KAUNAS FULL OF CULTURE AUGUST 2019

KAUNAS FULL OF CULTURE

Faith

2019 AUGUST Illustration by Gie VilkÄ—

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It is always interesting to find coincidences in the diversity of the world, which allows us to believe that we all are, if not siblings, then at least cousins. The most striking coincidence in the August calendar is the very middle of the month, when Christians all over the world celebrate the Assumption. For Lithuanians, this date has long been known as Žolinė, the time when summer meets autumn; when the most important fieldwork had already been completed.

The future’s bright On this day, the Romans worshipped the goddess of plants and animals – Diana, and the Greeks worshipped Artemis. Muslim holidays, as you may know, have no fixed dates, but perhaps the closest festivity to that (at least in its purpose) would be Eid al-Adha the Feast of the Sacrifice. And this year it culminates precisely on the 15th of August. Is it a coincidence? Doubtfully.

A stone’s throw from the Christ’s Resurrection Basilica is a much smaller yet still fascinating sacral object. More on the Lenartavičius chapel and others in Kaunas on the next page.

Photo by Donatas Stankevičius.

So, in August, let’s talk about faith.

Faith is both the backbone that helps solve the critical daily issues and a road-map, a vision that gives hope and inspiration to live beyond this day. And it doesn’t matter which religious of philosophical community (and maybe none of those) you belong to. Still, something forces you to get out of bed every day and conquer the day.

How does faith help unite the community, how it nurtures it, and how not to get closed in your own shell and remain relevant today and in the future while maintaining your distinctive

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traditions? There are many answers to these questions in Kaunas, and often they are very similar even though there are plenty of different communities. We were unable to fit them all in fifty pages. We said hi to the Kaunas Hasidic Synagogue community representative, had a meeting next to the mosque of Kaunas, climbed the mound in Šančiai and kindled fire on a Romuvian altar. We wondered whether music could bring people to the house of prayer (twice!). We also went to the museums where the spirit of theosophy is still alive. An article about the city’s now extinct shrines wraps the issue up.

And do you know what highlight of Kaunas, if absent, would deprive the city of colours (well, at least the orange one)? The members of Society for Krishna Consciousness, who dance through Laisvės alėja and Vilnius Street every Friday. After seeing them, we usually renew our Instagram profile. Do not miss our next meeting by following the #kaunaspilnas hashtag.

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Chapel (Latin cappella) means cloak or coat. The name derives from a chamber where St. Martin’s cloak was held. This Roman soldier and a saint had once cut the cloak in half to share it with a frozen pauper. The next night, Christ appeared to the soldier in a dream, wrapped in the part of the cloak that Martin had given to the pauper. In the Middle Ages, St. Martin’s cloak was a desired relic and people started calling all smaller buildings of religious purpose chapels. One of the most famous is the Sistine Chapel, where the Pope is elected.

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Six cloaks

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Julija Račiūnaitė Photo by Donatas Stankevičius

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We visited 6 chapels with different aesthetic features, sizes, and forms in Žaliakalnis, Šančiai, Romainiai, Kalniečiai, Vilijampolė and Panemunė districts. Most of them were built in the last 30 years, after Lithuania regained its independence, although the Lenartavičius Chapel, hidden in one of the courtyards of Žaliakalnis, has been standing here since 1925.

It is said that nobleman Liudvikas Lenartavičius and his wife Brigita built the chapel to commemorate their dead child. Human bones discovered during the restoration of the chapel in 2004 can attest to that (by the way, the restoration was funded by all the residents of Vaistinės backstreet and implemented by the engineer Leonardas Savickas-Pelėda).

Thanks to another exciting story, The Lithuanian Chapel of Freedom was opened in Vilijampolė in 1994.

Juozas and Stefanija Stašauskas have bought a wooden house with a garden there in 1947 (because of her rose garden people would refer to Stašauskienė as ‘queen of roses’).

In 1966 the couple visited Poland. In a shop of religious merchandise in Slupsk, they purchased the statue of the Virgin Mary for 160 zlotych. After packing the figure in cardboard, they successfully crossed the Lithuanian border guarded by the Soviet guards and returned home. The owners started believing in the grace provided by the statue when around 1969 J. Stašauskas, who had become terminally ill, miraculously recovered.

Kaunas Blessed Jurgis Matulaitis Home Chapel

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Kaunas Blessed John Paul II Chapel

But the chapel was raised in the private Staťauskas’ garden only in 1992 after the independence.

The well-being of most chapels is closely related to the personal initiative of the residents, so it is clear that chapels are essential to communities in different areas of Kaunas. As you get closer to these structures, as if out of nowhere, concerned neighbours appear; some clanking the chapel keys, others wanting to tell about its maintenance, the planned repair or simply about their day spent in a sacred shadow of the chapel.

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LenartaviÄ?ius Chapel

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Lithuanian Freedom Chapel

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PanemunÄ— Our Lady of the Gate of Dawn, Mother of Mercy Chapel

Romainiai Chapel

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Liudas Truikys and the Nazarene sculpture.

Photo by Algimantas Žižiūnas. Circa 1980. Archive of ČDM

It is 1932. A warm August day, noon. In a quick pace, you are walking through Laisvės Avenue towards Konradas’ cafe.

You can’t wait to share coffee and some news with a couple of your friends. You step through the door and notice the bustle: the waiters move about hurriedly, wine corks are popping, the plates are lining up on the table. Gudaitis is passionately discussing something with Petrėnas, you nod to Galaunė; Herbačiauskas sitting a bit further away is sipping 60-cent black coffee, Kirša is marking something on paper, bored ladies of Kaunas are sitting in a thick cloud of cigarette smoke, traditionally armed with coffee, cakes and a new yo-yo toy that just came from Paris.

East, West and the cosmic energy in old Kaunas Agnė Abromaitytė

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Not even a single free table, damn it! At the bar, you notice a slightly opened door and behind it a half-empty room. You boldly move towards it, but the chief waiter stops your way, “Sorry, sir, but this room is for the private Theosophical circle only.”

Theosophy was an esoteric belief prevalent at the end of the 19th century and early 20th century. It, however, dates back to much earlier time: it is said that theosophists existed well before the Christian era - both in the Ptolemaic dynasty and in ancient Alexandria. But the foundations of the era which has gained the most attention were laid by Russian-born scientist and philosopher Helena Blavatsky, who founded the Theosophical Society in New York in 1875.

The main pillar of the theosophical faith is pure truth, which is to be discovered in the synthesis of various religions. Much importance is attached to the human spirit and empirical senses, and it is believed that the connection with God can be discovered with one’s own strength – through forms of practice, intuition, contemplation, and meditation. There is no supreme teacher in Theosophy, Buddha, Krishna, Mithra, and Christ come together – it is left to the believer to decide whether to follow one or all of them.

It is quite curious to realize that this archaic, mystical and exotic-sounding faith spread throughout interwar Lithuania. However, it is worth remembering that the provisional capital kept pace with all the European standards and all the winds of fashion were successfully turning our windmills. The rudiments of Theosophy were brought to Kaunas

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from Paris by opera singer Marijona Rakauskaitė, who worked as a lawyer’s secretary in the big city. After returning to Kaunas, she soon became friends with one of the city’s creme de la creme members, writer, and literary critic Juozapas Herbačiauskas, who was personally interested in various mystical phenomena, esotericism, and Eastern philosophy, so the rays of Theosophy also caught Herbačiauskas’ eye.

Lithuanian art is our roots which we use to anchor ourselves.

Quite a few legends about Herbačiauskas’ abilities are still floating around. The favourite of Kaunas ladies at the time was popular for various reasons, but everyone who knew him said that the writer had the power of hypnosis.

For example, Herbačiauskas is sitting in the corner at some party, quite dismal. He tilts his head back, says something ironic and suddenly disappears. As if with a click of a finger, he leaves himself, stops reacting to his surroundings or people talking to him. It is said that this would take about 15 minutes, then he would return to a conscious state.

One student of the writer once said that when the daughters of noble

and wealthy Lithuanian families one by one started succumbing to the fate of ‘white slaves’ (‘white slaves’ are girls from very good families, with good education and therefore fit for high-class prostitution. They would be kidnapped and shipped to South America and other parts of the world), professor Herbačiauskas would teach that if they got in trouble, they should focus and try to get in touch with him via their thoughts. So, when one unlucky girl had fallen into the hands of these merchants, they locked her behind three doors and put three men to guard her. Upon realizing that there is no way out because nobody – neither her parents nor friends – knew where she was, the girl remembered Herbačiauskas’ teaching. She conjured up the teacher’s face in her mind, and after focusing her thoughts started to call for help. After recollecting herself, she saw that the door was open. Not one, but all three, and all the guards were simply asleep. That is how the girl escaped and people who were with Herbačiauskas at the time testified to his 15-minute withdrawal.

Another major cultivator of Theosophy was Vydūnas, who was interested in various Eastern philosophies, read the Eastern scriptures, Blavatsky’s texts and Bhagavad Gita (one of the most important Hindu religious texts) that he was translating at the time. At Telšiai Gymnasium, Vydūnas peculiarly and indirectly was teaching his students (among them was Liudas Truikys) how to understand Theosophy. He would take them outside and teach them how to observe nature. He combined Eastern wisdom and foreign teaching with the importance of Lithuanian origin.

Truikys actively integrated Vydūnas’ teachings into his daily routine and perception of the world. Once, the scenographer asked Vydūnas how could he understand the meaning of his birth (this specific one, because Truikys strongly believed in reincarnation) and Vydūnas answered, “You are a great man, Liudas, a very talented one, yet distracted.

If you want to justify your birth, it is enough for you to put your feet on the ground each morning you wake up. This will be the first word in your prayer. All activities of the day must be like a prayer, as a justification of your birth. How you use your creative powers is one word of prayer, how you eat - another, and how you talk to people yet another. As you lie down in the evening, consider how your daily prayer was, whether it was fitting of God.” Initiated by the doctor Nadežda Serafinienė, the official Roerich Theosophical Society was established in Kaunas, in 1935.

