922. In fact, as the exhibition shows, Lithuanian Americans supported their native land’s recurrent struggles to achieve freedom and independence for most of the twentieth century.

Drawing on materials in the Balzekas Museum as well as public and private national and regional archives and collections, the exhibition centralizes the presence of historical documents to prove that this century-long struggle for freedom was powered by ideas and ideals expressed in words and actions.

To Be Banned: Baltic Books 1918-1940

On March 9, 2018 the prime minister of the Republic of Lithuania, Saulius Skvernelis, the prime minister of Latvian government, Māris Kučinskis and Estonian prime minister, Jüri Ratas opened the international exhibition “To Be Banned: Baltic Books 1918-1940” at the Martynas Mažvydas National Library of Lithuania. Continue reading “To Be Banned: Baltic Books 1918-1940”

Photo Exhibition “Lithuanian Switzerland”

The chairman of the Lithuanian Community in Switzerland, **Jūratė Caspersen**, opened the exhibition.

On March 3, the National Library of Lithuania welcomed the traveling photo exhibition,“Lithuanian Switzerland,” organized by the Lithuanian Community in Switzerland. The chairman of the Lithuanian Community in Switzerland, Jūratė Caspersen, opened the exhibition.

The exhibition was created to celebrate the 100th anniversary of Lithuania’s statehood restoration. Since July 17th of last year, it has been traveling across Lithuania, visiting cities and towns, cultural centers, educational and scientific institutions, museums and libraries.

The photographs, shot by Swiss-Lithuanians, depict their life and activities, while fostering national identity, language, culture and traditions in Switzerland.

Lithuanian Diaspora Exhibition Back in Lithuania

After the successful presentations in Norway, Switzerland, and Italy, the travelling exhibition “Lithuanian Publishing in Post-WWII Europe” is back in Lithuania. On 27 January 2016 it was opened at Pasvalys Marius Katiliškis Public Library as part of a day-long event “The Library and the 21st Century Society”. Opening remarks were delivered by Jolanta Budriūnienė, head of the Lithuanian Studies Research Department (former Lituanica Department) of the National Library of Lithuania, who noted that the collection of Lithuanian DP publishing, 1945-1952, housed at the National Library of Lithuania, is of particular value for its unique content, produced under extremely difficult conditions. In 2011, it was recognized by UNESCO — the collection was included in UNESCO’s “World Memory” programme for the Lithuanian National Register. Pasvalys M. Katiliškis Public Library is only the first stop for this exhibition. Its organizer, the National Library of Lithuania, is planning to take it to all major public libraries in the country.