KAUNAS FULL OF CULTURE. JULY 2018

KAUNAS FULL OF CULTURE

Hello, hello!

Illustration by Ramunė Barkauskaitė

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Although Kaunas radio factory Banga has long been bankrupt, its logo still hangs on the building on Draugystės street. The factory veterans have their club, are currently preparing a book about this essential industrial object of Kaunas and even hold Mass at the Christ’s Resurrection Church (Soviets turned it into the factory during the occupation) for those who will no longer be able to attend the book launch.

Photo by Paulius Tautvydas Laurinaitis.

Kaunas gene pool definitely contains radio waves. After approving the topic of this issue, ideas and suggestions started coming one after another. This is probably the most communal and diverse in characters Kaunas Full of Culture issue in three years. For example, the designer of the magazine right away told us a story about his father, a Red Army geometrician, who would listen to Voice of America while on duty and was recording rock music with the help of military equipment. And as we mentioned in the April issue, the power of rock is stronger than tanks.

Hello, hello!

Today, establishing a new radio station sounds like a gamble, but 92 years ago it was one of the critical decisions that allowed the world to hear us and us the world. The first jingles came out from the building on Vaižganto Street on June 12, 1926. Very recently, just before being auctioned, it made it to the list of cultural heritage, and that’s what saved it from being sold. The auction will be repeated, so if you have any money to spare... And by the way, we will come back to this building in this issue twice.

Speaking of the gene pool, did you know that, for example, seaside radio station Neringa FM was founded by three Kaunas residents who gave into soughing waves? Or that the most famous Lithuanian music journalist Ramūnas Zilnys started his career at fourteen years old at the radio station Titanika (it has been closed now for quite some time)?

Kaunofonas, Parabolė and Ultra Vires also stopped broadcasting, but many 40-year-olds still know the latter station’s anthem by heart.

Radio is democratic and open to people of many different professions, and one can find herself there in a variety of ways. For example, the founder of KTU radio station Gaudeamus which was filling the city’s ears with jazz, Giedrius Kuprevičius, not only hosts his show

Audiologai about sound and hearing (broadcast through LRT klasika), but also transmits his musical works to the world via internet 24/7.

One more story about the broad range of personalities attracted by radio.

Modestas Patašius with his colleagues worked at the LRT Kaunas studio – as if currently in limbo, waiting for the new direction – hidden behind the non-existent Merkurijus department store, throughout the events of January 1991. He was a radio journalist at the time, but in the blink of an eye, he became a TV host. And now, it seems impossible to see this person without his camera. By the way, sometime around January of 1991, journalists in Kaunas made a documentary film Sekmadienio rytas (Sunday morning) which can be found on YouTube. Kaunas “plan B” in case of state emergency is also possible today – Žinių radijas is always ready to step in.

So, if you think that radio in Kaunas had died or is dying, you will be surprised after turning the page. While preparing the issue we were shocked more than once. From sports to music, from acquaintances to confessions – radio is everything, and it has all.

Lithuania, Kaunas speaking.

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The 93-year-old radio history in Kaunas (and Lithuania) requires a thorough study, a book or even a film. Perhaps this photo story, which presents four out of six or seven radio stations and studios currently broadcasting from Lithuania, will inspire someone with time on their hands to engage in such project.

Love, acquaintances, principles and traffic jams Gunars BakĹĄejevs Photos by Lukas Mykolaitis

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Marijos radijas (Radio Maria) 95.7 MHz

The maze-like premises on V. Sladkevičiaus Street in the Old Town of Kaunas are filled with lots of love and laughter. It is home to Marijos radijas – a part of a large family united by 80 stations in five continents and dedicated to God and thy neighbor. As you may know, a new radio station building is being built right now.

When is the housewarming party?

“Man plans and God laughs,” chuckles Egidija Vaicekauskienė, who is volunteering as a president of the radio station (the place has lots of volunteers and they are all welcome!). “And

I say – let there be light,” enters the room and continues with the joke priest Povilas Narijauskas who is also a program director at the radio.

Here at Marijos radijas, Eucharistic adorations take place - you can pop in right from the street. At night they are broadcast on the radio. And Mass can be broadcast on the radio from 30 churches throughout Lithuania. Music? Of course! And not only religious. Father Povilas is the Music Academy graduate and has a very wide range of taste in music.

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Radio “Tau” (For You) 102.9 MHz

Audrius Kepežinskas, the head of the radio station celebrating its 25th anniversary, told us that the new station had to be rescued from the lack of funds only a month after its conception. For a while, Radijas Tau was based in a historical place – the building on Vaižganto St 12 (first Kaunas radio signals where broadcast from it), but the new owners moved it to the other end of the city – Kaunas radio factory Banga complex that was being privatized at the time.

They invited their father, a longtime

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radio factory employee, chief engineer Algirdas Kepežinskas to be the head of the radio. The most popular show on Radijas Tau was SMS hotline that probably matched hundreds of Kaunas and Kaunas district youths.

I wonder how many Kaunas residents were born thanks to Tau? Of course, internet and its new dating possibilities, decreased its popularity but Audrius says that 35-year-olds and older remain loyal to the radio and after falling in love remember to thank the radio station.

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“Žinių radijas” (News Radio) 104.9 MHz

After the journalist fulfills public and personal interests as well as the interest of the radio station, the fourth – interest of an executive – will also be fulfilled, believes Augustinas Rakauskas, who bought Žinių radijas from Lithuanian-American Kęstutis Makaitis in 2005. Why did he buy it?

In order to provide a microphone for business. The head of the radio station with a large team of journalists and 10 shows that analyze different topics doesn’t call his employees to his office. And if he feels critical of something, he speaks his mind in the show Verslumo dvasia (Spirit of Entrepreneurship). On his show he shares the principles that were

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shaped by his experience accumulated over many years. The hosts of the show, Ingrida Stankevičienė and Edita Marciulevičienė welcome various professionals to the studio, but... in a way, everything is business.

The studio located on the seventh floor of Kesko Senukai building, faces the Ninth Fort. Most of Žinių radijas shows are made in Vilnius, this studio is more of a backup one.

But it doesn’t deserve to stay empty.

Therefore, A. Rakauskas, asked to spread the news that Kaunas business people who wish to share their experience and insights are always welcome on Žinių radijas.

