Tourists
Illustration by Liudas Barkauskas
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Whichever topic we come up with, it always ends with a realisation that we’ve just done another magazine edition about people who simply can’t avoid being active, they can’t sit still. Architects, senior citizens, emigrants that came home, musicians, lecturers, painters – a day is 48-hours-long for them, so they’re young forever. Are such individuals creating Kaunas, or does Kaunas create them?
... or guides?
The newest tourist attraction in Kaunas has been opened in July. It’s one of the strangest squares ever as it’s actually a triangle and you cannot enter it or see it without a drone. The author of the square is Naglis Rytis Baltušnikas who dedicated his idea to George Maciunas, the father of FLUXUS (born in Kaunas). / Picture by Kaunas municipality
Whilst thinking about tourism as one of the essential fields shaping the image of Kaunas today, we’ve been looking for heroes that wouldn’t limit themselves in walking just this one of the longest pedestrian streets of Europe. They’d rather cut parasitic bushes down and build new roads themselves than keep on walking the same route. These people, being guides and storytellers, would never forget to listen, observe, dig deeper and be tourists in their own yard. Their life is divided into sections from a discovery to telling about it rather than from writing a project to getting it financed. Actually, we have introduced many such residents of Kaunas in the 23 previous editions – if you’re a constant reader or you sometimes check our website, you know where to find the Šančiai kiosk, the Cabbage Field, where Yard Gallery is or what the
jungle of Šilainiai feels like, how the tours of “Ekskursas” are different, where are the most interesting spots of geocaching or what are the miracles behind the art deco layer in the history of Kaunas. So now we’re about to find out about the four cardinal directions of the Pažaislis monastery, how does the Kaunas Lagoon look to a bird, what makes the aerodrome in Aleksotas exceptional, how a TV show can become a tourist guide or a schoolteacher and what are the methods of fully opening the Interwar doors until 2022. Along with all this, we’re talking to one of the favourite tour guides of Kaunas and listening to stories from the world’s heritage forum for young professionals. The true ambassadors of Kaunas are half-tourists, half-guides.
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@rayner_dsilva
From the other side
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The August issue is dedicated to people which serve as eyes and ears of those who are visiting Kaunas for the first time. But what impressions do the latter ones bring home? The story of this month‘s images was composed by finding photos on Instagram marked with the hashtag “kaunastic” – there were over 5,000 posts and we looked for the most surprising ones.
@valeria_kudryanok
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The Pažaislis monastery is one of the most mesmerising examples of late baroque in North-Eastern Europe, contributing to the history of Kaunas for over 350 years. People have been praying here for peace and the prosperity of Lithuania since 1664, when the chancellor of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania – Kristupas Žygimantas Pacas – gave the Pažaislis manor to the Camaldolese monks. Now the location is among the most popular destinations of cultural tourism in Kaunas: pilgrims, artists and other visitors are welcome here, festivals take place in summer along with religious celebrations. We’re talking to sister Juta (Edita Kunickaitė) about how the religious communities living under one roof interact with guests from all over the world.
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A tourist inside a monastery By Julija Račiūnaitė Photos by Dainiaus Ščiuka
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You live and work surrounded by impressive architecture and nature. Obviously, the Pažaislis complex is one of the main spots of cultural tourism in Kaunas, so tell us about the activities of your culture and tourism centre. It’s absolutely true that this is one of the most visited cultural objects in Kaunas, and we’re very happy and proud about it. The Pažaislis Culture and Tourism Centre just celebrated its 20th birthday: in 2014 we were visited by 35,000 people, whilst the number has grown to 40,000 by 2016. We’ve opened a museum exposition and an educational area in 2011, where many classes take place for various age groups and families, for example, “The lazy days of the family”. We’ve also prepared educational programmes on the history of this monastery, yet we want the visitors to get to know those who reside here right now too. People often are interested about what this mystical place is about, who are the sisters of the Lithuanian convent of St Casimir and what do we do here. What are the educational classes like? Specific dolls were made for the class “Heritage of St Casimir”, they’re dressed in copies of the exact clothes of the past (which are still worn today). We tell guests about what each detail of the clothing is for, why do we need scallop shells and why do monks have rosaries, why and how did the headgear change over time, what’s the difference between the clothes of sisters in different phases of their service – let’s say you meet a woman with a white veil here and you know she’s a candidate to become a nun,
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whereas if the veil looks like this [shows her own one], you know she’s a nun of St Casimir that’s been serving for a longer time [laughs]. We also have an educational class about medicinal herbs led by sister Renata. She talks about the old traditions of the Camaldolese monks and the recipes they’ve created. We found the original books at the regional state archive in Kaunas: they include many useful hints, advice and insights, for example, how to treat erysipelas, scabies and other diseases with oils. Do those recipes work? We haven’t tried them [laughs]! In modern days, a person typically goes to the doctor if he or she has serious troubles. Catching a cold is common in Lithuania, and one recipe (obviously, written in Latin) to treat it is quite interesting as it involves beer: the Camaldolese brothers had a brewery in Pažaislis, heating the dark beer, adding honey and various spices. This was then given to a person with a cold or cough. It’s a great recipe – we’ve tried it ourselves. We’re not heating the beer during our educational programmes, but we let people know about a few herbs and tinctures. Some problems with using old recipes are that several important medicinal herbs that grew here in the 17th century are simply extinct, while others are very hard to get or to recognise following the Latin descriptions. Many tours take place here as well, and the sisters used to give those themselves, but then gradually they turned to their true calling
and started spending more time on prayer. Let the sisters pray for every guest and the professionals who are giving the tours. Even now we get a lot of visitors that want to meet some of the sisters because they remember a friendly tour or have heard good things about us. Pažaislis was given back to the catholic church in 1992, after being a part of the M. K. Čiurlionis art museum for a few decades. How did the place change throughout the years and where is it going? As an institution, a monastery is a place to worship God, therefore it should be a place of prayer. We need to remind people at times that tourism is not our main activity. Even Kristupas Zigmundas Pacas, while building Pažaislis, couldn’t imagine that it would ever become a heritage object. The notes he left here said clearly that this is a place of prayer, dedicated to monks who want to sacrifice their life to praying for peace and the prosperity of Lithuania. The monastery lost its real function during the Soviet years, so we want as many people as possible to be able to come here to pray, we also welcome everyone coming to the mass on Sundays or visiting the famous painting of St Mary with her baby here. So that’s basically where we’re going. How do you combine the life of a tourism destination with the one of a monastery? There are words in a psalm that say: “If God isn’t building it, the builder’s work is in vain”. So if the sisters won’t be looking for compromises, both them and the visitors will su-