Kaunas singer and actress Julija Dvarionaitė-Montvydienė was suggested to lead the society. She was assisted by artists Petras and Domicelė Tarabilda, Truikys, Rakauskaitė, and Herbačiauskas. Theosophy fashion was spreading in the speed of light, with the help of Roerichians, the Agni Yoga Societies and on its own accord – during afternoon teas and visits. But of course, the theosophical circle in the temporary capital was not very wide. Although the interest was immense, theosophists were very selective in their choice of new members. The members of the group realized that pure faith could not come from the desire to follow fashion, so all the bored Kaunas ladies and young students were filtered out. To be a theosophist, first

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Another reason was, of course, the high risk during the Soviet period.

Because of that, theosophists often gathered not only in Konradas’ cafe’s little room but also in the homes of the society’s members. Truikys was traditionally visited by three trusted and loyal people at a time. Strong black jasmine blossom tea would be steaming, incense burning and

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Truikys’ suggestive story or teaching could be heard. But for the things Truikys was saying, he was unequivocally threatened by mental asylum or prison. One interrogator had even once uttered to him, “There will be plenty of Siberia for all of you, vegetarians and theosophists.”

During the meetings of theosophists, the members would discuss and share knowledge, sensations, and realizations. Someone would read aloud a page from some scripture, then everyone would rethink what it might mean. During the interwar period, intellectuals spoke at least 3 languages – Lithuanian, French, German, Russian, and sometimes English. Most of the theosophical writings were in German, so those who spoke the language could explain texts to others.

A person who wanted to join the theosophists had to introduce himself to a member. They would communicate, go eat together or take a walk and the theosophist would observe whether the novice’s brain was working in the right speed. He/ she would determine that from speech, manners, gesticulation even the timbre and loudness of the voice. The overall harmony of the person would show if he/she was to find himself in Theosophy. Sometimes the truth sought by a candidate could be offered by the church, so theosophists were trying to protect people’s consciousness from the flow of information because Theosophy is essentially the teaching of all religions.

By the way, when it comes to the church, the priests had plenty of work during the interwar period.

During confessions, they would ask the gorgeous ladies if they were not, by any chance, interested in Theosophy, and after hearing a

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The Buddha sculptures.

Photo by A. Abromaitytė.

The house of Truikys and Rakauskaitė. Photo by A. Abromaitytė.

positive answer, they tried to suppress their curiosity with Hail Mary.

Theosophists themselves had nothing against the institution of the church, they merely asserted that no religious path had the right to declare itself the only right one.

According to them, there is one root from which all branches stem and none of the branches has the right to despise the root or the branch of one’s brother.

Such thinking is a large part of the teaching of Theosophy. The synthesis of faiths, religions, and cultures.

This was clearly reflected in Truikys’ teachings – when he asked students what culture they were interested in and hearing the most exotic answers – Japan, China, and India, Truikys would not miss an opportunity to emphasize that Lithuanian art is our roots which we as personalities, use to anchor ourselves. And the rigmarole of branches depends on us and can be the most diverse.

The scenographer also maintained this synthesis in his own home: for example, guests were offered to touch a small 12th-15thcentury bronze sculpture from Tibet, which he kept on his desk and believed it

was the source of energy that inspired people to create. And right there, in another room, the statue of a very Lithuanian Nazarene could be found, standing, as Truikys himself said, “on the centre of the universe.” That centre – under the sculpture – was where Truikys stored white wine for his guests.

Kaunas raised its cultural bar skyhigh almost a hundred years ago.

Quite a nice fact was that it was the intelligentsia that dictated the fashion of the whole city. The residents of Kaunas were determined to read strange Oriental manuscripts that could have caused them to lose their minds. And I believe that more than one student, following Truikys’ example, would not draw their curtains at night for the blue moon and starlight to spread inside and in the form of creative energy help them get out of bed at 4 am.

Thanks to Sigita Šilingaitė, guides Rasa and Dalia Bieliūnaitė from L. Truikys and M. Rakauskaitė Memorial Museum as well as head of J. Zikaras Memorial Museum Rasa Jonė Ruibienė for all the stories and teachings.

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Truikys would tell his students who really wanted to be theosophists, “You have to grow up for that. Not only the matters of your spirit and soul must be strong but the mind itself.” He even advised some not to read Blavatsky’s texts. There was a case when one student, who ignored the teacher’s warnings and tried to deepen her knowledge of Theosophy on her own, broke down, went completely mad and ended her days in a psychiatric hospital.

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and foremost, meant to be educated.

Secret knowledge was passed only to a strong person who was mentally and psychologically prepared.

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The Romuvian flame

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After the Christianization of Lithuania in the 14th century, the eternal flames on the Baltic stone altars got rekindled in the second half of the 20th century when Baltic religious community Romuva was formed. It soon found its way to Kaunas. Although not yet officially recognized, this community fosters Baltic traditions. The senior priest of Kaunas Romuva, Valdas Pukas maintains an active Romuvian community in Kaunas.

Thanks to him, a new stone altar was built, Perkūnas oak boulder calendar was set up, and feasts are being celebrated to which he invites all interested. He invited us for a chat in Šančiai, next to the Romuvian stone altar.

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Aistė Bielevičiūtė Photo by Teodoras Biliūnas

How did this faith appear in your life? Have you always been a member of this community?

My parents were Catholic, I am baptized, but I was never given a choice.

At school, I was very interested in history and nature, the class teacher was like a second mother to me, she provided me with spirituality. When I had children myself, a question came up – what should I do now?

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Should I follow the same traditions and baptize them? I realized that I wanted to help them choose the faith they wanted to take. And together with them, I realized that my place is in Romuvian faith. When I brought them to the oak, they nestled up to it, and I blessed them. I just felt that this is how it should be. After that, I started to deepen my knowledge.

I have been an active member of this faith for 28 years. I call myself a

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There are no registered holy places in Kaunas. However, almost all sacred sites have similar features: they are located in nature, on mounds, near the river. There are several stone altars in Kaunas; in Vieškūnai, Veršvos, Aukštieji Šančiai and in the confluence of Nemunas and Neris rivers, known as Santaka. I do not consider the altar in Santaka sacred because it was not built for that purpose. Although the place is wonderful and energetically good, as two rivers meet there, but it was built during the Soviet occupation, on the school grounds, next to the stadium, and was meant to be lit during various celebrations. It is not very suitable because of its shape too, as the altar is square, with sharp angles. Although the Romuva of Kaunas used to meet next to it, we had decided to build a genuinely appropriate altar in Aukštieji Šančiai were we all gather now.

How do people usually get to know your religion?

Mostly they notice us while passing by when we celebrate our festivities. People find it memorable. Also, the information spreads by word of mouth, via the internet, social networks. Some learn about our religion when they organize a wedding in nature, near the stone altar, which has recently become very popular and, in my opinion, stunning. We try to involve children in our various holidays, they even prepare different plays. Not only they find it fun to stand in a circle, share bread and sing – the parents enjoy observing that too.

How does faith manifest in your daily life?

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Where and what are the sacred places for Romuvians in Kaunas?

of nowhere. I take this as a kind of sign that the place is really good and could be sacred. We have established a sort of community with our neighbours, and we often meet at the altar during the holidays, light it and sing sutartinės (Lithuanian multipart songs) or other songs. During the festivities of all the Romuvian community, we gather here in Aukštieji Šančiai.

I start each day by getting on a bike and riding to the oak grove of Žemieji Šančiai where I have my oak tree. First, I salute the sun because none of us would be alive without it, then I honour the oak and after that Perkūnas and Praamžis. I have a shrine, an altar at home, and I usually light it up during various holidays.

When my first grandson was born, a small oak tree grew near my altar.

Definitely not planted by me, just out

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Negative comments come from ignorance.

What happens during the ritual of initiation into the Romuvian faith?

How does modern society value your religion? What kind of comments do you hear?

It takes place during the celebration of the first spring verdure, otherwise known as Jorė (St. George’s Day). Lithuania is so beautiful at the time, there is nothing prettier than all the different hues of green. It all takes place in Molėtai district, near Kurlioniai mound, where all Romuvians of Lithuania gather. All who wish to be initiated must repeat the oath, and each Romuvian has his or her sign that the high priest blesses during the initiation. My sign is the symbol of the sun – the serpents that create the eternal circle of life. Later we spend time together. It is the most beautiful and most significant festival of Romuva which, by the way, is visited by many young people. Any person can attend this or any other celebration. You can observe from the side, but those who really want to feel the energy it creates are always welcome to join the circle and participate together.

They react differently, I have heard all kinds of comments. However, I understand that those negative comments come from ignorance.

We have been called a sect and many other names. We also experience malicious acts. The altar was smashed twice, and the bark from the oak was peeled off. But when people witness out festivities and get to know our activities, negative comments cease. Either way, they only make us stronger.

How have traditions changed since pre-Christian times? What ancient traditions have to be abandoned? Perhaps new ones have emerged?

There are not too many new traditions, but we are always rediscovering old traditions, such as weddings at the altar in nature, the blessing of the child or the giving of a name. A newer tradition came from various folk artists who portray the ancient world and Baltic traditions in their works. This is a great way to get to know our faith. We also maintain the tradition of Romuva camp, which is organized by the high priestess Indraja Trinkūnienė. It includes lectures, hikes, dance lessons and so on.

How does your community feel about the recent failure of the parliament to grant the status of a religious community to Romuva?

This decision is shocking, it is an absolute misunderstanding. I think it was due to the bishop’s letter. People have even begun to tarnish Romuva.

Our community was offended by the decision, but on the other hand, it shows how strong and vibrant we are if someone feels the need to oppose it so strongly. I will put it simply. Those who voted against, and who are tarnishing us so actively are the descendants of the Crusaders. Our faith is known worldwide, even the Dalai Lama recognizes us. We were shaken by the decision, it showed how tolerance is still lacking in Lithuania.

After all, our faith doesn’t bother anyone, we are not trying to influence the church, and yet, even in independent Lithuania, we still do not receive recognition. Currently, we have made an electronic petition to the European Court of Human Rights, which can be signed by anyone who disagrees with the parliament’s decision. It is not a complaint but a publicizing of the fact, a statement that says this behaviour is wrong.