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Radio station “Kelyje” (On the Road) 105.9 MHz

In the year 2000, when the new radio station dedicated to drivers and travelers was launched, jeeps were speeding in Laisvės Avenue! Today, this sounds pretty unbelievable, just like the fact that the radio station had its own taxi firm at some point. Just two years ago, Kelyje radio station’s Kaunas studio (there are studios in Vilnius and Klaipėda too) finally moved from S. Darius and S. Girėnas stadium where poor show hosts had to read the weather forecasts without seeing what the actual weather was like, since there were no windows.

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The most loyal fans of the radio listen to it from day one. And even though they don’t gift that many cakes or write so many love letters anymore, the fans continue to call to announce about traffic jams or accidents. By the way, the prevalent stereotype, that this radio station is mostly listened to by taxi and short distance drivers is wrong! It’s the responsible residents who notify about the traffic jams.

The launch of Kelyje on LaisvÄ—s Avenue, year 2000. Picture from the archive of the station.

Busy times! Picture from the archive of the station.

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The air is not going anywhere

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Algis Kregždė (born 1940) is a short-wave radio enthusiast, (call sign LY2NK) world and European champion, multiple Lithuanian champion, record holder, master of radiosport on the international level, radio sports coach and radio engineer. The veteran of this sport revealed to us the unique history – that has been lasting for more than 50 years – of Kaunas short-wave enthusiasts’ community: their adventures, sport’s triumphs, contribution to the struggle for Lithuania’s independence and the fact that sometimes, the issues of life and death are solved in a couple of small university rooms, cluttered with radio equipment.

Julija Račiūnaitė Photos by Teodoras Biliūnas

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What is radio sport?

Well, radio communication competitions are usually held. The points are earned both for the amount of radio communication and for their quality. There are many nuances, for example, if a connection with another continent is established, more points are given. Nowadays there are several types of competitions – internal and extramural. Today, domestic competitions are organised more often. For example, this Saturday (June 16, 2018), the national cup was held in Birštonas and this year’s world championship in Germany will be organised according to the same principle. During the internal competition, everyone competes in the same place, under very similar conditions (identical antennas, radio equipment). After all, conditions on air are not equal. A lot depends on whether you’re here, in Siberia or, say, South Africa.

In 1966, when we won the gold in the world championship, there were no internal championships – only extramural. In that year, we were the first ones in the world to organise a so-called expedition. The point of such expedition: a team participates in the competition not from its headquarters, but from any chosen place in the world which has better conditions for establishing a radio connection. We can say that we opened a brand-new page in radio sports then. Until then, there was no such practice – to go to the chosen place. Before the championship, we were barely able to prove to the authorities that it would make sense to travel to Georgia for better results. We had to go to Moscow for 5 or 6 times to prove it. In the end, our idea was taken seriously, and it changed the very principle of contention – it was a sensation on a global scale. Our team even had a unique, short, precise and previously unknown call sign 4L7A (usually call signs begin with letters). Today, the fight in the extramural competitions

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essentially takes place between teams on expeditions.

The most common places used for expeditions are Portuguese islands or the edge of Latin America. Before any world championship, all the contenders think about where to go, which place would be more useful, what makes the most sense financially, etc. I am not talking about one expedition for a specific competition, but about tens of them for finding the right place. And to avoid the geographic advantage, the above-mentioned internal contests are being organised. Before such championship, a 4-year strict selection process is being held, after which 52 teams enter the competition (two of ours will represent Lithuania this year). Our club representatives along with teams from other countries travel to Cyprus, Cape Verde’s islands and South America, so the only remaining limitation today is financial.

How different was the equipment of the radio sportsman of the past in comparison to today’s?

I would say that not that different.

Equipment is only a means and radio waves are a constant phenomenon subjected to natural laws. Its change is primarily influenced by eleven-yearlong solar activity cycle. With higher activity, the air conditions improve.

Around 90’s, when Lithuania fought for independence, we were doing good because solar activity was at its maximum. We successfully maintained a radio connection with the whole world, were informing about what was happening in Lithuania. At the moment there’s minimum solar activity, so conditions are much worse.

Is meteor shower helpful for the connection?

Yes. Many natural phenomena can influence how radio waves travel, for example, magnetic storms, sunspots and solar flares.

How was your club founded?

The Kaunas Polytechnic Institute (now Kaunas University of Technology) radio club was founded in 1956 when several enthusiasts proposed this idea to then rector Kazimieras Baršauskas. He said, “Do it” and provided two rooms on the fifth floor of the Faculty of Mechanics.

This is how our activities began. By the way, a couple of years ago we celebrated our club’s 60th anniversary.

How did the radio club’s technical base look like at that time?

After so many years, it’s hard to understand that it’s possible to set up such a club without having a technical base or even basic parts and materials from which you can make something. We only had student initiative and a huge desire. Everything was created in an empty place. In those desperate conditions, when we just received a couple of things from Kaunas radio club, the guys were able to set up a collective radio station.

Could we say that Kaunas is one of the most active radio sports centres in Lithuania?

It is possible to say that Kaunas is the only one. In Soviet times, there were several competing centres in Kaunas, Vilnius, and Šiauliai. Currently, there are individual enthusiasts in other cities, but in the context of this

sports Kaunas has no contenders, which is not good.

Did you receive a lot of support from the foreign shortwave enthusiasts during the events of 1991?

Yes, people were very interested in us. We were in touch with a group of shortwave radio operators who were able to transfer the information to the media. A lot of people took part in this process, but the exact data should be found in the archive, and the archive is practically non-existent. Why? Because it was the responsibility of our older organisers and professors to protect the students who were already at risk by contributing to such activities.

Taking a bearing on radio stations and transmitters is easy. I remember some of the shortwave operators from other countries well: American Rodger Bart from North Carolina, who was awarded the medal of January 13th and Vilius Rapšys who was very active in Chicago now lives in his native Panevėžys).

I have read that you were ready to block the radio connection between the enemy tanks...

Right here on the shelves, we have those tank radio stations that were

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intended to be used at the time.

There were many engineers in the radio club, we did a lot of experiments, so we really had the technical blocking abilities, but our help was unnecessary. Primarily, the most important thing back then was to keep the world informed. If the country were left without the state radio and television, we had installed a powerful backup radio station with antennas in Kaunas clinics, and if it were necessary, we would have promptly put up the antennas on the clinics’ chimney. A long-standing employee of Vaižganto Street radio station, Mr. Letukas helped us secretly smuggle a transmitter that was needed in the backup radio station in the clinics.

By the way, the old Vaižganto Street radio station worked as a blocking device in the Soviet times, to block the interception of all Western information channels – BBC, the Voice of America and Radio Liberty.