ffer. We’re lucky that the architectural complex of Pažaislis is so large and it’s divided into four clear areas. We’re now in the western part, however the eastern one is reserved just for the sisters – no one else is allowed in there. The northern area is for tourism – visitors can get to the church through it, while the sisters use the southern one to go to pray. There is a recollection centre up north, and people with various missions stay there – an art therapy camp is taking place right as we speak. So the northern areas are dedicated to the cultural needs of the society, whilst the southern ones have signs on doors to keep quiet and not to enter. We had a hard time convincing visitors to obey these rules at first, but a decade went by and they started respecting the personal space of the sisters. What are foreign tourists or Lithuanian visitors most interested in? Well, I can say for sure that tourists from abroad love the fact that there once was a hospital of psychoneurology here, they also find it interesting to hear about the Soviet period, about the time the sisters were forced to leave the monastery after World War II because Pažaislis was turned into a hospital and then later into an archive institution. Finally, it became a part of the M. K. Čiurlionis museum. People are also fascinated by the harmony between visitors, tourism activities, guests and sisters living here. Tourists are always happy to meet a sister and talk to her, others even want to take selfies with them, however, you know, some people like taking photographs and some not that much…
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Which story about Pažaislis do you personally like the most? There are many stories like that! I’d probably choose the arrival of the sisters of St Casimir in 1920 as it’s the dearest fact for me. Our congregation mother, founder Marija Kaupaitė came to Kaunas from America and was looking for a monastery location. After World War I, Pažaislis had no windows, doors and frankly was in terrible shape overall. This nun, along with three other sisters, wasn’t afraid to take this project on. The St Casimir sisters were invited to Lithuania by the archbishop at the time Juozapas Jonas Skvireckas and his colleagues. There was a lack
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of Lithuanian school in the postTsar country, and someone had to run them. The sisters had already founded many Lithuanian schools in Chicago, they were all teachers and had enough experience to revive the pedagogy culture in Lithuania. I’m terrified even by the thought of how much work did those four sisters have in 1920. Imagine using a carriage to come to a huge abandoned monastery in autumn, with mud all around. We still have a note written by those sisters about the state of the buildings upon their arrival. People were very precise in those days – they wrote how many doors were left, how many windows, chairs, tables and so forth. In 1924, the nuns were already working in Saulės gymnasium, they had a primary school, while the number of the sisters was over 60. We wish we could achieve that much in four years. Pažaislis is not just about the buildings, it also has a tremendous, well-kept garden. What do you like to do there? Everything! We go to the garden if we’re needed there or we stay in the kitchen to marinate pickles if we have to. We don’t really separate the chores into pleasant and unpleasant ones, we just do what has to be done. For instance, today the sisters were picking berries in the northern garden. There are three gardens – the eastern one has a lot of apple trees, the southern one has a lot of cherry trees and it’s great to see those blossom. I’d choose apple picking in autumn as a favourite activity if I had to. For some reason I like those apples!
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What should one know before visiting Pažaislis for the first time? As I’ve mentioned before, keep in mind that this is an active monastery, so sisters residing here are mostly praying and they care deeply about Pažaislis. It wouldn’t be the same place without them, at least I’d like to think so. It’s interesting that throughout the 350 years – wars and other troubled times – it was always run by monks as a monastery. Sure, a few episodes like the Soviet years or World War I (when the monastery was empty for a while) don’t fit the statement, but it was only 50 years that Pažaislis didn’t belong to the church. Some Lithuanians still remember the place as a hospital or museum, however most people don’t know about the Camaldolese brothers, Orthodox monks who lived here during Tsar times or the St Casimir sisters that moved here at the beginning of the 20th century.
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Liuda Vitkienė was born in Kazakhstan yet she sees herself as a Kaunasian. The woman has been living here for over 25 years – some time ago working as an engineer, she’s now a tour guide who introduces tourists to the stories of Kaunas architecture. “I see Kaunas as a unique city of Europe that has a lot to say and show to visitors”, Liuda tells us and notes that her favourite part of the work is having foreign tourists come back or recommending Kaunas to their friends.
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More than it meets the tourist eye
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By Edvinas Grin Photos by Dainius Ščiuka
Kazakhstan-Kaunas is an interesting route. Tell us about it! My grandfather was of Czech origin and he was exiled to Kazakhstan during World War II, where he and his Polish wife had my mother. Later, grandpa was rehabilitated yet they decided to stay in northern Kazakhstan. My dad – who actually had Lithuanian blood – went there in the 1960s and met my mother; they created a family in Pavlodar, where I was born and raised until my mother sent me to study in Saint Petersburg as she wanted me
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to get back to my “European” roots. I was educated as an engineer-electrician and I met my future Lithuanian husband there, who returned to Kaunas after his studies. So did I. My first visit here was in 1988 when I was still studying. I fell in love with Kaunas instantly – it was different from any city I saw before, seeming more western, with fabulous gothic architecture in the Old Town and a green central area. I also liked the people – they looked hospitable and hard-working.
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What’s most interesting to you personally in Kaunas? Where do you like to go and which locations you simply must have in your routes? Kaunas was built in a smart way, with many monuments of architecture and history. I always make sure people visit the Old Town – it’s the pulsating heart of the city. Also, the buildings of Naujamiestis (New Town) are a must as they show how Kaunas became a European city when it was the temporary capital. Foreigners should definitely see the Pažaislis monastery, museums and forts. People tend to like hearing about modernist architecture and visiting those Interwar buildings or the library of V. Adamkus. I myself love the entirety of the old and new town, Pažaislis as well. What’s missing in Kaunas? What could be better? I sometimes miss order and cleanness in the Old Town or at the observation deck of Aleksotas. Often the tours take place on Sunday mornings and I have to constantly apologise to tourists for the rubbish lying around. I believe the representative
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spots of Kaunas – the area next to Kaunas Castle, Town Hall square, the mentioned observation deck – should be tidied up early on Sundays, before the visitors show up. Anyway, Kaunas is rapidly improving since a new team joined its government. My colleagues and I appreciate the new sidewalks: tourists used to feel very uncomfortable and at times even had injuries whilst walking around the centre. Would you agree that modernist architecture is the face of Kaunas? I would. The contemporary face of Kaunas is definitely the modernist architecture of the Interwar era, however we can’t forget the gothic structures of the city or the architectural ensemble of Pažaislis, the wooden buildings of Žaliakalnis and so forth, not to mention the museums that have unique expositions and cultural events of high level that take place here. What else are visitors also interested in? Foreign guests are fond of not only the city’s history or culture but also gastronomy and shopping. They ask for advice in cooking traditional dishes, making drinks or where to find interesting souvenirs, even learning about opportunities of medical tourism. They want to know what Kaunas is excited about at the moment, how many people live here and what do they do, what industries are blooming and what leisure activities are most popular. Some even want to know how much money residents make or what’s the cost of living. Tourism tends to concentrate on central areas of a city, but what about the peripheries? Could other neighbourhoods of Kaunas be adapted to welcome tourists?