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confessor of the old Lithuanian faith.

The most important thing for me is nature and seeking harmony with it, I don’t want anything else in life. It is harrowing to see someone hurting nature or not protecting it.

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The stone mosaic of Jesus Christ created

by Juozas Mikėnas and Boleslovas Adomas Motūzas, hanging on the facade of the church of the Blessed Sacrament, is probably familiar to all Kaunas residents. However, until recently, only a very few believers would open the door of this baroque church. The history of this church located in the old town is genuinely complex. In the 19th century, it was ravaged by the French army on their way to Moscow, and later it served as a jail and a school. In Tsarist Russia, the church was converted into an Eastern Orthodox church, during the Soviet Period it served as a book warehouse, and in 1963 cinema Santaka was opened there. Finally, after the restoration of independence, the church was returned to Catholics, and a chapel was set up.

“So far, this is an experiment!”

Justė Vyšniauskaitė Photos by Teodoras Biliūnas

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How did the idea of opening the space of Sakramentas come about?

Indrė Grikšaitė: It all started with the desire of Kaunas Old Town Society’s board to bring this building to life again. Minvydas and Liuda Znaidauskas were the people who formed the team and initiated the dialogue between the church and Kaunas Old Town residents. At the end of March, a charity evening was held to raise the initial amount of money

needed to make the place functional. People started to gather around M. and L. Znaidauskas - talented Kaunas residents who volunteered to do something useful for this project. Those who could - contributed financially, others gave their time, donated things, and so on. This project would not have been possible without such people as journalist Brigita Sabaliauskaitė, the head of Kaunas Old Town Society Ona Peičiūtė and the cultural activity manager of the concert organization Kauno santaka Daiva Morkūnaitė. We want this initiative to develop communally, voluntarily and without any defined responsibilities.

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In May, a new cultural organization called Sakramentas was established in the premises. Thousands of people can fit inside during events.

Gytis Petras Stumbras, Rector of the Church, and Indrė Grikšaitė, Project Manager at Sakramentas (in picture below), explained how a secular cultural organization and a religious community came together under one roof, how they imagine the church in the future and how this space will be useful to Kaunas.

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Why did the church decide to allow a cultural, artistic project into sacred spaces?

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Father Gytis Petras Stumbras: First of all, the church as an institution is open to every person, to his different vocations and various talents. When you see a building in deplorable condition decaying in the heart of the city, you start thinking about where you can ask for help.

The first inspiration for such projects came from the former Kaunas Metropolitan bishop Lionginas Virbalas SJ. A few weeks later, I met other initiators: Minvydas and Liuda Znaidauskas, representatives of Kaunas Old Town Society who were enthusiastic about similar ideas, showing concern and wishing for the church to be renovated. Cultural and artistic activities are a few of many ways to attract many different people, who, according to their capabilities, could become sponsors.

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unique. However, we can find more examples of similar activities in the world and in Lithuania.

One of them is St. Catherine’s Church in Vilnius, were both sacred and other types of concerts take place. Do you see spaces that work on a similar principle as a source of inspiration? Do you gain knowledge when developing your activities?

I. G. Church around the world has a lot of property that it can’t handle by itself, and at the same time, it does not want to keep the property only for the churchgoers. I am actively interested in what is happening in Germany and England, where there are many similar spaces. There are also some great examples of open churches in Lithuania. However, there is often a difference in how we operate. Usually, the religious community itself is looking for ways to reach a wider public, which is very encouraging but in Sakramentas things happened in the opposite direction: the public came to the church and suggested the events that could take place here. This project will be different than examples in Berlin or Vilnius, but it will take some time for Sakramentas to develop its trademark. I think it is essential to believe in the project and allow it to develop organically, then it will grow as a living organism or personality does.

This space is still brand new.

Sakramentas opened its doors in May during Kaunas’ birthday.

What have you managed to do since then?

I.G. The activity can be divided into two parts: technical and cultural. The first includes all the works

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Perhaps the key attraction of our opening event was a concert by Vilhelmas Čepinskis and a chamber orchestra. There was also an exhibition r e m i n i s c e n t i a curated by Jūratė Tutlytė. With it, we wanted to encourage the public to discover art outside the white gallery walls and also to draw people’s attention to the condition of the building. Within three days, we were visited by as many as 20,000 people.

After that, we calmed down a little and devoted our time for developing a more concentrated, more comprehensive and better-quality program. A few weeks later, we invited Kaunas residents and guests to new events: concerts, plays, performances, discussions, and exhibitions. We have already hosted an impressive play Homo by Tadas Almantas, Zan Hoffman’s live sound and light performance, and a grand concert by the bands Flash Voyage and Abudu.

We wanted young people not to be afraid to come into this building and realize that church space can be fun, attractive and open to them.

During these events, young people have been trusted, and they proved that they can come together and have fun but remain respectful and orderly.

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How does sacred space determine the program of events?

Father G. P. S. When you hear such a question, the words of Bishop Algirdas Jurevičius, Apostolic Administrator of the Kaunas Archdiocese, uttered in the Sakramentas space come to mind, “So far, this is an experiment!” And that is true. Currently, the events are not screened too carefully, but, in the future, we expect to have only a high-level program.

I.G. Common sense is what you need most to avoid straying from the path. The place cannot turn into a nightclub, and we must prove that a concert is not a messy thing.

Mass leaves one with a feeling of elevation and happiness - art can have such an effect as well. I think that religion and art, spirituality and creativity are very strongly linked.

What does the religious community think of the events that take place here?

Father G. P. S. As far as the religious community is concerned, one should start with bishops, priests and representatives of various religious institutions. Of course, Bishop A. Jurevičius, as a shepherd, will always encourage paying particular attention to ensure that the sacred would not be violated or profaned. My position as a priest is the same, but that does not mean that only religious events should take place here. Other religious institutions representatives’ opinions are as diverse as of the churchgoers who visit the church of the Blessed Sacrament.

How do religious and cultural activities currently fit with the church?

Father G. P. S. These activities do not interfere with each other. Of course, once in a while, there is resentment from the churchgoers, but everything is adequately explained to them to avoid misunderstanding.

I. G. Mass is held daily in the church chapel and events are held on the second floor on the stage at a time that does not interfere with religious ceremonies.

Father G. P. S. Today, everything is coordinated with the church rector and the administrator appointed by the Old Town Society. In the future, according to the Bishop’s request, more members should be elected from the religious side to maintain a balance between the ecclesiastical and the secular.

We keep coming back to the idea that this space should be open to secular culture. But how important it is for you to involve the religious community in this activity and offer a program that would be interesting to the religious people?

I. G. Of course, this is extremely important to us. We seek to reduce fear; the secular people’s fear of the church and the church’s concern for what is considered ungodly. Many disagreements and misunderstandings stem from ignorance and misunderstanding. I believe that a non-religious person can make an open, humane and warm contact with any priest - the old invisible walls and barriers would then quickly crumble. We strive to make this space a place for such dialogue and connection. From my own experience, I can say that in just a few months, father G. P. Stumbras has radically changed my attitude to-

wards the church. I realized that a priest is not only that, he is also a person with a normal life and often a creative personality. I think that many clergymen have a hidden artist inside themselves and they need to be given more opportunities to self-actualize and not only during the Mass. Perhaps Sakramentas could become a place facilitating that.

What are the future plans for Sakramentas?

I. G. I really want this project to move naturally. I think cultural activities such as theatre, concerts, cinema, and educational activities will fit under this roof. As the weather cools down, we will revive the idea of a wonderful cinema Santaka.

Kaunas should regain it at least in the form of a recurring event. We plan on showing good classic movies that are no longer shown in modern cinemas. Also, there are many discussions on faith planned. We want Kaunas to learn how to talk, so we could find the best ways on how not to distance ourselves and be open with one another.

I can’t tell when this building will turn solely into a church, but there will definitely be cultural activities in the next five years. The main goal is to invite people to interact.

Father G. P. S. The future is always in the hands of God and well-meaning people. I hope that this building will remain open not only to Catholic but also to public activities. It is my dream to have a never-ending Eucharistic adoration of the Blessed Sacrament, to hold the Mass in the church every day because that is the only way to preserve the identity of this building and the title of the Blessed Sacrament.

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that are necessary to maintain this space. We raised funds needed in half a year, most of which were donated during a charity event. With this money, we were able to install a pavement, stage, we fixed the stairs, fixed and secured the walls, and installed electricity. There was no way to raise enough money for a total restoration, so we did everything we could to make the exterior of the building recover and started our cultural activities. We hope that it will attract the attention of potential sponsors and supporters.

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“Let’s meet at Puškinas Gymnasium at half-past two,” Iseris Šreibergas, the chairman of Kaunas Hasidic Religious Community, finishes a very brief conversation on the phone. It didn’t take long to convince him to tell us about a very small community, which, despite being quite tiny today, has a long history in Kaunas and Lithuania. We also got him to touch upon some of the features of Judaism because I had competent counsel Simonas Davidavičius, who runs the Sugihara house. He is a member of this community but has been seriously preoccupied with tourist groups during the summer, and therefore has entrusted me to a well-read man he has known since childhood. Both of them, post-war children, attended the (currently) Nemunas Elementary School in Aukštieji Šančiai.

They are native residents of Kaunas.

The deeper, the cleaner Kotryna Lingienė Photo by Dainius Ščiuka

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Running up a narrow staircase full of prints in Russian and Yiddish as well as Maccabi teams’ sports awards, I. Šreiberis shows us the premises of Kaunas Jewish Community (it unites around 300 people) located close by.

The communities are closely linked, and we could even say overlapping.

We start talking before sitting down.