And was the government interested in the club’s activities before the Reform Movement of Lithuania?

Of course. In 1956, when we were established, many officials were obsessed with spying. If rector K. Baršauskas, who was a member of the Center Committee and close to power, would

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not have approved, we would probably have not received permission to set up a radio club. We were the first radio club in Lithuania that was independent of the Soviet DOSAAF (Volunteer Society for Cooperation with the Army, Aviation, and Navy) system. DOSAAF saw everything from the point of view of the army.

It aimed at preparing various types of military professionals before conscription, for example, parachutists, operators and so on. But we acted on a strictly amateur and enthusiast level. There was nothing in our club that would link us to military structures. It included students who cared about technical work and later on radio sport and competitions.

Is it possible that students were attracted to radio sport because of the possibility of contacting the utmost ends of the earth?

Of course. The difference between those times and today is enormous.

Now people can not only make connections but also travel without limitations. So today there isn’t much left of that forbidden fruit romance. On the other hand, radio communications were strictly controlled in the past, allowing communication with socialist countries only.

How come?

He just maintained contact with an interlocutor a little longer than the regulation allowed and told him more than his name and city. It should be added that during the Cold War, the West was also careful about these things.

Does the importance of amateur radio remain unchanged today?

Many imagine that everything is possible today with the help of the Internet. It’s complete nonsense. Things seem one way in the developed world and very different in the developing one. Let’s look at these regions (points at the world map) – they have no satellite service at all, just like in these vast oceanic areas where ships travel.

The internet works on a commercial basis, which means it exists in places that have enough users. However, most territories don’t have people. If few hundred satellites would cover the globe, the internet could compete with radio waves, but why on earth would penguins in Antarctica need it? A long time ago I used to go sailing in the Baltic Sea. The Internet is gone just as you leave Klaipėda and there’s no sign of it until the shores of Finland. Therefore, amateur radio can be extremely useful. Its most important role is to ensure connection in extreme conditions: global military conflicts, electromagnetic impulses, natural disasters. Because of that lamp technology (we see it in this room too) for communication – resistant to the hazards mentioned above – is kept at the standby points.

We have all kinds of hardware on the

table that would have been very useful in crisis situations, for example, January 13th. And not only during that difficult time for Lithuania. I will tell you about the first Lithuanian sailing trip across the Atlantic in 1989. Three Lithuanian sailboats sailed to New York and back. They were not ocean-going, instead built for the Baltic Sea. The sailors were my friends, real enthusiasts. The connection with them was maintained only through our radio stations. People knew of internet only on the military and academic levels.

Everything went very well during the trip, all the radio sessions went smoothly, but on the way back, next to the Azores, a helm broke in one of the sailboats. It’s almost the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, and the boat is impossible to control, you can imagine. You can’t lift the sails; nature is taking you wherever it wants. However, Saulius Pranckevičius, who was on the watch in this dormitory, received the report about the disaster on time. He immediately contacted Klaipėda, and through it, the information reached Leningrad (now St. Petersburg), and from it, a command was given to two ships that were in the area. The vessel safely escorted the sailboat to the Azores.

5 or 6 lives were saved. Even in the Soviet era, cross-border agreements were in force to allow radio stations to be used without restriction, if necessary, to save lives.

The competition organised by the Lithuanian Radio Sports Federation is like a small workout of extreme communication. A person only needs to take his device, and after driving to any place, he can maintain connection utterly independent from the internet, telecommunications, and so on. After all, the ionosphere created by nature – a so-called air – isn’t going anywhere.

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But you did contact other countries too?

Sometimes, but we had to suffer for that. Vincentas Uždavinys (father of a famous actor Sakalas Uždavinys) had lost his permission to use the radio station forever.

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Mykolas Drunga, who teaches public relations in VMU, was awarded the regalia of an honorary doctorate by the university this spring, but first and foremost, he is a journalist. Our respondent – born in Germany in 1948 – has been a contributor to various Lithuanian and the US publications.

Currently, his voice can be heard on LRT radio, he edits texts and writes them only when he can no longer remain silent or when he wants to encourage someone. He could definitely write and speak more! After all, we spent an hour talking only about the radio chapters of his biography.

To the world about Lithuania and to Lithuania about the world Kotryna Lingienė and Kęstutis Lingys Photos by Donatas Stankevičius

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When reading your biography, we noticed that your father Karolis Drunga also did radio shows while still in Lithuania. Did this affect your choice to work in the radio?

Probably no. I became interested in radio on my own. I believe that you’re not going to be a good radio host if you were never an enthusiastic listener. Since my youth, after we moved with my family to the US, I was listening to the Lithuanian radio program Margutis in Chicago. It was a very important means of communication. There were daily newspapers too – Draugas and Naujienos – but it was much easier to learn about things that are taking place this very moment or will happen soon or ended half an hour ago from the radio.

It was as if you were participating in it. American radio stations differ ideologically. They are either conservative, on the right political spectrum, or liberal, more on the left. It was important and interesting to listen to different opinions, call and express yours and touch upon some topic. This would not work on TV, radio, however, not only delivers edited content, but communicates with you. That is why it’s so interesting and won’t disappear anytime soon.

Was Margutis more focused on expat news or what was happening in Lithuania? How did news from occupied Lithuania reach Chicago?

Before 1990, very little news would reach us. Margutis would start with world news. It was relevant to those emigrant Lithuanians who didn’t read much of American newspapers. They would report on occupied Lithuania based on the news from the dissidents and people who were coming from Lithuania, but not those who had to go back there.

They were not really allowed to go to Margutis and people themselves did not feel like it; they did not want

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to get into trouble. The displaced, who would get a few-day Lithuanian visa, would return and then inform about the situation. You had to be careful about complimenting someone in Lithuania, in order not to hurt these people. After all, KGB was also listening to Margutis.

It was very difficult for us to go to Vilnius and Kaunas was completely off limits because during the occupation, Kaunas was the cradle of culture, politics and business. Many intellectuals and public figures left the city for the West, consequently, they all had relatives in Kaunas and the Soviet authorities did not want them to meet. Well, relatives were allowed to come to Vilnius and visit the family coming from America, but only in hotel Lithuania. If you wanted to leave with your relatives, it was necessary to inform at the reception where were you planning on going, in what car and who’d be driving.

When did you first visit Lithuania?

In 1987, before the Reform Movement was started, although you could already feel it in the air. The sign of it was that our tour was the first one to get the permission to visit Kaunas.