I believe that tours around the city’s outskirts or other neighbourhoods would be interesting for locals that seek getting to know Kaunas better. What’s in common between Kazakhstan and Lithuania? My last visit to Kazakhstan was 14 years ago, but I do get the chance to talk to people from Kazakhstan when they visit Kaunas. I’ve noticed that they’re very curious individuals, much like Lithuanians who also take interest in their country’s history, traditions, culture. During the tours, Kazakhs typically ask a lot of questions about the lives of Lithuanians or Kaunasians. We get more and more apps for tourists, almost making the role of a tour guide obsolete. Is your work changing? How is it different compared to what it was 1510 years ago?
Such apps are great and easy-to-use tools which are adored by youngsters or individual travellers. They can save money, time, yet they’ll never replace communicating with a real person. For example, families, large groups or senior citizens still prefer services of a tour guide. The work has changed – people now find a lot of information online before going somewhere, so they have certain expectations prior to visiting a new place. Therefore, our mission is to present the city in an interesting, inventive manner and surprise the guests by giving them more than they’d ever expect. A tour guide should always keep improving by looking for new and relevant facts, working on a variety of his or her skills and keeping things intriguing.
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How did you become a tour guide? I have been working in the tourism department since 2010, before that I was raising children and working as an engineer. I had to change my line of work when the crisis hit in 2008: I chose tourism because I was fascinated by history and wanted to know more about Kaunas and Lithuania for that matter. Another reason for the choice was the chance to work with Russian tourists – I had almost forgotten this language while living in Kaunas. Now I also run my own company “Kauno gidas”: we organise tours for locals and guests, provide other tourism services.
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Ieva is preparing for her fourth year at the Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theatre, where she studies vocal singing – a discipline requiring plenty of energy and practice. Her brother Lukas is expanding his embroidery business. But these are just small details in the whole picture of this article, edition and Kaunas as a crib for Lithuanian aviation. We visited Ieva and Lukas at the Aleksotas-based aerodrome of S. Darius and S. Girėnas, where this airborne family of Liekis basically grew up.
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The bright sky of Aleksotas
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By Kotryna Lingienė and Kęstutis Lingys Photos by Donatas Stankevičius
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Now, together with neighbours in other hangars, they’re nurturing this aerodrome themselves, taking care of the “small” (as they refer to it), non-commercial aviation of Kaunas. “Our grandfather Alfonsas Liekis is probably behind all this; at the time based in Šilutė, he was one of the initiators of the sport and construction of hang-gliders in Lithuania. Later, our father – who started flying when he was 13 – continued grandpa’s work, eventually passing on the love for piloting to me and Lukas”, Ieva tells us. Lukas is flying for a decade now since he was 16, while Ieva be-
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gan five years ago at the age of 17. She spends her summers at the aerodrome, also often the weekends when she’s studying too. “There’s no cure for this virus, the thirst can only be quenched by actual flying. Whenever I fly less, the symptoms take their toll on me”, the pilot laughs. Booking a leisure flight in a two-seater ultralight plane over Kaunas is quite popular today – the club typically does around a hundred of these a month (the season is from April to October). Lukas says that most of such bookings are gifts from children given to their fathers who once dreamed of becoming pilots. Foreign
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So if you’re after becoming a pilot of an ultralight aircraft, find Ieva and Lukas: a licence for a two-seater plane can be obtained after a few months of hard work. Then your trip from Kaunas to, let’s say, Druskininkai, will only take 35 minutes. You’ll be able to fly all around the Baltic Sea or even further. Believe us when we say that this will be a totally different holiday compared to the ones whilst travelling with a trailer, car, train or even taking regular flights. Lukas’ personal experience as an aerial-tourist tells us that pilots have an unwritten rule of welcoming each other in a very hospitable way. There are more tourists like that in Kaunas every year. June saw a runway (1,130 m in length and 50 m wide) being finished here which can now host larger, six-seater planes. So finally people flying such aircraft
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can receive a positive response to their many earlier requests of wanting to visit the city. For instance, Kaunas had 20 planes from Switzerland landing throughout a weekend this July; they continued their journey by going to Palanga and then Estonia. However, so far people who land in this aerodrome – which celebrated its 100th birthday in 2015 and therefore is one of the oldest ones in Europe – can’t spend the night here, they have to look for a place in the city. An aero camping is planned to be built next year: it will serve as shelter for those eager to see planes flying in the morning and also those who are travelling with different means of transport yet would like to try this way of camping. Soon a café will be open here, and spaghetti with planes sounds better than any other regular lunch offer we’ve heard of! Tourists and foreigners are amazed that this place is practically in the middle of the city; that’s quite unique in the context of Europe, but aren’t there issues that come with it? “We do sometimes get complaints from residents about the noise, however the government always replies to those in the same fashion – the aerodrome is a historic object which is over 100 years old and that’s just that”, Lukas explains, showing the new houses not far away from the site – these residents are happy about having an aerodrome as a neighbour, they actually find it romantic. Some people from Aleksotas or Freda even come here to train after seeing the planes flying over their heads.
they’re only eight years of age by coming to the Bronius Oškinis school of aviation: they will use special hang-gliders built to fly 15-20 metres high.
By the way, the kids in Kaunas can start learning to be pilots when
We’ve mentioned that the aerodrome of Aleksotas is the crib of Lithua-
nian aviation, but the local aviation museum – based right here as well – and especially the educators of it will tell a much better story than us. Then there are also paragliders, hot air balloons and acrobatic flights… The 100-year-old aerodrome doesn’t sleep, does it? Not even close.
