Herkus Kuncius
About the logic of contingency and the right to live
I could not say whether to be born a Lithuanian in Vilnius is luck, duty or punishment, writes Herkus Kuncius. "I have no answer to this question, though sometimes I think it is the most wonderful thing that ever happened to me. Anything can make people and nations enemies. And it is not only wealth that provokes conflict but differences in habits, religious antagonism, attitudes toward the past, and even grammar. Since the nineteenth century, the native languages have made Poles and Lithuanians enemies, though both peoples lived peacefully for ages."

Almantas Samalavicius
Twenty years after the social change (2)
Almantas Samalavicius continues his comments on sociopolitical developments in Lithuania during the last two decades. He wonders why we witness so much public sensitivity to some things, and a shocking lack of sensitivity to others, why individuals who demonstrate their utmost openness and tolerance show a total lack of these when their opinions differ from those of their opponents.

Manfred Klein
Encyclopaedia of Lithuania Minor – request from a millieu that speaks German
Manfred Klein reports that this encyclopaedia is available in German and Swiss libraries but that what is badly needed is a translation of at least one concise volume in German so that these valuable resources can be used by German speaking people.

National Commmercial Theatre?
A talk about ideal models, audiences and the beauty of kitsch. Theatre critics Irena Aleksaite, Audrone Girdzijauskaite, Vaidas Jauniskis, Sarune Trinkunaite and Rasa Vasinauskaite analyse the strange situation in the national drama theatre where there is a threat of decline and an indifference to culture.

Kestutis Sapoka
Inner state and lightning
A retrospective of Povilas Ricardas Vaitiekunas at the National art gallery. Vaitiekunas attempted to demolish a deterministic positivist ideology serving model, and in this respect he was exceptional among the artists of his generation, writes Sapoka.

Ramune Marcinkeviciute
Only Hamlet
The seventh international Shakespeare festival in the Romanian city Krajova featuring only Hamlets. Lithuania was represented with a play directed by Oskaras Korsunovas, staged in 2008 and Eimuntas Nekrosius, first produced in 1997.

Mindaugas Peleckis and Kimo Arbas
Volcano of ideas Kimo Arbas: "Respect is the best philosophy"
The musician and director Kimo Arbas creates music "from noise to hip-hop". Born in Hawaii then moving to Los Angeles, he now lives and works in Vilnius.

Vytautas Tumenas
"Baltos kandys" (White moths): The magic of textile installations
Founded in 1998, this group of artists includes textile artists Migle Lebednykaite, Laura Pavilonyte, Karolina Kuncinaite, Julija Vosyliute, Rasa Leonaviciute, Auste Jurgelionyte. From the aspects of style and worldview "Baltos kandys" exhibits female sensuality, delicacy and sense of humour.

Lijana Sataviciute
What Feliksas Jakubauskas is hiding?
"Hidden-Disclosed" is the title of a textile exhibition by Feliksas Jakubauskas in Vilnius Artifex gallery. White spaces helped to highlight the refined aesthetics of his art.

Ona Mazeikiene
Storage house of antiquity or treasuries of historical memory?
Ona Mazeikiene discusses the activities of museums, explaining that what is on display is only a small part of larger collections, and the work of museums strengthens the foundations of a nation and its culture.

Liudas Truska
A long road to Vilnius
During two world wars and occupations, Lithuania suffered a lot. We were independent only for 22 years in the inter-war period. Despite of this, the last century was extremely successful for Lithuania and the cities of Vilnius, Druskininkai and Klaipeda were recovered by Lithuania and Lithuanians.

Vita Gruodyte
About the freedom of consciousness and ruins of illusions
Philosopher of Georgian descent but French style of thinking, Merab Mamardashvilli, discovered "the spirit of measure, harmony and vividness" peculiar to French culture and language which has become an antidote to Soviet linguistic paralysis. The article introduces Mamardashvilli and is accompanied by a conversation with Annie Epelboin.

Kristina Civinskiene
Our own and alien Vaclovas Ratas-Rataiskis
A review of the retrospective exhibition by the Australian-Lithuanian artist at the national art museum M.K. Ciurlionis.

Dainius Junevicius
Konrad Brandel in Lithuania
Photographer Konrad Brandel from Warsaw was commissioned to take photos during the official ceremony of Liepoja railroad at Kaisiadorys. The author discusses 23 of the photos.

Published 2010-06-07