That’s a big thing!

Did you also stay in hotel Lietuva?

Of course. We stayed together with my sister. While in the room, one of us said that there are not enough towels. After a few minutes, there was a knock on the door, “You asked for towels!” Well, thank you so much, for such a quick reaction. You don’t even need to ask at the reception. At the time, the Voice of America journalist Romas Sakadolskis was visiting Lithuania as well (it was not his first time) and he stayed on the 4th floor. But being a curious American, he went down to the 2nd floor, opened the door and saw the recording equipment. Of course, he was kicked out and warned that if

the situation recurred, he would not be getting a Lithuanian visa anymore.

We are very interested in the program Sound Waves. In it, you would speak about the culture of occupied Lithuania. How did it come to be? How did you choose the topics and how did the American audience receive them?

It was around 1972-1974. I lived in Boston and studied at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. There were many Lithuanians in Boston, and I, a member of Santara-Šviesa (organisation of liberal Lithuanian emigrants), found many like-minded people. The main ones were Perkūnas Krukonis (by the way, his parents were American-born and didn’t give much importance to Lithuanian culture and named him Wayne, but he changed the name into a more Baltic one – Perkūnas, meaning thunder!) and Romas Šliažas who had contacts in Boston University. Thus, the proposal was made to start an unusual and original show on the university’s radio about Lithuania which then suffered from the Soviet occupation, which Americans knew very little about. The representatives of the student radio said yes – crazy idea – let’s do it! But we took it very seriously. Of course, we were not getting paid and were happy that we didn’t have to pay for the air in the first place. All other radio programs in America must pay for the airtime.

At the time, the English translation of the universal Lithuanian encyclopedia was being published; it was one of our sources. We would come up with a topic, for example, “The Grand Dukes of Lithuania” or “Lithuanian folk songs.”

We were even making a sort of radio theatre to show that Lithuanians were not only beaten by others but would occasionally beat Poles and Belarusians. As liberals, we didn’t want to promote ethnic hatred; we simply nar-

rated figuratively. We used the library of sound effects, for example, to illustrate the fights. But the sound effect of fighting was a recording from an Irish pub, and you could hear a phrase, “Throw the bums out!” and that didn’t really apply to the times of Mindaugas.

Did you create any roles?

No, I was mostly reporting on cultural topics. For example, about Mikalojus Konstantinas Čiurlionis. This show received the Armstrong prize.

Did you choose the topics according to your liking or did you try to please the audience?

It’s important for the listener to be interested. What’s the point in doing something if no one else except you understands? For example, the popular shows were about prominent Americans of Lithuanian origin: American football players Johnny Unitas, Dick Butkus and boxer and world champion Jack Sharkey, who, by the way, was on the show – Perkūnas and Romas had gone to see him.

I would always say I come from Lithuania, although, I had never seen my homeland. Once, one student told me, “Oh, am also from Lithuania, my parents come from Vitebsk!” She was a Litvak. They have a slightly different understanding of Lithuania, don’t they? And neighbors, too, imagine Lithuania differently. We also did a show on that – about the change and understanding of Lithuanian borders since 1009. There was also an episode in which we analyzed the connections between Sanskrit and Lithuanian. We read the proverb, “Dievas davė dantis, Dievas duos duonos” (God gave teeth, God will provide the bread) and its Sanskrit version, “Devas adadat datas, devas dasyati dhanas.” So, it was possible to hear Lithuanian language on the Boston University radio. For many,

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even the American intellectuals, the information we provided was news, even the fact that Lithuania was not always in the Soviet Union.

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What were the other shows on the radio at the time?

Before our broadcast, you could listen to Gay Wave – a show dedicated to breaking down stereotypes about sexual minorities. It was hosted by a well-known American, Barney Frank, who was later elected a senator. We would say hi in passing. This show was very important because gay people at the time were invisible, no one spoke about them, and when they did, it was always in an inhumane way.

Coming out was a courageous act.

Now things are different. We were all strange birds back then, who decided to tell listeners about ourselves.

You probably always believed that Lithuania would be free, since you felt it was important to report it to the world?

I hoped, and I waited because I believed that large empires don’t last forever. Probably around 1976, Moscow lawyer Aleksandras Štromas came to the West. He guaranteed that the Soviet Union would collapse soon. Many did not believe him then. The Reform Movement was also a surprise for many, but not for me because we were receiving more and more guests from Lithuania. For example, the Youth Theatre did plays Pirosmani Pirosmani and The Cherry Orchard directed

by Eimuntas Nekrošius. Even before March 11, guests from Lithuania sang the national anthem with us in 1989.

One person, who later served as the advisor to Algirdas Brazauskas, reminded them that it’s still Soviet Union in Lithuania and they will have to return to it. But then, after all those decades without any change, things happened very quickly. And it was reported by Lithuanian press and radio.

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In 1990s, you went to work at the Radio Free Europe in Munich. How did you get this job?

In 1989, while in Chicago, I received a call from the Radio Free Europe. They asked me if I wanted to become the head of the Lithuanian department.

I said, yes, of course! I was surprised, they offered it to me, but I didn’t ask why. I had to fill out a detailed questionnaire of a dozen pages and they promised to contact me after a half year. I wanted to go to Germany because I was born in Tubingen, I speak German and I always liked Germany and Europe. After a couple of months, they called to say that they had found a director already but offered me a position of a regular member of the editorial staff. Yes, with pleasure!

After some time, around Christmas, I was notified that I got the job, and the tickets were purchased for January 15, 1990. I would be picked up in Munich and there would be an apartment ready for me. Perfect.

I landed in Munich, and no one came to meet me. I couldn’t stay at the airport forever, so I called the Lithuanian office. A man answered and I announced that I had arrived. “Oh, damn! We were not expecting you yet,” was his answer. After about 15 minutes, the deputy director of the Radio Free Europe arrived. He took me to a hotel – because they hadn’t had found an apartment yet – and even gave me a credit card.

On January 16th, the next day, I was already going to work! I spoke German, so I had no problem using the public transport. I got acquainted with my colleagues, including Kęstutis Jakubynas who “damned” me on the phone. Face to face, he seemed a very polite person. I read the first report. Of course, I made mistakes, but I was corrected, and it was very useful.

I celebrated the 11th of March as the employee of Free Radio Europe. We already had reporters in Lithuania. The first one was Audrius Siaurusevičius. A good thing in Munich was that radio journalists only had to write and then read the announcement after booking the place in the studio.