“We, Hasidic Jews, do not record the number of our members – everyone has the right to be here. But about 24-28 people contribute. The community is getting older, so, sometimes, when the service takes place before the Sabbath, we are faced with a certain problem. Based on a Jewish tradition, when you want to say a communal prayer, you must have at least ten men whose mothers are Jewish. Before, in the community court, ten people also need to be for or against. Why ten? The explanation is in Torah, Bereshit, the fourth chapter. Essentially, everything is explained in the Torah. Part of it was written down, and part is transmitted in spoken word, therefore, in life, a teacher is necessary. And by the age of fifty, a Jewish person should become one. “If he doesn’t, he lived in vain. Imagine – you work hard and then die, and nothing remains.

Everyone wants to be remembered.

And if you have a successor, your work lives and becomes stronger.” Of course, all of it is a theory. In practice, i.e. the evolution of the global economy has made it difficult for a fifty-year-old to leave the job market. But let’s move on to the topic of death and the continuation of ideas.

What lies in the cemetery is only matter (and it is decaying), so Jewish people do not have such traditions as Lithuanians, for example. Let’s agree that a large part of our society spends a great deal of time in

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cemeteries. Jews believe in the need to separate death and life. Judaism is the religion of life, and death is no heaven. The most important thing is what you did on earth. Therefore, the biggest punishment, a kind of a curse, is “for your name to be forgotten.” According to I. Šreibergas, the names of mean-spirited people and killers should not be uttered over and over again. It is better to forget them. He says that one should protest only when those names are celebrated. And now, a time for gentle irony, “You know, sometimes I would like for all the villains to not be Jewish so that all the good people would be Jewish.”

Another tradition we have discussed – the Sabbath – a weekly day of celebration and prayer that begins on Friday, during sunset and ends on a Saturday evening, is dedicated to renewing the connection with God. And in more earthly terms – if you finish work and don’t commemorate that, where’s the pleasure? Where’s the joy in buying a car and keeping it in the garage all the time? Therefore, it is necessary to rest. During the Sabbath, it is expected not to do your actual job; one should also not drive, cook, turn on the lights or press the elevator button. Modern technology allows to “alleviate” traditions, but they are traditions for a reason.

Therefore, according to Šreibegras, it is wrong when a person is waiting for the end of the Sabbath, suffering that he cannot pick up the phone while someone is calling him or her.

That takes away the meaning of the day dedicated to rest. “In that case, it is better not to follow the Sabbath.”

And that will not mean that you stop being Jewish. I. Šreibergas says that there are no non-believer Jewish people – there are only the ones who don’t adhere to traditions.

So how is Judaism fundamentally different from other religions?

“Jewish religion goes from top to bottom, not to the width. Christians or Muslims strive to have as many members of their faith in the world as possible, but we do not care much about it, quite the opposite, if you wanted to convert to Judaism, Jewish people would seriously challenge you

My four sisters live there. I will go soon to visit them for a month, but moving there? I don’t think so. My place is here.

three times to make sure you are not seeking it for your benefit.” According to the Kaunas resident, it hides a certain Jewish tragedy in it, “People treat other people with different religious beliefs (Jewish refer to them as ‘goy’) differently and in the world, this is considered a bad thing, but I think it is good – I treat you according to

your laws. Imagine, if a basketball player starts to play football, he has to follow the rules of football.” The unwillingness of the Jewish people to impose their traditions on others was seen as self-exclusion, says Šreibergas. “We had taken vows, and you didn’t. You have the right to eat pork, I will not harass you for it, but I can demand my people to shy away from doing so.” We could talk about the rules of kashrut (kosher) for hours, but it is all explained in the Torah.

It is essential to mention here that the Torah, while being the most important book, the essential source of knowledge, is not the law. It is an instruction. Reading it over and over again as years go by, a person obviously finds new meanings. Here we return to the principle of verticality. There is no need to increase the number of people who glanced at it because it will not be a nation anymore – that many people will not be able to understand each other, but rather deepen the knowledge of it in the family and community over and over again. After all, the deeper the well, the cleaner the water, right?

Let’s agree, I. Šreibergas’ ability to find simple, understandable explanations for all life’s questions is fascinating. It is a trait of a teacher. However, he does not call himself a rabbi.

He says that in case of a favourable situation if a rabbi would come to Kaunas, he would gladly help him establish a connection with the community. By the way, talking about the Hasidic Jews, as my interviewee explains, their necessity of constant contact was in contrast with Litvak Misnagdim movement that focused on religious schools – the yeshivas – and the authority of rabbis that allowed them to distance themselves.

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In short, historically, these movements were antithetic.

I. Šreibergas considers himself an orthodox but also a modern Jewish person, and he does not want to argue or oppose anyone on these matters, “After all, neither Hasidim nor Ashkenazis are mentioned in Torah.”

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And he doesn’t dispute anyone. For example, it is difficult to find kosher wine necessary for the service in Lithuania. And that’s where around three hundred Israeli students who come to study in Lithuania step in.

Their student community has their meeting point in the centre of Kaunas, at the kosher canteen. Goys don’t go in there because the founder of the student community fears assimilation. But that is another story, maybe for later. The Hasidic Jews of Kaunas, as you can see, are more open because they are the old-timers here. Kaunas is their city as well, and Lithuania is their country. However, when asked whether it is easier for a Jewish person to live in Lithuania after the restoration of independence, I. Šreibergas gets slightly sad: a large part of the community had moved to Israel.

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“My four sisters live there. I will go soon to visit them for a month, but moving there? I don’t think so. My place is here,” says the chairman of Kaunas Hasidic Jewish Community and opens up about his mission connected to the memory of his grandmother Fruma. Of course, during the interview, I enquired if the family of my new acquaintance was religious.

Parents – not so much. It was an influence of the grandmother, whose family had many rabbis. Symbolically, she died on her birthday, and her grandson, who returned from the Soviet Army, was no longer able

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to congratulate her. You might call it a coincidence, but I. Šreibergas is convinced that there are no coincidences, only rules yet unknown.

So, about the mission. A decade ago, a Hasidic synagogue used by the Vilnius Art Academy but neglected by the artists (located on Gimnazijos Street, on the way to Pelėdų kalnas) was returned to the community. Built on the second half of the 19th century, it ceased to function as a prayer house in July 1940.

Here we return to what has already been discussed, “The synagogue was built by people who wanted it to serve a specific purpose; for it to be not only a house of prayer but also a communal place, a sort of little Israel before there was an Israel on the map. Those people are gone, and we need to continue their work.” Currently, the community does not have the financial means to do so. That is why we met at Puškinas Gymnasium. The restored synagogue could accommodate everyone, both Israeli students and old Kaunas residents.

There are also personal sentiments – relatives of I. Šreibergas lived nearby.

And the spirit of Jakovas Lapianskis, the former chairman of the Hasidic community, who died five years ago, is said to be felt there.

We agreed to meet again. For example, to celebrate Rosh Hashanah the New Year, the date of which is counted according to the Hebrew calendar that begins with the creation of the biblical world and this year will take place in September. I would like to wish in advance that the celebration – after several or more years would take place in Gimnazijos Street.

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I am always slightly jealous of the city’s guests’ first impression when they encounter one of the most beautiful corners of Ramybės Park – Kaunas Mosque. The mosque which has been standing here since 1930, evokes not only aesthetic admiration or the joy of discovery but just like Ramybės Park (the old cemetery of Kaunas), with its complex history, testifies that Kaunas was and still is a city of different cultures, communities, and experiences. Since 1989 Kaunas Mosque is not only a significant historical monument but also a functioning prayer house of Kaunas Muslim Community. Sofian Okat tells us about community history and activities.

The chairman of the Kaunas Muslim Community came to Kaunas from Lille in France in 2005 to study via the exchange program. In Kaunas, he met his future wife, the Lithuanian Tatar. For some time, their family with two kids lived in France but in 2014 moved to Kaunas and joined the local Muslim community.

“To live as we please“ Julija Račiūnaitė

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Photo by Andrius Aleksandravičius

Tell us about the Kaunas Muslim Religious Community and its history.

It is a very long story because Muslims are not new to Lithuania. You have probably heard of Tatars who had settled in the lands given to them by Vytautas the Great (in 1997 Lithuania commemorated the 600th anniversary of Karaites and Tatars settling in Lithuania). They became the first Muslim communities to have settled in these lands. There have not been that many of them in Kaunas but in the mid-19th century under the order of the Tsar of the Russian Empire, the territory of current Ramybės Park was given to four confessions (Orthodox Christians, Catholics, Evangelical Lutherans, and Muslims) and in 1860 a wooden mosque was built right where the

current mosque stands. It could be said that this is the oldest place of Muslim religious practice in Kaunas.

The community has changed along with the times. Although, as I mentioned earlier, it consisted mainly of Tatars, some Tsarist Army Muslim soldiers also came to Kaunas and joined the community. At the beginning of the Soviet era, all religious practices, including Islam, were banned. Local Tatars maintained their community, but there were barely any practising Muslims left, people had almost lost their faith. After Lithuania regained its independence, Muslim students from abroad started studying in Kaunas - the first generation was mostly Lebanese. It was they who began to revive customs and religious practices in this mosque. Step by step, the community was gathering, dominated by

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It has both active and passive periods. Summer is a quiet time, but in September, when students return, the community always comes alive.

Sunni Muslims, orthodox Muslims, follow the same traditions as Muslims around the world, meaning that the mosque organizes daily worship and everyone is free to attend.

We receive most people during the main service on Friday – the mosque is usually packed. We also have our traditional celebrations, and they are visited by large numbers of people not only from Kaunas but also Marijampolė, Alytus and other cities that do not have their places of worship. On Sundays, we invite children to the mosque where they can learn Arabic and study the Quran.

It is fun to see the revived Kaunas mosque and its surroundings.

As I mentioned earlier, a wooden mosque was first built here in 1860.

By the way, next to it stood several buildings. The one was a shelter, and the other was home for the elder of the Tatar community. However, after Kaunas became the capital of Lithuania, it was decided that the city should have a modern brick building (project authors architects Vaclovas Michnevičius and Adolfas

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Photo by Teodoras Biliūnas

Netyksa). Its construction began in 1930, commemorating the 500th anniversary of the death of Vytautas the Great. This mosque became the first and only brick mosque in the Baltic countries. Compared to the Lithuanian wooden mosques, for example, in Nemėžys or the village of Forty Tatars, this mosque is distinguished by its design and architectural solutions. It looks much more oriental due to the shape of its dome and minaret. It operated until World War II, and during the war, it functioned only occasionally. In 1947 the mosque was finally closed under the order of the Soviet authorities. Around 1950 it was given to Kaunas city office. The new government changed the purpose of the building from religious to, let’s say, secular. For some time, the mosque served as a warehouse, a circus, a canteen, and a library.