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Ieva flies with passengers more often and notices that they’re most excited about seeing the red roofs of the Old Town beneath them, also the Pažaislis monastery, sunsets and, of course, the Kaunas Lagoon which changes its colour almost every week… What better way is there than to witness all this like a bird does? Around 10% of those who try the leisure flight come back to the aerodrome to learn how to fly…
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tourists also enjoy flying over Kaunas yet so far there aren’t many of them since it’s fairly complicated to spontaneously change a carefully planned day whilst visiting Kaunas. Let’s call it a niche for the future even though the Liekis family tell us that leisure flights are more an affair for the club’s public image than a main source of income.
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World Heritage Young Professionals Forum (#WHYPF2017) took place from June 25th to July 4th in Poland. The topic of the event was “Memory: Lost and Recovered Heritage”; it’s a whole new initiative from UNSECO, implemented before the 41st session of the committee in Krakow on July 2nd.
Building a personal relationship with heritage By Andrijana Filinaitė Member of the State Commission for Cultural Heritage, Curator of including Kaunas modernist architecture into the UNESCO heritage list
This forum was financed by Poland’s Ministry of Culture and National Heritage and was attended by a number of young (22 to 32) representatives from 32 countries, among which were Azerbaijan, Syria, Tanzania, Mali, Peru, Iraq and South Korea. Over the period of ten intense days, Warsaw and Krakow became home to the community of young professionals of this field, who will definitely
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want to come back here later when they’ll have relevant projects or ideas about progressive protection of cultural heritage in Europe.
World Heritage Young Professionals Forum / Picture by Anna Kaczmarz
I could (and would certainly like to) praise the Polish organisers and other local partners for their modern take on culture in a wider sense: a forum of such scale and format (and the UNESCO session too) really
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The list now counts 1073 valuable objects. Some time ago it was aimed
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A German director of the World Heritage Centre, Mechtild Rössler believes that including new objects into the discussed list is becoming a very complicated operation, especially for European countries. I must admit that I instantly got worried upon hearing this – what will happen to the case of Kaunas then? However, things do look positive as there aren’t many objects from the 20th century in the register, and that’s why we just congratulated our colleagues from Eritrea who succeeded in getting Asmara – Africa’s modernist city – onto the list just now. Michael Turner, professor at one of Jerusalem’s design academies, stated during a seminar of the forum that the main thing of an object being included in this register is not the actual receiving of the “heritage Oscar”, it’s rather the whole process of preparing for it, when local communities, professionals and politicians all become partners working towards a mutual goal. That’s a very healthy phenomenon for any country, and creating an emotional bond with a location or an object results
in new perceptions about heritage on a global scale, finally, it inspires fresh ideas and initiatives among locals and therefore the object obtains a crucial role of becoming a solid social link. This is the best way for sustainable communities to develop in a city’s context, and that’s also reflected in the declaration of young professionals that we used to address UNESCO, the international community and countries who are members of the World Heritage Convention. Progressive heritage protection is an essential element in the growth of sustainable communities: the society can’t exist without people and sustainable growth can’t be achieved without memory. In the mentioned declaration, we invited UNESCO to join us in working with social and civil initiatives, especially those related to the youth. We need to get more people involved in discussions, this way strengthening the collective support of the international community for the activities in protecting culture and nature’s
heritage, at the same time giving respect to the convention approved in 1972 concerning the preservation of the world’s cultural and natural heritage. I do believe that local communities should eventually turn into a backbone of any relevant decision-making process regarding cultural identity or memory. This should happen globally, in any region. Countries that approved the convention need to make sure heritage is being protected by using innovations, entrepreneurship, partnerships between private and public sectors, renewable energy, by creating a lot more of tangible opportunities for youngsters to work in the field of cultural heritage. Our big national celebration is next year, so I’m urging everyone to answer this question to yourselves: what’s my own relationship with memory, heritage, history and culture in a wider sense?
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Together with colleagues from entirely different fields of culture, politics, religion and so forth, we had an opportunity to get to know the main objects of heritage in Poland – those in the UNESCO list: the historic centres of Warsaw (included in 1980) and Krakow (included in 1978); Wieliczka and Bochnia Royal Salt Mines (included in 1978). Krakow and the mines were among the first objects to be on the World Heritage List, this happened already during the second session of the committee, putting these locations of our neighbouring country in one register with the Yellowstone National Park, Aachen Cathedral, Galapagos Islands and seven others.
to be the Crème de la Crème – an exclusive register of only the most unique places of the world. The first session of the committee had discussions about the exclusiveness of this list, its impact on the balance between the geography and other important factors. Right now the register is overfull, especially having in mind the objects in Europe and North America, which both take around 47% (506 listings) of the whole list, with countries of Northern Africa taking 9% (93 listings) and Arabian countries only 8% (82 listings). That’s why more attention is now given to the latter regions.
World Heritage Young Professionals Forum / Picture by Beata Zawrzel
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does cost a lot to the government. I was envious in an admiration kind of way upon seeing the numbers at one of the workshops: for instance, the objects of Krakow’s historic centre – which is on the World Heritage List – receive from seven to ten million euros every year for preservation purposes. This results in over a hundred objects sorted out every year. I don’t want to pose this old question, but “when will stuff like that happen in Lithuania”? In fact, Kaunas is the leader amongst other municipalities of the country in terms of how much money it spends on heritage management – this year it was one million euros. I’m sure that the funding for cultural heritage will get bigger, however the politicians should definitely improve their strategies in addressing these issues, especially whilst representing Lithuania in the world and putting the cultural scene at the centre of the image. But let’s talk about it in other articles.
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Edmundas Alfonsas Frykas was amongst the most known Kaunas architects of the Interwar years. He designed the residential house on Gedimino street in 1929 by the order of Pranas Gudavičius, doctor and social activist. The latter rented out the upper floors and settled in the first one himself, establishing a clinic there, becoming the head of the doctors’ union of Lithuania and a professor of Vytautas Magnus University in a few years.
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By Kotryna Lingienė and Kęstutis Lingys Photos by Dainius Ščiuka
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In 1944, P. Gudavičius moved west; he died in New York in 1956. But what about his house? The flats were divided into smaller ones and “nationalised”.