Everything was arranged by German technicians who were extremely professional. After some time, without knowing Lithuanian but sensing the tone of the voice and the pauses they were able to cut the mistakes while editing. It turns out that one of the technicians was an actor, so he could feel another person well.

We worked like that for six years. It so happened that the radio was moved to Prague because it was too expensive to keep it in Germany. After the split of Czechoslovakia, Czech President Vaclav Havel proposed that Bill Clinton (by the way, both of them where saxophone players) move Radio Free Europe to the former Czechoslovak Parliament. Rent would cost a dollar a month! So, we had to turn the parliament into radio. No more German technicians – we had to learn to do everything ourselves. Only our director Kęstutis Girnius never learned and we’d have a little laugh about that from time to time. “We” were Irena Vaišvilaitė, Virgis Valentinavičius, Valentinas Mitė – who always wanted to go to the hot spots – Saulius Spurga and Jonas and Marija Jurašai...

I spoke Lithuanian, English, German and some French. Unfortunately, no Italian, unless they were opera arias.

I was doing an overview of the foreign press – how events related to Lithuania were being covered in the western media. I would suggest some topics of my own as well. Times were fun, really.

Later, European radio departments were closed. The radio remained in Central Asia and those European

countries that were not yet members of the European Union and NATO. We would laugh and say that Europe was eliminated from the Radio Europe.

Then you came to Kaunas? Did you consider returning to the US? Yes, we went to Kaunas. We often went to the US when my mother was still alive. I like Europe, I got used to it. Of course, I liked The States too; only I’m not sure if I would like it now. But I had no doubts. There was no shortage of work here. I immediately received a proposal from LRT radio to work as a foreign press commentator. I would go to the LRT studio in Kaunas where Lithuanian radio was started. I still record there, although it isn’t always easy to get in, so then I record my commentary from home, on the phone. I also write articles when someone really winds me up or vice versa – when I want to support or encourage someone.

By the way, do you listen to the radio?

You know, not anymore. I used to listen to Žinių radijas, but I stopped because of the lack of time, but I like their format.

I am a sucker for classical music. I don’t really get other genres. When I was alone, I would listen to it on the radio, all sad. Now, I listen to it on the internet and am glad it is possible to easily find the music you like. Also, the news. Even if you’re going to the beach you can have a radio with you and remain connected to the world.

It’s very important to me; I don’t want to lose touch. Maybe I will one day? Now I also teach, so I don’t want to know less than my students. Of course, the generational differences are apparent. For example, you need to explain to the students why Stalin was bad. Even the twenty-year-old events need to be explained.

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Music in its essence, music with roots.

Music that has risen above – or has never descended till borders that were relatively recently marked on the map. Music without long lists of demands and probably without business class tickets. Music that is open and inviting. This is world music, and since 2006 its ordinary nonplenipotentiary ambassadors in Lithuania are GM Gyvai, or good music live.

Twelve years out of this world Daina DubauskaitÄ— Photos by Donatas StankeviÄ?ius

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Žilvinas Švarplys spent a decade in Chicago. The resident of Kaunas who grew up listening to the quality music collected by his dad Česlovas had tried various jobs in the US. The music, though, came to his life unawares, while Žilvinas was cleaning the Chicago University premises located in the fancy Hyde Park district.

He got to know one student who said that one music club is looking for a housekeeper.

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That’s how, without any particular intention, Žilvinas started working in the famous – even legendary – jazz club HotHouse. The club’s team is considered to be one of the first world music ambassadors in the US, “I was seriously hooked on world music. What’s interesting is that my manager was a very intelligent communist who was fascinated by the fact that I come from Eastern Europe. Because of that, I had many privileges. I could communicate with musicians as much as I liked.”

After all that interaction, in 2006 he started inviting them to Lithuania, where they were all enthusiastically expected by music lover Česlovas.

It didn’t take long to convince the father to embark on this adventure, mainly since no concerts of this type of music were happening in Lithuania. “We thought that we would bring a good band and people will simply come. But that didn’t happen – only ten people came to listen to the Puerto Ricans”, recalled Žilvinas, who also referred to the twelve-year-old events as “out of this world.” But the reality was such that Česlovas would sell the tickets to the first GM Gyvai concerts right on the street. “Doesn’t get worse than that!

I would use a credit card to buy the musicians’ aeroplane tickets and frankly, we hardly make ends meet until today. After selling the tickets

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we cover the debts from past events, but until now we don’t plan our budget, we are not used to it, and it’s less stressful this way. If we started counting, we’d be done with all that long time ago. There’s no money?

You must get it, you believe that you can do it and you get it,” says Žilvinas. The concerts organised with his dad and a small but passionate team can be counted in hundreds, just like the representatives of countries and ethnicities of the world who performed in Kaunas, Vilnius and Palanga. Kaunas, by the way, is the city of blues and Persian music is very close to Lithuanian hearts, guarantee the duo of Žilvinas and Česlovas. The first musicians they brought over were blues musicians, and later, one name followed another, an acquaintance provided more acquaintances, and a recommendation turned into a deal.

Do these ten people who came to the first GM Gyvai concert continue to frequent them? “To be frank – I don’t know. Of course, we have regular visitors because I collaborate with a number of companies who have purchased season tickets. They make up a large part of the audience,” Žilvinas reveals an interesting model of concert organisation.

He speculates that there were more patrons of culture back in the interwar period and now business people are not always looking for ways to cleanse their karma. But after discovering music they stay. According to him, there are not that many young people in the concerts (the number is increasing, though). Maybe they’re afraid of the “world music” term? “Quite often I let in people for free. For example, Roma people never pay for my events; I am a friend of this nation. Senior citizens and students can buy their tickets half price.”

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GM Gyvai had organised four concerts in Panevėžys Women’s Prison. Because what else is there to do on a free day in between concerts?

Everyday life of imprisoned women was brightened by the US saxophone player Sax Gordon, Lithuanians Parranda Polar and Lapkričio dvidešimtosios orkestras, and they, of course, loved it. Three concerts were held in Vilnius taboras (Roma settlement).

Interestingly, Žilvinas claims that the question of locations is less problematic in Kaunas, although people often say the opposite. “Oh, come on, it is simple in Kaunas – VMU Grand Hall, Kaunas State Drama Theatre, Renginių oazė, Kaunas State Philharmonic, Žalgirio Arena amphitheater, Raudondvaris manor, Adform kiemelis, but in Vilnius we are forced to migrate between the Odd

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Man Theatre, Russian Drama Theatre and Vasaros terasa.”