The circus of Valentinas Dikulis.

It seems that the performances of strongmen were held here [laughs].

Of course, it sounds ridiculous, but there is certainly no place for such activities in a religious building. The building was becoming more and more worn out from such activities, and in the 1970s it was given to the National M. K. Čiurlionis National Museum of Art. After receiving this building, the museum started to implement the project of the oriental art gallery. As part of the project, the mosque’s interior was equipped with a balcony that did not exist before, and the porch that stood outside the building was demolished.

Also, as part of this project, a fountain was built next to the mosque – I don’t know if there ever was any water in it. So, the works were started, but the building was never opened as an art gallery. After Lithuania regained its independence, the mosque underwent a partial renovation, which allowed the building to start operating according to its original purpose again. In 2007 another renovation was funded by the Lithuanian Ministry of Culture, but the full renovation started only in 2017 when the Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency provided funding for the full renovation of mosque‘s interior and exterior.

Renovation goes beyond decoration, stained glass, and so on. It also includes the modernization of the entire infrastructure of the building.

We are especially thankful for the heated floor. In the past, the rooms were only heated by radiators, and we would have to pray in the cold.

Now we are overheating [laughs]!

The surrounding area was also tidied up. The fountain in question was in a very poor condition – abandoned, decayed, and full of garbage. Kaunas Municipality had offered to cooperate and to install a children’s area

with a trampoline and places for recreation (the author of the trampoline is artist Morfai).

Is Kaunas a friendly city for diverse cultural and religious communities?

Various religious groups have lived together in Kaunas since ancient times, so it is common for Kaunas to unite different people and cultures.

Students from our community who come to Kaunas every year via exchange programs integrate easily, do not suffer from racism, xenophobia, and I think that the people of Lithuania are friendly to those who contribute to the economic, cultural growth and well-being of society.

Tell us about the project Islamas visiems (Islam for everyone).

It is a website that belongs to the public institution Švietimas ir paveldas (Education and heritage) bringing together the Muslim community across Lithuania and also providing useful information and news about Muslim life in Lithuania for them as well as people interested in Islam.

This project is valuable both for newcomers to the community who join every year and for those who wish to link their lives to Islam, such as those seeking to start a family with a Muslim. Thus, one function of the website is to provide advice and information to potential and current community members, and another to establish a closer relationship with the Lithuanian public. We want to show that we are open, we have no secrets, and want to talk and share with each other.

Is there anything you lack in Kaunas?

Kaunas is a big city that has plenty of everything. Here, just as in France, we can afford to live as we please.

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students from Lebanon, India, Pakistan, Turkey, and Central Asia. Thus, the Tatars are currently a minority in the Muslim community of Kaunas. The majority of its members are foreign students as well as businessmen from Central Asia – Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan and so on. Unlike in other religious communities, ours mostly consists of the younger generation from 20 to 40 years old. We have few older members. Currently, the Muslim religious community in Kaunas has about 500 members.

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To analyze in detail the festival’s birth, evolution, and development into one of the most significant musical events in the country, we would need a thick monograph or at least a few issues of our magazine. It has been long since Pažaislis Music festival has been able to fit in the monastery itself, one of the region’s most important baroque ensembles. It no longer fits in Kaunas as well. For the first time (at least after many years) the festival concerts open up doors of various churches and manors across Lithuania. It is not easy either logistically or financially. And it lasts for three months of the summer. Some concerts are free of charge. It is also a way to invite those who cannot afford it and those who can but don’t know if they might like it.

It is symbolic that this story began with the faith-based musical journey around Lithuania – then still occupied by the Soviets. At that

time. J. Krėpšta, who had just started working at the Philharmonic, had to have a lot of courage to be able to organize fourteen sold-out choir performances dedicated to Maironis in Lithuanian churches with the help of Kaunas State Choir conductor Petras Bingelis and actor Laimonas Noreika. Independence was very close. The head of the Philharmonic has no doubt that faith and thinking about higher powers helped people to live to see it as well as provided inspiration. Krėpšta remembers that precisely because of a similar attitude about what Lithuania is and what things are the most important in it he got along well with another ‘village boy’, Petras Bingelis.

At this festival, mutual respect for each other’s work and vocation is a natural thing. Therefore, the concert program is reviewed not only by Pažaislis sisters of Saint Casimir but also by the Archbishop of Kaunas.

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If you often have to walk along Ožeškienės Street, you should have noticed an office on the first Kaunas State Philharmonic floor. After dark, it whispers of an aura of past epochs. I’ve always been curious about who is working there during the day. And I recently learned. It is an office (two rooms in total) of Justinas Krėpšta, the head of the Philharmonic. The second room is equipped with a piano and above it – a painting of Pažaislis Monastery. Does the office fit all the life of the director?

It seems like it does. After all, you can’t do all this work without a team.

Therefore, we sit down to talk about the phenomenon that has been lasting for a quarter of a century – where faith might even be a concertmaster – both with J. Krėpšta and Giedrė Mikaitienė, the director of Pažaislis Music festival (although she has been leading the festival only for a few years, she had attended the very first concert!) as well as their two colleagues – Lina Balčiūnaitė and Lina Krėpštaitė.

Kotryna Lingienė Photos by Ramūnas Guiga

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This year’s Assumption concert is dedicated to the composer, conductor and choral conductor Juozas Naujalis born 150 years ago. This April, musicologist Kristina Mikuličiūtė-Vaitkūnienė wrote in our website’s rubric Museum Wednesdays, “For his Missa pro Defunctis J. Naujalis had won the first prize in Stanisław Moniuszko ecclesiastical music competition in Warsaw. Since then, he became known as a composer in Western Europe. His Mass and other sacred pieces were performed in Lithuania as well as abroad; included in German and Italian ecclesiastical music publications.”

Thus, even judging by today’s digital standards, Naujalis was and is one of the most famous Lithuanian composers. One hundred years ago and now. And who else if not Kaunas State Philharmonic and Kaunas State Choir, as well as Kaunas City Symphony Orchestra that is also residing in the Philharmonic, could

keep the spirit of Naujalis alive, spread the message encoded in the works of Lithuanian musicians as wide as possible also keeping it relevant? That is one of the most essential tasks of the Philharmonic, the festival it organizes and performers it fosters. At the same time, it is also a role in the upcoming 2022, when Kaunas will become the European Capital of Culture. The elements of contemporary art alone would not be enough to create a long-lasting impression.

My interviewees have no doubts about the necessity of their role as representatives of classical art values. However, J. Krėpšta gives away that his reaction to the first news about Kaunas 2022 and application ideas was neutral if not sceptical.

Still, the contact happened, the mutual attention is there. For example, representatives of the Philharmonic have already participated in the audience development training for Kaunas cultural organizations described in this magazine. It is interesting that what is known today as ‘audience development’ has already been taking place in the backstage of Pažaislis festival for a while now using various methods and sometimes doing it unconsciously.

“The festival with politics based on democratic and classical values and a long history always looks to the future. On the one hand, we want to retain our identity, and on the other, we are open to modern solutions and a changing environment. Therefore, we are interested in audience development, even though we have already raised our second generation. It is by working with families that we can make sure that today’s children would not be afraid and would not reject contemporary music. This is also the future generation of the Philharmonic,” G. Mikaitienė says. She appreciates the opportunity provided by Kaunas 2022 to listen

to foreign lecturers, gain successful international experience and get acquainted with the residents of Kaunas cultural field. After all, the problems are common.

As we discuss the future, we drift into more profound reflections. I wonder if there have been any specific cases where it was the festival events and musicians that brought the listeners closer to heaven? After all, if put simply, that is the mission of the sacral music. And indeed, G. Mikaitienė remembers that one acquaintance of hers, after visiting a concert in Soboras, started frequenting the Mass and eventually had a sacramental marriage.

As I have mentioned already, one Pažaislis Music festival generation has already grown, and now its representatives are bringing their children to the concerts. A generation of loyal sponsors has grown up too, although, J, Krėpšta smiles that these days, as businesses become more global, it is becoming more challenging to convince the heads of companies residing somewhere abroad of the importance of such events, however, the loyal ones remain. “For example, we have no interest in communicating with gambling or instant credit companies,” G. Mikaitienė replies safely when asked if it is vital that the values ​​of the sponsors correspond to those declared by the festival. The head of the Philharmonic adds that with a kind of sponsor club, the team goes on excursions across Lithuania and visits festival venues.

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The desire for a more meaningful, resounding Assumption feast was mutual, the excitement was enormous and both sides – the organizers and the sisters – realized that they

would not be able to hold such an event without each other. The festival finances the participation of the choir, covers part of the monastery’s maintenance costs and organizes a concert program after the Mass. It helps to draw the crowd – this feast is one of the biggest in Lithuania, and when the weather is good, it attracts around five thousand people.

After an hour spent in the office of J. Krėpša, I realized that I had not asked the interviewees what came first in their lives – music or faith?

But then I remembered that no one had answered the chicken and egg question so far. And, as the music opens up all possible gates, no more questions should arise.

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But I am very interested to hear more about the Assumption in Pažaislis. The feast day tradition is obviously older than the festival, but the 15th of August did not appear on its program right away. It happened after a good decade after the idea of “taking” classical music outside the Philharmonic has proved its worth.

It worked because at the time there were no such democratic concerts the number of which is currently rising.

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A careful reading of the repertoire shows that there is enough tolerance.

J. Krėpšta recalls that there were discussions about the rock opera being on the program but only until the archbishop learned that the nuns were in agreement. The sisters of Saint Casimir came to Pažaislis from Chicago in 1920. This circumstance also contributed to the fact that this monastic community is not as conservative as you might think. Not to mention that Pažaislis Monastery itself is relatively open: excursions take place here, there is a museum, and part of the complex serves as a hotel and a restaurant. All this helps to fulfil the mission and survive.