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Another doctor (!) that lived in one of the apartments until 1989 moved to Israel and then his flat of over 100 square metres was bought by a couple of medics (!!!). Before moving to a smaller one, these seniors have spent almost three decades in the flat that’s facing three directions of
the world, and then it was bought by two young businessmen who wanted to invest part of their money into real estate from the Interwar period. So we’re talking to Karolis Banys and Petras Gaidamavičius in an empty flat on the third floor: a few soft pieces of furniture in the centre of the living room, a painting torn in a cosy way that the new owners found in the basement, a chest of drawers that was bought elsewhere yet seems to fit here very well and… that’s it. The first impression is similar to
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What nudged you as investors to get into real estate of this particular period? Karolis: A few years back there were talks of modernist architecture of Kaunas being given the European heritage title by UNESCO. That was part of the motivation to invest in the objects on that list rather than in just old buildings. In my case, it was actually my piano teacher at school who had a strong influence on this decision: her father was a member of the parliament during the Interwar years and she used to show us charming photos from those days with peculiar details, clothes and specific sliding doors in people’s living rooms… Later I studied politics and took up history, this period in particular. Petras: My love for real estate began before this [laughs]. I was working with international trading and at one point it felt like I needed something more tangible, having in mind that all of my activities were Internet-based. I started travelling more, visiting cities like New York and Paris, and then, upon returning
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to Kaunas, I wanted to recreate the New York-like spirit here, but I certainly didn’t expect this!
Petras: We’ll see! And we hope to make the process public, even broadcast it.
Karolis: One of the first flats we visited three years ago was in the house of Juozas Daugirdas on Vytautas avenue. A spacious hallway, two living rooms that can be made into one for a ball, even particularities like the button to call servants while you’re in the bath… We were impressed by the functionality of the spaces and the design – our affection grew stronger with every new property we saw.
Karolis: By the way, we were very lucky as Gražina Janulytė-Bernotienė – one of the most famous architects of Kaunas – lives on the second floor. She loves the Interwar period and therefore cares a great deal about this building. She’s often consulting us.
I’m sure the interest in the Interwar years of Kaunas will increase dramatically as the year 2022 comes closer. We’re still hunting flats, but this one is special because it’s almost the same as it was long ago, and typically most homes we visit are redecorated, divided or the interior is changed or damaged.
Petras: It’s already open – we’re here, aren’t we? [laughs]
What vision do you have for this flat? How will you open it up to locals and guests?
Karolis: We don’t have a single answer to that yet, we’re considering options like turning it into an apartment which would be interesting for travellers who love architecture and modernism in particular. There are none of these in Kaunas at the moment as far as we know.
Petras: I think that’s because people who moved into such flats after the war didn’t create this beauty themselves. Karolis: Well, we won’t change anything here except for the pipes. Everything else will be restored to the original state, for instance, the radiator. We’ve found a company that makes old-fashioned radiators made of cast iron yet they’re much more economic now. Also, the bath and the kitchen will get wooden double windows back as now there are only plastic ones here. Petras: It seems like children have never lived in this flat since all of the glass on the doors is authentic and intact. Karolis: Some doors have frosted glass, while others have see-through
Petras: Tel Aviv was where we looked for ideas this year: one Bauhaus building with a hotel inside and art exhibitions taking place made an impression on us. There are artworks in every room and you can buy them.
one. The last owners told us that these might be from the Soviet period, but we’ve found identical see-through ones in the memorial museum of J. Gruodis during the museum night. The staff ensured us that those were authentic, so we now believe the ones in this flat are as well. Are the construction workers of Kaunas equipped to work with heritage objects?
Karolis: Why couldn’t this home have a pop-up gallery, restaurant or even theatre? We hope to finish the work in the beginning of next year. Come then and you’ll see. Do you have more real estate objects that you’d like to buy and transform into something interesting? Karolis: We’re reading commercial and individual ads every day, it has become a certain hobby of ours. So-
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the one at the renovated museum of M. K. Čiurlionis which was an exhibit itself in wintertime. Nevertheless, the flat is still waiting for restaurateurs so that when they’re finished with the work it could be visited by everyone, enjoyed by anyone who admires these Interwar beauties. People could try living here, organise exhibitions or dinners. Will there be more of such impressive non-flats with stories in Kaunas? That’s not a question for today, however we did meet Jūratė Tutlytė on our way in, and she’s responsible for the “Designing happiness” programme of Kaunas 2022.
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Petras: Some of these visits end on a sad note, for example, when an owner confesses to us that he or she destroyed all the elements of art deco so “there wouldn’t be any troubles with the heritage folks”.
Petras: It’s a bit too big for us yet we had various thoughts. For instance, an international museum could establish its branch there.
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Quite interesting and pragmatic, right? But how can businesses see more value in the cultural heritage? What’s the motivation to invest in the city’s culture itself?
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Karolis: Many businesspeople who don’t do it already simply lack some elementary facts. When you start to get to know the city, its history and architecture, you come to realise the value of it, both morally and financially. We have enough hotels that are plain hotels – they’re comfortable yet boring. Maybe people find it difficult to buy these objects? Some are divided into really peculiar parts, and one would have an impossible time buying these combinations. Petras: There’s a large number of heritage objects, obviously. We hear so much stories from the owners…
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Karolis: …also from our buddies, the press. Heritage protectors and other officers are mostly seen like monsters that come into your property and punish you. We want to protect the things that were created once, so we usually only get positive reactions and friendly help from any such professional.
In your opinion, how can we all “infect” youngsters with the flu of admiring such Kaunas-like objects? Especially those young people who will become the city’s ambassadors come 2022. Karolis: People like stories, so why not start there? Let’s say, tours with personal tales. I, for example, was fascinated by photos of parties, glasses, dancing, clothes… This was exotic and charming to me. Maybe kids today would find it interesting too. By the way, what do you as Kaunasians expect from the title of the European Capital of Culture? Karolis: We’re already getting positive outcomes from it. It’s a kind of renaissance of Kaunas: residents are more open and they’re finally beginning to understand what they really have. We’re all part of this resurrection. Will this bring happiness to the city? Will we get rid of our complexes? We’ll definitely have more events, activities and chances for people to see each other and act kindly.
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Petras: They’re also living in 2017 like we do, so there’s no need to fear these myths. Meet them and talk to them yourselves.
Karolis: I don’t see the problem in moving any international headquarters to such an object since the offices are not at all small there. Maybe that would fit start-ups? Or it could be a multifunctional building with private and public areas.