Of course, Žilvinas is not even trying to compare Kaunas or Vilnius clubs and concert halls (by the way, currently it’s trendy to organize concerts of the same musician in two Lithuanian cities, but GM Gyvai is not giving in to it!) with community clubs that he discovered in remote Chicago neighborhoods after some time spent in the US. Such places are free from social clichés, fakeness or a sense of time, “They are real.” Now, talking about realness and communication without limits – one of the Žilvinas dreams is to open a public bath because there is a lack of them in Vilnius, but not in Kaunas! “Bathhouse provides a very communal atmosphere. You can’t hide anything there, unlike on the street.”

The first album recorded here was MaLituanie. It was a musical collaboration between Baba Sissoko from Mali, Viktoras Diawara, who also comes from this country, multi-instrumentalist Saulius Petreikis and vocalists Laurita Peleniūtė and Indrė Jurgelevičiūtė. “The project was wonderful, but I had no clue about recording,” laughs Žilvinas. He continues to care more about the content rather than format. But despite that Žilvinas started thinking that the project should begin maintaining itself. After all – the world is noticing.

The second project by One Root Music was the album Solo & Indre

by Senegalese Solo Cissokho, who brought a popular Western African string instrument kora with himself, and a Lithuanian kanklės (chordophone) player Indrė Jurgelevičiūtė.

Gucci fashion house got interested in one of the duo’s piece and bought the rights for a video soundtrack.

The project travelled to many world music festivals in the US, and the albums sold well.

The Griot Blues project which includes the Chicago blues legend Mighty Mo Rodgers and Malian mul-

ti-instrumentalist, the master of “talking drums” (tamani), Baba Sissoko, is currently touring in Europe.

By the way, quite recently, musicians from the Tuvan Republic met with Tuaregs in a studio in Vilnius and recorded nine songs together, despite being unable to communicate in any language. “In the future, I would like to organise the recording sessions somewhere in the village, for three or four days,” says Žilvinas. He continues to learn about the secrets of the music world and look for the balance between art and business.

July’s issue is dedicated to radio, and GM Gyvai has something to say about it. “World Music Radio (PMR) currently is more of a playlist that my friend occasionally updates with new music. Maybe, in the future, we will have radio shows that will match the radio format more. We don’t necessarily play the musicians who performed at the GM Gyvai events; we generally broadcast world music.” Why is there a need for this radio? “Because we’re still underground.”

We must mention the project Juke Train which is concerts on... trains.

You can find a few dozen videos on YouTube. From KeyMono to Žalvarinis. “Maybe we should organise a Juke Train festival somewhere in a small train station between Kaunas and Vilnius?” asks Žilvinas and also answers right away – that requires hands and time.

If not by train then by other means, but GM Gyvai will visit Kaunas in the summer three times. Turkish psychedelic music band BaBa ZuLa’s concert will take place on the 12th of July, on the 24th you will hear two blues masters Carlos Johnson and Chris Cain and an Italian Luca Giordano band. And what about August? Follow GM Gyvai!

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Speaking about a project that was born within the framework of GM Gyvai Žilvinas says, “It’s in my nature to bring people together.” He has started doing that while in the US. For example, Chicago is visited

by Ali Farka Touré from Mali. Žilvinas quickly calls his blues musician friends and brings them all on the stage, thus pushing them out of the comfort zone, “At the time I didn’t think that I will have to record such unexpected formations.”

This quality of bringing people together brought him to one more record company One Root Music, and Lithuania became the crossroad for musicians.

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When the first Lithuanian radio jingles were heard, the phenomenon began spreading quickly throughout Lithuania.

Not surprisingly, with the rapid growth of imported radio sales, Lithuanians also reacted to the demand – the history of Kaunas-made radios starts less than a decade after the launch of the Lithuanian broadcast. The radio history enthusiast Zenonas Langaitis agreed to tell us and you all about them. He has accumulated an impressive collection of receivers that spoke, played (and later on showed) to Lithuanian people.

Among them, more than one device made in Kaunas.

Made in Kaunas Paulius Tautvydas Laurinaitis Photos by the author

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The first ones to start producing radios where probably Student Technicians Association (STA). In the early 1930s, they began assembling radios for the provinces. According to Zenonas, today no one knows how the so-called “Stedinai” looked like because none of these devices was found and none of their photographs remained. Company Radiotechnika, which separated from STA and was supervised by one of the city’s entrepreneur’s Pranas Baranauskas also produced their brand of radios. As of now, only one of such radios is found, and it holds a high position in Zenonas’ collection. The phenomenon of radio was spreading very fast. In the mid-1930s 50 companies specialised in diverse radio production only in Kaunas – many businesspeople wanted to get involved in the new technological trend.

In 1935, Kaunas-based construction contractor Isaakas Kaplanas found-

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ed a radio factory Karadi, which manufactured radio receivers assembled under the license of British company Marconi. The parts were imported from there, but the body was designed originally for Lithuanians. Only a few simple Karadi elements were manufactured in Kaunas, and the factory itself served more like a workshop with one English engineer and 5-6 workers. According to Zenonas’ research, Kaunas residents of the time, who had a technical understanding of radios, were not accepted to work in the workshop and the primary criterion for employment was to know how to solder. Over the several years of its existence, Karadi released or planned to release around 12 different models of which only seven have survived until today. The most interesting of them is the so-called Tautofonas: a small crystal set, battery-powered headphone device that could work without electricity.

It was the reflection of the country at the time. With the rapid expansion of electrification, crystal sets were already becoming history and soon followed the battery-powered ones. Interestingly, a lot of crystal sets – only less fancy – were made by a number of Lithuanians in their homes, based on the drawings found in magazines.

And even though initially the production was successful, the growing competition from foreign firms and the rapid development of technology was the reason why the new Karadis did not show up in 1938. The large output by other producers allowed them to ignore even the high taxes that applied to imported radio receivers. Zenonas also has a different theory – a relatively simple radio model sold by one of the prominent manufacturers in Lithuania is not found elsewhere in Europe, and

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while investigating the quantities of parts imported for warranty repairs, it is evident that these were imported in large quantities. “The taxes didn’t apply to parts, so who can say that these radios were not being assembled hush-hush, somewhere in Kaunas?” our respondent reveals a possible secret of radio history.

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During the occupation, radio manufacturing returned to Kaunas.