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The foundations of the church still awaiting the archaeologists, Baroque buildings demolished without remorse and one man’s ambition to give a sense to his life by building a shrine on his own the city – Nemunas and Neris confluence – has seen it all. The past of Kaunas, like any other settlement with a long history, is full of belief and beliefs as well as buildings that served as their centres. Though probably most houses of worship here used to belong to Catholics and Jews, the Orthodox Christians, Old Believers, Evangelical Lutherans and Reformists, Muslims, Methodists, and Baptists had and continue to have their houses of prayer as well. There have been and are temples belonging to other confessions, some of which had opened their places of worship only recently. The number of our lost temples is neither big nor small – probably less than the statistical city of Europe, especially being the city, which was ravaged continuously by various elements.

However, this time, let’s look precisely at them, more specifically, to some of those buildings that had vanished from our city’s panorama for some time now.

The lost temples of Kaunas Paulius Tautvydas Laurinaitis

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Ruins of Vilijampolė synagogue. Archive of Samogitian Diocese Museum.

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Although almost all Catholic church buildings located in the historic centre of Kaunas (the current Old Town) and its suburbs have survived until our days, after flipping through the archival documents, we would discover that there is at least one exception. At first, the Carmelites, who moved to Kaunas at the beginning of the 18th century, were living much closer to the city of the time. In 1717, a monastery and a brick St. Elijah’s church were built. To this day, it remains one of the most enigmatic buildings of its kind in the city: even the location of the foundations today is only approximate, so we can only guess about its design. It is known that the church stood in the quarter now surrounded by Puodžių and Druskininkų Streets and King Mindaugas Avenue. The church was in operation for less than a century.

For some time, it was given over to the Orthodox Church, and in the 19th century, it was abandoned The Baroque synagogue in Vilijampolė was probably the most significant loss in terms of sacred architecture. Since the second half of the 19th century, it served over a hundred years not only as the primary spiritual centre of the borough but also as the most prominent landmark. The passing time was not benevolent to the Lithuanian synagogues with Baroque features.

The Slabada one burned in 1892, and only its roofless carcass remained.

Its architecture and the sacred role weren’t the only few interesting and valuable things, symbolic mention of the synagogue in Lithuanian heritage historiography was significant as well. Kaunas Regional Archive holds the appeal of Mykolas Songaila to the city council, which had decided to destroy these ruins. It is one of the first appeals of an architect to the

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authorities with a request to preserve the historic building closely related to the culture of ethnic minorities in the history of independent Lithuania. However, the building was eventually demolished.

Today, in many cases, we have a choice of what to preserve.

During the Tsarist period, after the 1863 uprising, many Catholic churches in Lithuania were converted to Orthodox churches. Some of the temples in Kaunas were not bypassed, and as the city became a 1st class military stronghold, Orthodox churches for garrison members appeared. One of such churches was built in Žemieji Šančiai in 1896 for the needs of 109th Volga Infantry Regiment. This wooden building was the 2nd largest Orthodox church after the Garrison Church built at the same time. When Lithuania declared independence in 1918, the property of the fortress was taken over by the country’s armed forces. The Orthodox church was no exception and was also used for this purpose – it became a Catholic temple. After the war, it was used for practical purposes and was eventually demolished in the first decade of the war. This may

have been influenced by the fact that its surroundings had become quite symbolically significant - the graves of the Lithuanian soldiers were installed around it, and a monument commemorating their battles was erected.

At least a couple of interwar period sacred buildings were lost in Kaunas as well. For a long time, working-class Šančiai, which had taken in many temples of various confessions, did not have a Catholic church, even though the former warehouse of the fortress was adapted to that purpose after WWI. The Šančiai modernist church familiar to us all appeared only a few years before the Soviet occupation. Seeing the lack of a proper temple, in 1929 Šančiai resident Jurgis Stančiauskas started building a concrete church in his own plot without the blessing of the church institutions. He did everything at his own expense and through various trades. The engineer who drafter the project was to be immortalized with a portrait in a nave of the church and Feliksas Vizbaras, who oversaw the technical part of construction would get vegetables for his work.

The architecture of the tower-less, reinforced concrete building was dominated by Neo-Romanesque and Neo-Gothic elements. However, judging from the sparse surviving photographs, the project was changing during construction. Although no supporting documents have been found, the older Šančiai residents claim that the service was taking place in the church. The building located next to the Panemunė Bridge was demolished when constructing the first Kaunas Trolleybus park.

A similar fate has befallen other temples in Šančiai, only in Aukštieji, not Žemieji Šančiai. The development of

the district was long restricted by the former military territory and warehouses of explosives around which a relatively large no-building area was regulated. It was only in the 1930s when this part of the town was incorporated into Kaunas city, and after the aforementioned zones were reduced, Aukštieji Šančiai started to expand rapidly. Observing the growing district, Father Rapolas Pukys built the small wooden church in the private lot near Prancūzų Street in the second half of the 1930s. It was destined to perform its function only around a decade. In 1949 it was expropriated and commissioned for other purposes, and in 1960 it met the same fate as J. Stančiauskas’ church that collapsed in the same decade.

These are just a few of the vanished places where people prayed, communities gathered, and festivities were celebrated. And while change is a natural part of the city’s organism, we often miss the buildings that could become monuments to communities that existed there, individual initiatives and entire historical epochs – only future generations tend to evaluate them. Although many of the buildings mentioned in this article had disappeared due to unfavourable historical circumstances, today, in many cases, we have a choice of what to preserve. For example, just a few years ago, while developing a real estate project, the Kulautuva Synagogue, designed by the famous Kaunas interwar architect, was demolished. We have quite a few temples in lousy condition in Kaunas. For example, the red-brick Šančiai Synagogue which is increasingly decaying with each year and it will depend on us whether it will appear on similar lists in future publications or not.

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Calendar STAGE Saturday, 08 03. 7 pm

Theatre in 8th fort: “Fabula Silvestri”

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Kaunas fortress 8th fort, Pryšmančių g.

18 actors and musicians from Norway, Vestfold county are coming to the Kaunas fortress, and they’re not arriving empty-handed but with instruments as well as costumes made by them. “Canardus Horribilis” company will present a play “Fabula Silvestri”, which will be an immersive experience for children and adults alike. The fort’s amphitheatre will be used for the first time!

Friday, 08 23, 6 pm

“ConTempo”. “Trophée”

Lower Šančiai Nemunas coastline (next to Kranto 14-osios g.)

Created by Rudi van der Merwe and Béatrice Graf “Trophée” is a site-specific performance on the themes of hunting, conquest and military tradition. Three performers in sumptuous baroque dresses, accompanied by a drummer, conquer a field like an invading army, adopting postures of trophy wives, hunted animals and ghosts from past wars.

“Trophée” explores man’s relationship with his environment, the need to demarcate, possess, tame and exploit.

“ConTempo”. “Absolute Beginners”

“No Name Studio”, A. Juozapavičiaus pr. 31G / Kaunas city chamber theatre, Kęstučio g. 74A

Photo by the organizers

“ConTempo” is an international performing arts festival initiated by Kaunas 2022. It’s part of our journey

A piece with a puzzle of object theatre, music, light and installation art, philosophically

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approaching today’s world where we tend to understand ourselves more and more as heirs. Is the desire to live and think about one’s own existence and beginning still present? “Absolute beginners” is a manifold and captivating postmodern myth of the world foundation.

Saturday, 08 24, 10 pm

“ConTempo”. “4 Mortos” “Sakramentas”, Vilniaus g. 31

Sunday, 08 25, 1 pm

“ConTempo”. “Materia” “Girstutis”, Kovo 11-osios g. 26

Andrea Salustri’s “Materia” aims to discover, explore and witness the aliveness of one material: polystyrene. Object manipulation is taken from a different perspective, giving space to the objects themselves rather than the manipulator, and playing with the balance between these two subjects.

The piece tries not to force a narrative but rather let the audience project their own narrative on the material on stage. Within a set score, objects are free to perform and take initiatives.

Sunday, 08 25, 3:30 pm / 7 pm

Friday, 08 23, 8 pm / Saturday, 08 24, 8 pm

Photo by the organizers

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from temporary to contemporary capital. The inaugural festival is programmed with thoroughly selected artists and pieces of contemporary performing arts from local and international stages.

August

“ConTempo”. “Kamchàtka” Photo by the organizers

“4 Mortos” could be described as a party with the personified death, based on Lithuanian mythology and folklore. It’s a game ritual, which brings us back from the existence of Facebook to nature. It‘s a fascinating combination of ancient ritual and today’s casual life, folk and modern humour, spooky impressions grounded with centuries-old mythical experience. “Death is natural and normal. Everyone will die one day. However, you need to look at death not with fear but on the joyous, bright side. Death is not the end”, says performance director Darius Rabašauskas.

Kaunas old town, beginning at Vilniaus g. 3

“Kamchàtka” is one of the best-known street theatre performances. During the 12 years, it has been performed more than 400 times in 30 different countries. It is an intense, potent and contemporary street theatre which prances over frontiers and upon our humanity. Eight characters lost in the city, each carrying their own suitcase. Passers-by or immigrants?

Naïve and curious, their emotions are barely contained, they know nothing about our norms, our rules and our way of life. The game they play is so subtle it could be mistaken for reality.

It is precisely there where space for dialogue opens, where the spectator

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Calendar becomes an active part of the exchange and the experimentation. “Kamchàtka” eventually turns into a mirror: a mirror of our behaviour towards the Other, the Foreign, the Different.

Sunday, 08 25, 5 pm

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“ConTempo”. “ZOOG” Yard of Vytautas the Great War museum, K. Donelaičio g. 64

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“ZOOG” (‘couple’ in Hebrew) is a glimpse into a moment between two acrobats, a routine, a ritual. It is an intense game of love and hate, an endless pursuit of togetherness, an exchange of cruelty and tenderness. Through their bodies, the two share their intimate story: the highs and the lows, the hidden, the complex and the joyous that lies in the foundation of any relationship. Using a unique movement language which they developed, influenced by Capoeira, parkour, and dance, Amir and Hemda embark on a physical adventure that is honest, raw, full of charm and humour.