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Being asked what three spots of Kaunas would they recommend, the creators of the TV show “Stop Juosta” Jurgė Pridotkaitė and Svetlana Gužauskienė laugh and reply that they suggest watching all 30 episodes of the programme. 30 routes in Kaunas to discover architecture, aviation, communication, food and other affairs along with other captivating personalities. Personalities of the Interwar period who sacrificed their energy, time and finances, those who continued the work during the Soviet years and the ones that explore the city’s history and make sure the society is interested in it today. Every show is a constructive, vibrant dialogue between the past and present. A moment in time, a stopped instant. Thus the name “Stop juosta” [“Stop tape”].
The momentstopping “Stop tape” By Kotryna Lingienė and Kęstutis Lingys Photos by Donatas Stankevičius
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dienos” became “7 Kauno dienos”.
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After coming up with “Stop juosta”, we had to convince the channel that we do need another show. No one was really talking about culture in Kaunas at the time, but we are children of Laisvės Avenue – we thought we need to revive it, and the Kaunas branch of the Lithuanian National Radio and Television was just round the corner! People told us we should let the avenue die out instead of trying to do something about it. Gladly UNESCO believed in us and became the patrons of the show.
The team was awarded for being the best documentary TV show, and next season they will examine the traces of Kaunasian modernism in other cities, where architects from Kaunas used to live and work during the Interwar years. They won’t run away from Kaunas even while in Berlin, where they seem to have found a source of creative energy. “We visited Berlin more than a year ago to report on the exhibition of Kaunas modernism; it was later shown on the morning show of the Lithuanian national television. We invited the local architects to visit the show and present the Kaunas modernism on air”, producer and editor Jurgė says. We met her and
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the director Svetlana at the railway station – sounds of the trains helped us keep the tempo of the conversation. You’re both working on a TV show “Septynios Kauno dienos” [“Seven days of Kaunas”] too. How do you find the time and energy for another Kaunasian project “Stop juosta”? By the way, how long are you working together? Jurgė: I’ve worked in many TV channels, but I usually quit whenever I get bored. I used to watch Svetlana working and though “I wish I worked with her”. We met a few years back, when the TV show “Septynios Kauno
We both felt bad that Vilnius always got all the attention and the events, so we assembled a team which included artists, bankers and a few others. We did a lot of planning. Nothing happened at first, but a year went by and we remembered the initial project for “Stop juosta” and just turned those thoughts into actions. Maybe we were too ambitious in the beginning, however we’re doing what we know how to do best today. It’s great that some of the current activities in Kaunas are a result of our previous visions.
we’re not just the first ones to ask but also the last. Jurgė: Time is a crucial element of this project; “Stop juosta” is basically about stopping the valuable moments. When a few of our heroes died, we realised that this already is a historic show, even though we never aimed to earn any titles. Despite that, you’ve received the most important award in Lithuanian television – the “Pragiedruliai” prize. Keeping in mind your show’s impact on the city’s cultural processes, is that award related to the growing public’s attention given to Kaunas? Jurgė: When you’re raising a child for three years and then it starts making its first steps, you take it as natural progress. The kid is out of the diapers, now all it needs to do is keep on walking.
One of the most memorable moments of your show are the stories that people who used to work in the discussed objects tell. Their passion leads us to believe that you’re the first ones to ever ask them to share these memories. Is that really so?
We’re not that popular in Kaunas, usually we receive compliments from residents of other cities. There was a guy calling us from Samogitia, asking “what are you doing?”, and we actually thought about it for some time. Is there something wrong? What he actually meant was that he just can’t stop watching our show and he can’t pretty much do anything else when it’s on. People from Vilnius tell us how amazing everything looks here and that they will visit Kaunas soon.
Svetlana: It depends. Sometimes we have to convince them, then later it’s impossible to stop them. Anyway, it’s important to capture such moments as two of our show’s heroes – teacher Vytautas Sabataitis and industrialist Vytautas Narkevičius – have already passed away, so at times
This city is beautiful in a subtle way, one needs to look closer to see it. And we need to show it properly as well – there are architects, art critics and historians doing just that on our show (Jolita Kančienė, doc. dr. Vaidas Petrulis, doc. dr. Kastytis Antanaitis, librarian Alvydas Surblys etc.)
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famous plasticine artist Viačeslav Berežok. Yes, our vignette is made from plasticine!
Svetlana: Absolutely. For instance, we had many discoveries whilst walking around the musical theatre and discovering an art deco make up room with the architecture historian Jolita Kančienė, seeing the emotions of a researcher Vaidas Petrulis when stepping into the premises of the factory of artificial fibre and so on.
We see the love for Lithuania in the eyes of the heroes of our show. They respect their surroundings and their country, and that’s quite rare today. It’s as if they have some code of what it means to be Lithuanian in them, that’s a remarkable thing. Modern folks don’t really have it, so we might aim to achieve that.
Jurgė: By the way, we were probably the last ones to visit the mentioned old factory as the owners didn’t seem very happy about things looking like they’re in a bad condition on television. But we found it all very valuable. After the TV show aired, both us and them were happier. How old is your target audience? Jurgė: After a few initial shows, we received a letter from a school in Kaunas district. They thanked us for providing material they could show in leisure-time classes and asked us when more episodes would come out. Hence our audience happened to be the youth. Maybe that’s because we’re surrounded by young people. We spend hours on thinking about how we could present all of this history in a modern way, nurture the respect for it and make youngsters proud of their identity. The team of our show is also very young; first we hold them by the hands and then we’re surprised by amazing results. The cameramen are Rytis Titas and Marius Staronis, the material is edited by Juozapas Tamošiūnas and Akvilė Matulaitytė, the journalist is Justina Vertelkaitė and Lina Pranaitytė does the sound. The author of our vignette is the
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Svetlana: While exploring the data we’ve found in the national archives, we’ve even noticed how the faces of people differ during the Interwar years, Soviet period and now. The Interwar faces are full of love and freedom. That’s right, you do introduce objects from the Soviet era too. Have you been accused of romanticising that period? Svetlana: Can one romanticise history? It’s not something you can escape. Our aim is to show how the industry was formed during the Interwar and was then transformed and expanded during the Soviet occupation. Almost everything vanished after we regained independence. Jurgė: What we understood while making the show is that the industry here was destroyed by wild privatisation. It was 20 years ago. Svetlana: Yes. We were basically counting the ruins when we were creating shows about the industry. This is what young people should know about. History books will come later. Jurgė: At the same time, we discovered that people of the Interwar period did in fact work solely for the prosperity of Lithuania. Businesspeople invested in culture, education,
they supported artists. Those who had more than others were sharing their fortune. It was the norm and the Soviet regime disrupted it. What can we expect from the new season?
designed buildings all around Lithuania. Basically, we’ll connect all these locations and the stories different cities tell. The show will be joined by the likes of dr. Marija Drėmaitė, dr. Viltė Migonytė and a lot of architects and historians.