In 1956, Kaunas Radio Factory was opened, which had part of its premises in the devastated Resurrection Church. After the liquidation of one of the factories in Moscow, the production of radio Majak was moved here. Soon a more Lithuanian Daina came out – it had an

ated by the memories of employees who remember working with wires designed for tropical climates. Although radio factory had released three conceptual transistor models in 1973 (called Nida), its primary focus since the beginning of the decade was the TV set.

So, the fourth Minija was the last radio manufactured in the radio factory, and the new factory started making Šilelis television sets since 1973. Today, it is little known that at least three radio factory workshops produced monitors for the military industry. The guess is, they were used in the USSR Space Program, and the popular TV sets were more a cover-up or “what was left after the underlying production.” It is also interesting that the factory renamed as Banga also provided monitors for the needs of Moscow Olympics. The history of the factory built under Stalin’s orders ended after its bankruptcy in 1995.

A strange parallel could be drawn between it and Karadis’ inability to adapt to the changing market. Still, the history of audiovisual technology manufacturing didn’t end in Kaunas completely – a number of small companies continued to operate at the radio factory. We could say that Šilelis TV set of 1997, placed in a wooden frame and designed for the dramatic interiors of the time, was an exciting but not a very successful attempt to adapt to the market economy.

integrated turntable – and subsequently, tape recorders Neringa and Vaiva. However, the most popular products were four Minija models.

The first one is still a big mystery to the collectors: no one was able to locate a surviving example of it yet. According to Zenonas, some of them may have ended up in India.

This presumption can be substanti-

Mr. Zenonas told us about radios made in Kaunas. Now it’s your turn to contribute to the story - help us find the first model of Minija! Distinctive features: four tone keys are integrated next to the fabric of loudspeaker with a green “eye” on the left. Did you see anything similar covered in dust in your loft? Let us know!

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“I buried a huge intellectual treasure” Kotryna Lingienė Photos by Kaunas Full of Culture

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“I live in Kaunas since 1955, but I have never visited this place!” says Bronislava Masaitienė.

She came to meet her “new grandkids” Marius Skukauskas and Julija Činčytė near Kaunas radio station which broadcast the words, “Hello, hello! Lithuania, Kaunas speaking” in 1926. If we wanted to be more precise, we could say that radio history of Kaunas starts with the year 1910, when Russian soldiers began building a radiotelegraph station in Žaliakalnis fort.

But our story focuses on S. Daukantas Street because this was the place where a modern radio studio was founded in 1933. And vinyl records recorded in it became the treasure of Bronė and the whole of Lithuania. Marius and Julija made a documentary about this treasure.

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The premiere of Kalbantis lobis (Treasure that Speaks) took place in April, at the Kaunas City Museum M. and K. Petrauskai Lithuanian Music History Department. The choice of location was not accidental, because it was the Kaunas City Museum that gave this idea to VMU students – to interview Bronislava, who unearthed the vinyl records in Šančiai. In fact, she found the treasure back in 1992. Since the story is multilayered, the interview planned for the museum archive turned into a 40-minute account that features many interesting professionals.

The head of the culture department of the Kaunas radio was Balys Gražulis who made sure that all the most important cultural and political events were recorded in vinyl. Just before the second Soviet occupation, when the soldiers were

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Found it! Picture from the personal archive of Bronislava Masaitienė

already watching the radio station, B. Gražulis “stole” about 80 (76 vinyl records were unearthed) records that he found to be the most valuable and after taking them to Šančiai, buried the records in his year.

Soon after that he moved to the West and settled in the US. In 1990, Bronė and her husband finally got the visas to travel to the US and visit their relatives. Unfortunately, she was unable to meet her cousin – yes, yes, Balys –because he lived 1500 km away from where Kaunas’ residents were visiting, but they were able to talk on the phone. When Bronė and her husband were about to leave for Lithuania, during the last conversation with Balys, he incidentally said, “I buried a huge intellectual treasure, if Lithuania were to find it, we’d be able to fill in the blanks (of history). The cousin immediately promised to find it!

Upon returning to Kaunas, before starting the work, she made a Šančiai plan and sent it to the US so that the cousin could mark the exact place, but he could not remember! He only mentioned a hill, a large oak and a dug-out. In addition to that, he remembered the name of the railway watcher who helped him bury the treasure. Right away they were able to find the son of the railway man in an old phone book.

After meeting with him, they found out that there was no hill or a dugout anymore – everything was levelled with the ground and garages are built on top.

It wasn’t easy. They had to dig around for two years. But they gathered an impressive group of helpers – including a guy who searches for explosives – and also special spikes were made. Bronė received help from her cousins who live in Šančiai, the deportees’ club sent soldiers, and they even had to use the excavator. Today, the resident of Kaunas admits that they might not have been very respectful to the plants, but everyone really wanted to find the records.

The fateful – and very long – 16th of April started on a sad note – Bronė had to take part in her co-worker’s father’s funeral. After returning to Šančiai, she decided to dig around a bit. Bronė’s right eye was itchy, and she took it as a sign that it’s about time the search was successful. We don’t want to spoil the ultimate pleasure of watching Bronė’s sensitive story in the film. By the way, her narration is exceptionally detailed – with all the names, surnames and responsibilities – because she had written everything down in 1992 – even the fact that they were drinking the celebratory champagne from crystal glasses.

Diaries are important. Also notable is the number of all those people who gave their time and used their official positions or in any other way contributed to the discovery of the treasure that speaks. Many people involved in the search and interviewed for the film remember all the beautiful emotions perfectly.

The radio recordings were officially donated to the Office of the Chief Archivist of Lithuania by Balys Gražulis himself (he passed away in 1994). About a quarter of them were covered with lime and impossible to play. It was planned to write them off because there were no cleaning materials that would remove the lime and keep the vinyl intact, but the wife of the archive specialist Vytautas Vizgintas suggested a one ordinary household chemical.

The records have already been digitised, so it is possible to get acquainted with their content which, in the face of occupation, has become an indisputable proof of Lithuanian statehood. For Bronislava, the record that captures a short interview with sculptor Juozas Zikaras has probably left the most significant impression. Perhaps, it wasn’t the interview but a phone call she got around ten days after the treasure was found. The news about the records spread fast around Kaunas, so, Bronislava received a call from Alytė Zikaraitė, who had founded a secret museum in 1959 in her family’s wooden house on the Owl Hill. “I passed that place so many times on my way to work, and I had no clue that it’s a museum, until Zikaras’ daughter invited me to visit it,” remembers Bronislava, who worked in a Raudonasis spalis (Red October) factory and walked to it all the way from Radio factory, where her hus-

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Julija and Marius will complete their master’s studies in a year and this film – that received raving reviews from Bronė – is only one part of it.