Pažaislis music festival.

A concert “Come back again, oh love!”

Sunday, 08 25, 6 pm

“ConTempo”.

“Le Cauchemar de Darwish” Yard of Vytautas the Great War museum, K. Donelaičio g. 64

One dancer, one violinist and his machines. An enticing non-didactic piece about a possible understanding, an obvious brotherhood. “Le Cauchemar de Darwish” consists in a transformation, one traditional and straightforward step within a solo dance, in a hundred footsteps circle.

The origin of Ben Fury’s and

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Simon Thierrée’s “Le Cauchemar de Darwish” is the will to dance a short piece in the middle of the audience.

The inspiration also comes from traditional Middle Eastern dance used for celebrations and weddings, the dabkeh.

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Saturday, 08 03, 6 pm

August this opera and dedicated it to legendary Lithuanian tenor Virgilijus Noreika, who in 1995 played the central part in the play. Many years later Pažaislis music festival is offering an opportunity to see a new adaptation of the opera specially arranged for this particular location.

Wednesday, 08 07, 6 pm

“Kaunas Jazz” presents: “Ground Heights”

“Volfas Engelman Studija” terrace, Kaunakiemio g. 2

Kulautuva free-time hall, Akacijų al.

32A, Kulautuva, Kauno district In Rita Novikatė’s (mezzo-soprano) and Sergej Krincin’s (guitar) concert, you’ll hear musical pieces from Renaissance and Baroque composers: Johann Sebastian Bach, Antonio Caldara, Antonio Cesti, John Dowland, Giuseppe Giordani, Henry Purcell, Giuseppe Sarti and more.

Sunday, 08 04, 9 pm

Pažaislis music festival. A commemoration concert for Giedrius Kuprevičius’ 75th birthday Kaunas castle, Pilies g. 17

Celebrating Lithuanian composer’s Giedrius Kuprevičius birthday, the festival is inviting you to one of the most magical places – Kaunas castle. Here you’ll hear composer’s opera “Prussians” about the nations glorious past. Based on a drama “Herkus Mantas” by Juozas Grušas, Giedrius Kuprevičius wrote a libretto for

Noam Chojnowski’s photo

“Ground Heights” was formed a few years ago in Israel. It is lead by a singer Hewan Meshesha, who has roots in Ethiopia. Hewan started thinking about a music career back when she was serving in an army. After being urged by a friend, the singer joined a music conservatory and soon after met like-minded people with whom she started a band. “Ground Heights” concerts are hard to describe – they’re unusual, authentic, unique and colourful.

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Thursday, 08 08, 6 pm

Pažaislis music festival.

A concert “Fingerprints” Kaunas state philharmonic, L. Sapiegos g. 5

“The pianist’s musicality and refined technique make his sound paintings come to life. I have no doubts, hearing him play would put a smile on Liszt’s and Horowitz’s faces.” This is how critics described a record of Liszt’s music recorded by China-born pianist Haiou Zhang from Germany.

The musician receives just as many kind words about his ability to seamlessly move between eras while interpreting music from different ages. Here in Kaunas, the pianist will play pieces by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Ludwig van Beethoven, Franz Liszt, Robert Schumann-Franz Liszt, and Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy Thursday, 08 08, 7 pm

“Pažaislis linden alley evenings“. Olegas Ditkovskis‘ and Neda‘s concert Pažaislis monastery, T. Masiulio g. 31

The concerts of Olegas Ditkovskis and Neda could be described as emotional, honest, sensible and subtle. On this evening the musicians will play the best songs from their new album “Musical monologues” and more. This concert will present the spirit and the programme of the national bard festival “Purple evening”, which is annually held in Anyksciai.

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Calendar Thursday, 08 15, 3 pm

Pažaislis music festival. Žolinės and a commemoration concert for J. Naujalis 150th birthday

Thursday, 08 08, 7 pm

“Laukas garsiai”: BA.

Two neighbours of M. Žilinskas art gallery “Lizdas” and “Nuogas” are occupying the gallery’s stairs. The most important musicians will take the stage here every week, and among August’s troublemakers, you will find Benas Aleksandravičius with his band, which keeps breaking the underground stereotypes while constantly beating new records.

Sunday, 08 11, 5 pm

Pažaislis music festival.

A concert “Bach: sound, visual, shadows” Kaunas state philharmonic, L. Sapiegos g. 5

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“Laukas”, Nepriklausomybės a. 12

Young, ambitious cello player Ruslan Vilensky from Latvia is rapidly making his name in the international music scene. For one evening, the musician will whisk you away to a world of Johann Sebastian Bach filled with sounds, visuals, and shadows.

In the concert, Ruslan will play all of Bach’s six suites for cello. Visuals will be provided by Viktor Klein, who has received the title of Latvian guru of visual projections.

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Pažaislis monastery, T. Masiulio g. 31

Same as every year, Lithuanian Saint Kazimieras’ sisters‘ congregation together with Pažaislis music festival are inviting all admirers of music and God’s word to celebrate Žolinės. This celebration is also called Feast day of the Assumption of Mary and this year it’s going to be met with the singing of Kaunas state choir. After the mass, there will be a concert in which you’ll be able to hear the music of a legendary Lithuanian composer Juozas Naujalis.

Thursday, 08 22, 7 pm

Pažaislis music festival. A concert “Johann Strauss’ music on the water” Kaunas yachts club

This concert has already become a tradition of the festival, and each year it draws a bigger crowd. This year it will be Lithuanian national symphony orchestra conducted by Modestas Pitrėnas and a talented vocalist Margarita Levčuk (soprano) from Belarus who will let you experience the soundscape of Vienna. Musicologist Viktoras Gerulaitis will serve as the concert host.

August Thursday, 08 22, 7 pm

“GM Live”: Anthony Gomes “Sakramentas”, Vilniaus g. 31

Until recently, only very few people would open the door of the baroque the church of the Blessed Sacrament, located on Vilniaus street, the main pedestrian boulevard in the old town of Kaunas. In May, a new cultural space called Sakramentas opened in the premises. Don’t miss the chance to explore the unique venue – and catch a great gig at the same time.

After all, the talent of the Canadian musician Anthony Gomes lies in three fields – he’s a brilliant guitarist, vocalist, and songwriter. He can also be described as the creator of synthesis of blues, rock, and soul. Since the very first album released in 1998, Anthony creates masterful, fiery blues. In total, the musician has released 13 records and won plenty of awards. Ecstatic concerts, performed with a massive passion as well as the special aura behind the lyrics and the music has allowed Anthony to reach the Olympus of blues.

Sunday, 08 18 / 08 25, 5 pm

Concert series “Park’s music” Draugystės park / Santarvės park

Last year concert organizers “Kauno santaka” started an initiative, which was meant to encourage people to spend more time in the city’s parks, and it was a great success. The previous summer was brightened by performances of Kaunas wind-instruments orchestra “Ąžuolynas” in various parks in Kaunas. The combination of nature and music put a smile on many faces last year, and now the tradition is carried over. If the weather is nice, the concerts will be held in Kaunas Draugystės park and Santarvės park.

08 31 – 09 01

Kaunas International Carillon Music Festival

Vytautas the Great War Museum Garden K. Donelaičio g. 64

Photo by Vytautas Paplauskas

The tone of the first weekend of autumn is set by the carillon: Kaunas Artists’ House is pleased to invite you to the third Kaunas International Carillon Music Festival. Classical music will meet brave improvisations in the free concerts by local and international artists.

Photo by the organizers

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Calendar Sunday, 09 01, 6 pm

Pažaislis music festival closing concert.

“The Queen Symphony”

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Pažaislis monastery, T. Masiulio g. 31 In this closing concert of Pažaislis music festival, you will hear a unique theatrical piece “The Queen Symphony” created by Turkey-born British composer Tolga Kashifo. This piece joins the songs of the legendary band “Queen” and symphony music. The piece will be performed by Lithuanian state symphony orchestra and Kaunas state choir conducted by maestro Gintaras Rinkevičius.

arn to love her as their own daughter.

Their younger daughter is treating Frida like an older sister; however, she struggles to follow the rules of the new life. “Summer 1993“ is a sensitive and acute drama which teleports the viewers back to childhood where laughter and light-heartedness go hand to hand with fears and tears.

Carlos Simón’s film is presented by European film forum “Scanorama”.

In Catalan with Lithuanian subtitles.

Kaunas castle

Wednesday, 08 07, 9:45 pm

“Romuva” outdoor cinema.

“Estiu 1993“ Kaunas castle

Spain, summer of 1993. Following the death of her parents, six years old Frida faces the first summer with her new adoptive family in the Catalan province. Before the season is over, the girl has to learn to cope with her emotions and her parents have to le

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Friday, 08 09, 9:45 pm

“Romuva” outdoors cinema.

“Leto” Kaunas castle

Thursday, 08 08, 9:45 pm

“Romuva” outdoor cinema.

“Pierrot le Fou”

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Ferdinand Griffon (Jean-Paul Belmondo) is unhappily married and has been recently fired from his job at a TV broadcasting company.

After attending a mindless party full of shallow discussions in Paris, he feels a need to escape and decides to run away with his baby-sitter, an ex-girlfriend, Marianne Renoir (Anna Karina), leaving his wife and children and bourgeois lifestyle.

Jean-Luc Godard’s film is presented

by Institut Français de Lituanie. In French with Lithuanian subtitles.

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During the summer in the early eighties, when Leningrad underground rock scene was thriving, three people met. 19-year-old Viktor Tsoi, who will later become the leader of the band Kino, the rockstar Mike Naumenko (band Zoopark) and his beautiful wife Natalia Naumenko couldn’t imagine how fateful this summer will be and that their friendship will become an immortal legend. This love story by one of the Putin‘s most hated directors Kiril Serebrennikov won Cannes Soundtrack Award.