Jurgė: We’ll dig deeper into modernism, just on a national level now. Yet we won’t go far away from Kaunas as the architects who lived here
Another great thing is that our shows which are all available online on “LRT Mediateka” are now being translated into sign language.
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Do you discover interest things that you yourselves didn’t know while creating an episode?
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The “Merkurijus” section of the magazine introduces objects born or made in Kaunas, and it’s usually not limited by time. We’ve collected a bunch of publications, monographies, architectural guides and even two graphic novels to help people get to know Kaunas from very diverse angles. An almanac of cafeterias or an exploration of the city’s literary reflections can also become a valuable tourist guide, right? All books can be found in bookshops or, for instance, in the local public library’s shelves for research on Kaunas.
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Location: Kaunas Bus Station (Vytauto pr. 24, architect Gintautas Balčytis, 2017)
A comic “Miestų istorijos: Kaunas Romantics”
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“Valgyklų gidas”
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“Kauno Senamiestis. Keliautojo žinynas”
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“Kauno getas 19411944” [“Kaunas ghetto 1941-1944”] by Arūnas Bubnys
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“Elektros boikotas ir kiti pasakojimai apie smetoninę Lietuvą” [“Boycotting electricity and other tales of Smetona’s Lithuania”] by Gediminas Kulikauskas
(“Kaunas Old Town. Traveler’s Manual” by Vytenis Almonaitis and Junona Almonaitienė
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“Lietuvos tarpukario interjerai 1918-1940” [“Interiors of the Lithuanian Interwar 1918-1940”] by Lina Preišegalavičienė
[“Cafeteria guide”] by Virginija Januškevičiūtė and Indrė Klimaitė
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Kaunas” by several authors
A map “Pasišančinėkim” [”Let’s Šančiai a little“]
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“Laikinoji sostinė lietuvių literatūroje” [“The temporary capital in Lithuanian literature”] by
[“Kaunas 1918-2015. An architectural guide”] by several authors
[“Stories of cities: Kaunas Romantics”] by Asta Didžiokaitė and Vikas Vikutauskas
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“Kaunas 1918–2015. Architektūros gidas”
Viktorija Šeina
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“10 litų: Grafinė novelė apie Darių ir Girėną” (“10 Litas: A graphic novel about Darius and Girėnas”) by Miglė Anušauskaitė and Gerda Jord
“Progreso meteoras” [“The meteor or progress”] by Marija Drėmaitė
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“Tikrasis modernizmas: Nacionalinio M.K. Čiurlionio Dailės muziejaus istoriniam interjerui – 80 metų” (
“The Real Modernism: 80 Years Of M. K. Čiurlionis National museum of Art” by Lina Preišegalavičienė
A map “It’s Kaunastic: Sugihara Route”
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Calendar 07 27 – 08 27
Exhibition: “Leap in Time” Kaunas gallery, Vilniaus g. 2
The exhibition is showcasing the works by two of Germany‘s greatest photojournalists Erich Salomon and Barbara Klemm. Wednesday, 08 02, 19:00
Hospitality complex “Monte Pacis”, T. Masiulio g. 31
A total of 65 vinyl records of Lithuanian and foreign fairy tales are on exhibit at the museum. The amazingly beautiful vintage record sleeves, too! Friday, 08 04, 21:30
Movie: “The Midwife”
“Romuva” cinema (outdoor hall), Kęstučio g. 62 Catherine Frot and Catherine Deneuve headline this latest drama from writer-director Martin Provost, whose film ‚Seraphine‘ swept the Cesar awards in 2008.
In the open-air alley surrounded by lindens, the band will tickle your ears with some radically funny music that causes migraine for those searching for meaning.
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Vinyl exhibition: “How the fox outsmarted the wolf”
Saturday, 08 05, 11:30
Žaliakalnis Market Theatre Festival: “Short stories on…” Žaliakalnis market, Zanavykų g. 25H
The first play for kids by “Knygos teatras” (“Book Theatre”), based on the stories of Kęstutis Kasparavičius, has been staged in collaboration with Lithuanian Library for the Blind. Three different stories of the play can be touched, smelled, tasted, seen and heard.
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Saturday, 08 05, 20:00
08 11 – 08 25
Pociūnai aerodrome, Prienai district
Kaunas Castle, Pilies g. 17
Pažaislis Music Festival: “A Dedication to Natalie Cole”
Exhibition: “The Unbody/ Nekūnas”
Sunday, 08 06, 19:00
Lithuanian folk music history museum, L. Zamenhofo g. 12
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The open-air cinema of “Romuva” is screening the Norwegian reply to “Boyhood” shot by Aslaug Holm. It took her 8 years!
The musicians of Kaunas Big Band and vocalist Vilija Matačiūnaitė have prepared a program dedicated for the numerous Grammy winner and daughter of Nat King Cole, Natalie Cole.
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Live: “Antikvariniai Kašpirovskio dantys”
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Pažaislis Music Festival: “When Jazz, Classics and Afro-Cuban Rhythms Meet”
Babtynas-Žemaitkiemis manor, Babtai, Kaunas region
Treat yourself with a trip to a magnificent manor outside Kaunas and dive into the amalgamated sound of jazz, classics, African and Cuban rhythms. The star of the concert will be Havana-born vocalist Yilian Cañizares. Thursday, 08 10, 21:30
Movie: “Brothers”
The artist Marija Griniuk connects painting, video art, animation, installation and performance; her works speak of alternative societies and post-apocalyptic visions. The object of the exhibition has been created from vintage school uniforms.