“Leto” is presented by travelling cinema project “Film caravan”. In Russian with Lithuanian subtitles.

Saturday, 08 10, 9:45 pm

“Romuva” outdoor cinema.

“Dolor Y Gloria” Kaunas castle

The Spanish film director Salvador Mallo (Antonio Banderas) is over his professional zenith and in the middle of a creative crisis, with various physical and mental ailments, however, his primary sin is the inability to continue

filming. Limited by his physical condition, the man who lives for cinema loses his life’s purpose. He distracts himself with a cocktail of medicine and heroin, which puts him in a constant drowse. This film is the third part of a trilogy (first – “Law of Desire” 1987, second – “Bad Education” 2004) created accidentally by the director Pedro Almodóvar. These films are connected through the main character – all of them follow the lives of male directors, who balance their days between reality, history, and fiction, which drives them to analyze the meaning of pain and glory. In Spanish with Lithuanian subtitles.

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“Once Upon a Time in Hollywood” „Forum Cinemas“, Karaliaus Mindaugo pr. 49

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Quentin Tarantino, without a doubt, is one of the most original directors of our time. Every film he makes creates a racket around the globe, and his 9th film is not an exception.

It’s a film where reality gets tangled up with fiction, and real-life people obey the director‘s will and change

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Calendar according to his fantasies. 1969, Los Angeles, the very end of Hollywood‘s golden age. The story follows a washed-up actor Rick Dalton (Leonardo DiCaprio), who is based on Burt Reynolds, and his best friend and stunt double Cliff Booth (Brad Pitt). Suffering from the lack of acting jobs and frantically striving to retain their previous status and lifestyle, the duo get themselves into the weirdest situations. .

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EXHIBITIONS 07 18 – 09 30

Photo exhibition “Nemunas Way”

On the 27th of April, 700 people joined their hands and formed the “Nemunas Way” in Šančiai. In this action, the community expressed its disagreement with the Nemunas embankment reconstruction project, which intends to build a 3.5 km street for cars between the Railway and the Panemunė bridges irreversibly replacing the most significant part of the district‘s natural coastline.

Kaunas picture gallery pavilion presents Darius Petrulis and Darius Batulevičius’ photography exhibition depicting the protest action “Nemunas Way”, organized by the Šančiai Community, and revealing still intact but fragile nature of Nemunas coastline near Šančiai district.

The photos are accompanied by well-aimed comments of experts and community activists.

August 07 25 – 08 25

Eimutis Markūnas’ and Remigijus Treigys’ exhibition “Integration” Kaunas gallery, Vilniaus g. 2

It is the first joint exhibition of these two pals, where their at first glance different works integrate and supplement or contrast each other at their encounter.

The photographer Remigijus Treigys will present fragments from Facebook conversations‘ series “At midnight and deeper” with Benas Šarka. As the author claims, “the artworks become independent and integrate with another interlocutor Eimis”. This time the dialogue takes part not only between obscure, noisy photographic images but as well with bright-coloured, large format gesture painting of Eimutis Markūnas. Black and white city fragments and everyday images integrate with abstract city-inspired painting artworks. No specific place is defined in E. Markūnas‘ artworks, it is an improvisation of city colour code, the significance here is focused on the colours of moods spread by the city, documenting performed through painting expression. As the author names it, it is “a psychosomatic map of a city with the help of a colour”. In the works of R. Treigys the importance of a specific place is not emphasized, they portray somewhat recognizable, somewhere already seen signs, silhouettes of a city. These photographs are not documenting, the time capture is of utmost importance here.

Exhibition architect Linas Tuleikis.

This exhibition is a part of the gallery‘s “Meno parkas” project “2019. Accents”.

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08 02 – 09 01

Japanese and Lithuanian contemporary textile exhibition “Deep rivers run quiet” M. Žilinskas Art Gallery, Nepriklausomybės a. 12

SPORTS 06 02 – 08 29, 6:30 am

“Move Healthy” morning workouts Kalniečiai park

Photo by the organizers

Megumi Kishida. “Smiling glasses”. 2018

The exhibition presents contemporary textiles of ten artists from Japan and Lithuania. This exhibition is part of an international textile art project, which began in Japan this spring.

The works of artists prof. Laima Oržekauskienė-Ore, Lina Jonikė, and Monika Žaltauskaitė-Grašienė were exhibited at the prestigious “GalleryGalery“ in Kyoto. Two young artists from Lithuania – Giedrė Antanavičienė and Greta Kardi-Kardišiūtė – will join the famous international artists at M. Žilinskas Art Gallery. Japan’s textile in Kaunas is represented by Nobuko Hiroi, Suzumi Noda, Haruko Honma, Yoshiko Tanabe, and Megumi Kishida. Curators: dr. Keiko Kawashima (Japan), dr. Rasa Žukienė (Lithuania).

Organizers of this initiative offer to exchange the lazy out of bed stretch to an energizing workout every Tuesday and Thursday. Free course “Move Healthy” will be lead by professional coaches. During the workouts, you will learn some exercises which will give you enough energy to last the whole day. It’s also said that these workouts will help you to feel the strength of your body as well as the clarity of your mind.

Saturday, 08 03, 3 pm

A league: FC “Kauno Žalgiris” – FC “Panevėžys”

SM “Tauras” stadium, Neries krant. 7b This summer, the number of football clubs represeenting Kaunas in the A league got practically halved. Let’s hope that this will become a basis for the amount of FK “Žalgiris” fans to grow. Let the chants of football fans echo through the coasts of Neris!

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Calendar OTHER EVENTS Saturday, 08 03 / 08 10 / 08 17 / 08 23 / 08 31, 12:30 pm

12th Kaunas biennial.

Performance “Changing the climate“

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Vytauto the Great war museum, K. Donelaičio g. 64

“Changing the climate” is a cheeky wordplay on the phrase “political climate”. It’s a performance created by Jasmina Cibic, which intervenes in one of the central architectural signifiers of Lithuanian national identity: the Vytautas the Great war museum. For this performance, J. Cibic invited a group of Kaunas artists as the central performing body of “Changing the climate”. In this playful performance, J. Cibic interrogates the notion of geopolitical exoticism, national souvenirs and further strategies that come into play within the double game of cultural and political capital.

08 08 – 10

(a)symposium on (various) matters Various places

The participants of the event have responded to a call made by “Kaunas 2022” industrial culture platform to mount a temporary platform of encounters between those thinking what it means to be human in the epoch of late capitalism and those that make sound inspired by the principle of ‘order to noise’; those constructing noise generators and those that are cyborgs or (dream to) have bodies that enhance or transcend the current human; between ghosts of the old industries and monsters. In gallery “g101”, Kaunas artists house and social centre “Emma” the (a)symposium will present acousmatic lectures, listening sessions, algorithmic readings, house parties, discussions on cyberwar, critiques of dystopia, installations, a walk-and-talk about monsters, noise, man-machine performance, museum of experimental electronics and other things.

August Saturday, 08 17, 3 pm

Night-watch

Kaunas fortress I fort, Šiltnamių g.

The night-watch draws a bigger crowd from all Lithuania each year. This event offers a chance to remember and experience an old tradition as well as explore Kaunas I fort and its secrets. This is going to be the third night-watch here, in Kaunas fortress.

Kęstučio / Gedimino g. corner (next to “B2O” bar)

Saturday, 08 24

Ideas festival “Freedom picnic” Nemunas Island

Sunday, 08 10

Kaunas Airshow

S. Dariaus ir S. Girėno airfield, Veiverių g.

Photo by Joana Suslavičiūtė

As you might have learned while reading the previous “Kaunas full of culture” issue, Kaunas is the cradle of Lithuanian aviation history. This year in the annual Kaunas aviation celebration, there will be a bunch of concerts, activities for children and workshops.

You’ll be able to see acrobatic plane and helicopter shows, ultralight planes’ and gliders’ flights as well as paragliders and hang-gliders in the air and much more.

Monday, 08 26, 6:30 pm

“Fluxus Labs”: “Project 23/30: Exchanges”

“Freedom picnic” will be a fun experience for all – young and old alike. Discussions, entertainment and sports zones, presentations of non-government organizations and businesses and plenty of impressive concerts – this and much more will be available in the 4th annual ideas festival “Freedom picnic”.

Photo by B2O bar

Autumn is coming with a bunch of new colours, affairs and adventures. Diligent and smart people are preparing space for the new goodies.

They’re ruffling through their wardrobes, clearing their store-rooms, rummaging through their drawers, and cleaning up their shelves. After all of that work, they collect some items and go to the EXCHANGES. You can bring a variety of things here: books, clothes, cooking pans, valuables, wooden spoons, scythes, lamps, backpacks, jams, magazines and other treasures. More information available at centras@kaunas2022.eu.

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Illustration by Gabrielė Gervickaitė

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2019 AUGUST

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pilnas.kaunas.lt

„ And yet you still want to be, even after death. With all my might I protest against nonexistence. I will be…“ Juozas Tumas-Vaižgantas From the letter to Klimas family in Paris on 19 February, 1931

KAUNAS FULL OF CULTURE Monthly magazine about personalities and events in Kaunas (free of charge)

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Laisvės alėja 59, third floor

Editorial office:

Authors: Agnė Abromaitytė, Aistė Bielevičiūtė, Artūras Bulota, Austėja Banytė, Bernadeta Buzaitė, Dainius Ščiuka, Donatas Stankevičius, Eglė Šertvyčūtė, Emilija Visockaitė, Gie Vilkė, Julija Račiūnaitė, Justė Vyšniauskaitė, Kamilė Kaminskaitė, Kotryna Lingienė, Kęstutis Lingys, Paulius Tautvydas Laurinaitis, Teodoras Biliūnas.

Patrons:

KAUNO MIESTO SAVIVALDYBĖ

RUN 100010COPIES. TIRAŽAS 000 EGZ.

K AU N A S F U L L O F CU LT U R E

ISSN 2424-4465

Leidžia: Publisher:

2019 2017 Nr. Nr. 82 (48) (18)