Kaunas Castle, Pilies g. 17
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Calendar Friday, 08 11, 18:00
Pažaislis Music Festival: “The Music Sometimes Is So Peaceful”
Thursday, 08 17, 19:00
Live: “Orkesta Mendoza”
Raudondvaris manor, Pilies takas 1, Raudondvaris
Sixth Fort, K. Baršausko g. 101
August The open air cinema by “Romuva” invites you to see a 90-year old silent comedy by Buster Keaton. Sunday, 08 20, 18:30
Play: “Father” by August Strindberg August Strindberg spektaklis „Tėvas“
“Merope” is a world alternative music band presenting an unique synthesis of Lithuanian folk, original compositions, acoustic instruments and electronic music. Their music ripples like water and flickers like ancient patterns.
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National Kaunas Drama Theatre, Laisvės al. 71
Saturday, 08 12, 09:00 – 14:00
Šančiai Flea market
Šančiai kiosk, A. Juozapavičiaus pr. 64 The flea market of Šančiai is held every Saturday and Sunday in August. Come by to buy, sell, negotiate and get to know the colourful neighbourhood.
Kaunas Artists House, V. Putvinskio g. 56 Curated art residency “Centras” invites you to meet artists that are now in search of answers to their ideas in Kaunas. The participants of the residency will exhibit the results in October.
Movie: “Frost”
“Romuva” cinema (outdoor hall), Kęstučio g. 62 This band is one of the most interesting Latin music bands that is being led by charismatic Sergio Mendoza. This orchestra can sometimes have twenty members at the time. They create noisy, turbulent mambo and cumbia music with a splash of intense shade of psychedelic. The sound of this band is unearthly and qualitatively. Thursday, 08 17, 19:00
Live: “Garbanotas Bosistas” “Adform Kiemelis”, Rotušės a. 20
Thursday, 08 17, 21:30
Movie: “College”
Kaunas Castle, Pilies g. 15
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Presentation: Curated residency “Centras”
Tuesday, 08 22, 21:00
The music of the most popular bands in Lithuania at the moment is far from what one would call commercial sound. The hippyesque live set will make sure you’ll forget which year it is.
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Thursday, 08 22, 18:00
The play by August Strindberg has been directed by Māra Ķimele, one of the most famous theatre figures of Latvia. Originally staged at Klaipėda drama theatre, “Father” is now ready to meet Kaunasians. 08 21 – 08 25
Cinema camp “I Shoot Kaunas”
“Romuva” cinema, Kęstučio g. 62 Those lucky to be Kaunasian teenagers will participate in lectures and solve practical tasks; after editing movies they’ll also wander around Kaunas in excursions and orientation games.
Premiered in the Cannes, the newest movie by Šarūnas Bartas tells story of Rokas, a young Lithuanian man, who wanted to understand war in order to understand his people. On a convoy transporting humanitarian aid from Lithuania to the Ukraine, he meets a couple of reporters, a Man and a Woman, with whom he continues the road. Thursday, 08 24, 18:00
Excursion: “Discover Šančiai”
Šančiai Kiosk, A. Juozapavičiaus pr. 64 Part excursion, part orientational game is a great way to discover one of the liveliest and most colourful neighbourhoods of Kaunas: Šančiai.
More events pilnas.kaunas.lt
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Calendar Saturday, 08 26, 10:00
Festival: “Laisvės piknikas” (“Freedom Picnic”) Nemunas island
Organized by Lithuania’s most popular journalist Andrius Tapinas and his team, the festival is meant to become a playground of ideas, debates, workshops and answers.
Žaliakalnis Market Theatre Festival: Children‘s theatre laboratory
Event: “Zoo Wonderland”: Lithuanian Zoo, Radvilėnų pl. 21
Tigers and giraffes will dance to the sounds of “Indeed” quartet, “Trio Mediante” and Martynas Levickis with “SinChronic”.
Wednesday, 08 30, 19:00
Live: Rolandas Kazlas and “Pakeleiviai” band
Hospitality complex “Monte Pacis”, T. Masiulio g. 31
museum, Kaunas gallery and “Meno parkas” gallery to witness the opening of the 14th international photography festival. Later that night, photography projections will be screened at the valley of Kaunas Castle. 09 02 – 09
Sugihara Week Various locations
Sunday, 08 27, 18:00
Pažaislis music festival: Final Show
Organized for the first time, the event aims to perpetuate the memory of Japanese diplomat Chiune Sugihara who lived in Kaunas in 1939-40 and together with Dutch Consul Jan Zwartendijk saved thousands of Jewish lives. The Lithuanian, Japanese and Jewish nations will together in Kaunas to retell the story of Sugihara in the new light. Together with the central topic of Sugihara, other topics, such as the visible marks of Japan in Kaunas, discourses on humanism and tolerance, aspects of Japanese culture will be presented.
Pažaislis monastery, T. Masiulio g. 31
Žaliakalnis market, Zanavykų g. 25H
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Sunday, 08 27, 18:00
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The actor and singer Rolandas Kazlas will showcase his old and new songs in a concert that will last for more than two hours.
Two professional dancers will guide the children through a fantasy trip full of attractions and adventures.
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The music festival that lasted through the summer will be finished with the grand concert of Lithuanian State Symphonic Orchestra and Kaunas State Choir which will perform the Messa di Gloria by Giacomo Puccini.
Monday, 09 01
Kaunas Photo festival exhibition openings Various locations
Swing by the Kaunas art incubator, Lithuanian folk music history
More events pilnas.kaunas.lt
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pilnas.kaunas.lt
“Travelling means shaking off the halfpenny everyday dust, forgetting schemes of various sizes, reviving and refilling your inner self and becoming a greater person“
Antanas Poška (1903-1992) a prominent Lithuanian traveller, writer and anthropologist
KAUNAS FULL OF CULTURE Monthly magazine about personalities and events in Kaunas (free of charge)
Laisvės al. 59, third floor
Editorial office:
Authors: Andrijana Filinaitė, Anton Nabolotnyj, Artūras Bulota, Dainius Ščiuka, Donatas Stankevičius, Edvinas Grin, Eglė Šertvyčūtė, Inga Pažereckaitė-Kalėdienė, Julija Račiūnaitė, Kipras Šumskas, Kotryna Lingienė, Kęstutis Lingys, Liudas Barkauskas, Tautė Bernotaitė, Teodoras Biliūnas Patrons:
KAUNO MIESTO SAVIVALDYBĖ
RUN 100010COPIES. TIRAŽAS 000 EGZ.
ISSN 2424-4465
Leidžia: Publisher:
2017 2017 Nr. Nr. 82 (23) (18)