Will there be more films? Why not, if an equally exciting story – and not necessarily that vast – will emerge?

Kaunas City Museum, which recently partnered up with Kaunas 2022, has already started a collaboration with Capital of Culture programs – Modernism for the Future and Memory Office – so there will be plenty of hints to possible new treasures. And this format – chosen to present historical events – that fits testimonies of many people in forty minutes is a very convenient medium for those who are unable to find the museum entrance.

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Among them were also the Lithuanian anthem sung by a choir, Petras Kalpokas, Petras Rimša and Antanas Žmuidzinavičius’ stories and poems

by Bernardas Brazdžionis and other poets. There were also German reports on the Soviet Union’s arrival to Lithuania, Lithuanian deportees and even a statement by the Provisional government “Declaration of the restoration of the independent state. Appeal to the Lithuanian nation”, as if the last attempt to leave at least some kind of trace – a proof that Lithuania was free and must become so again. Kalbantis lobis begins exactly with this recording, which

the filmmakers found to be the most memorable of all the findings.

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band was employed. In fact, when she first talked to the sculptor’s daughter, she was unable to guarantee that the interview with Zikaras will be among the discovered records – but it was!

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Not every day kings come to Kaunas, right? On the 15th of June, King Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands could be seen walking down Laisvės Avenue towards the light installation – a memorial for hope – that was created by his compatriot artist Giny Vos to honor Jan Zwartendijk. He was a modest (maybe even too modest) businessman, who worked as a representative of Philips in Kaunas during the interwar period. And that is exactly how people called him – Mr. Philips Radio.

After becoming the Dutch Consul, “Mr. Radio” accidentally became “the Angel of Curacao” because he saved hundreds and thousands of Jewish refugees from the Holocaust by issuing them visas to the Dutch-owned island of Curacao. The flickering lights of the memorial symbolize their own lives as well as the lives of their children and grandchildren, and the installation itself invites to take a fresh look at Laisvės Avenue. This time we build the shelves of Merkurijus – dedicated to new cool things – here, in the new object of Kaunas that is symbolically related with the issue’s topic – radio.

Merkurijus

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Passport magazine 24,90€ www.passport-journal.com

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The publishers of the most solid Lithuanian magazine told us that it took them 7 months to arrange the photo shoot which, for the first time ever, featured the President, an Olympian, a prominent photographer, a conductor and a person who discovered the Act of Independence of Lithuania. The second issue of Passport includes dialogues and monologues about history, identity, the Centennial, language, the present and the future!

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The first Lithuanian football culture magazine hasn’t been born in Kaunas, but the fact is so important we couldn’t resist but present it. After all, the historic S. Darius and S. Girėnas stadium in Kaunas should be renovated in 2020. This means we must start expanding our football community now.

The first issue includes stories about the World cup and the second one’s scheduled for Autumn.

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Dešra and žaizdos (Sausage on Wound) zine Free of charge Various places

We believe that we took the first issue of this zine from the ceiling of an underground passage. At the time, we were visiting only seemingly risky poetry reading in the inaccessible J. Mačiunas Square. Poets of the street, city, stairwell and bar have more things to say. After reading your copy – pass it along to friends. After all, it’s a zine.

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Five Years of Tears Vol. 1 compilation 10€ pinkman.bandcamp.com

Yet another example of Dutch-Lithuanian friendship is this vinyl record by Pinkman label. The Netherlands-based company chose to include a track from a Kaunas-based DJ and producer Ernestas Sadau. The track itself is a techno story about the 90s in Vilnius; interestingly enough, Ernestas’s first release on the label used samples from a broadcast about a riot in a jail near Kaunas.

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Kartu handbag 85€ www.kartustudio.com

In the previous issue we marvelled at the interwar architecture-inspired jewellery made of concrete, and in this one, we offer to combine them with handbags born out of big love, right here in Kaunas. Who could say that their round shapes were not inspired by the window of Iljinienė house that stands right in front of Kartu studio?

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Calendar Exhibitions 06 14 – 09 02

Exhibition “Baltic Neighbours Celebrate 100. The 20th c. Art of Latvia and Estonia from the Collections of M. K. Čiurlionis National Museum of Art”

06 07 – 12 31

Exhibition “The Great Gift to Lithuania”

Historical Presidential Palace of the Republic of Lithuania, Vilniaus g. 33

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M. Žilinskas Art Gallery, Nepriklausomybės a. 12

Dedicated to the Centenary of the Baltic States, this exhibition presents Latvian and Estonian artists with their works created during the first period of independence (1918–1940), in the years of the Soviet occupation, even those created after the Restoration of Independence in 1990. For the first time, visitors are provided with the opportunity to get a broader overview of the 20th century art of two neighbouring Baltic countries. The most abundant part of the exhibition is comprised of paintings and graphic arts; however, several sculptures, entertaining posters and engaging exhibits of the applied art make the artistic panorama much more diversified.

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To mention the 125th anniversary of Aleksandras Mykolas Račkus, as well as to announce the year 2019 the Year of the World Lithuanians, the M. K. Čiurlionis National Museum of Art presents two collections. One of them represents the numismatic valuables collected by A. M. Račkus – among the most exciting exhibits: rare coins of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and other nations of the world, valuable medals, exotic items and rare Lithuanian and numismatic books. In the second part of the exhibition, visitors have the opportunity to get acquainted with the social life of the American Lithuanians of the 1860s – 1930s and their contribution to the restoration and consolidation of the state of Lithuania.

06 21 – 07 21

Exhibition “Padėk Panešt” [“Help Me Carry This”] Gallery “Nyčės ūsai”, Pilies g. 1

July The paradoxes of life, routine and absurd moments inspire the creations of Ramunė Barkauskaitė, an artist who also did our July cover. The colour aesthetics of the digital prints of Ramunė is what helps them stand out. The fragments of everyday life are represented in a minimal yet extravagant way.

06 23 – 07 28

Exhibition “Fragments of Kaunas”

Kaunas City Museum Department of the Kaunas Castle, Pilies g. 17

The M. K. Čiurlionis National Museum of Art presents a retrospective dedicated to the 125th birth anniversary of artist Adomas Galdikas. Comprised of an early creation and the works from the period of forced emigration in Freiburg and America, the exhibition introduces a prominent Lithuanian artist whose creation had experienced a variety of influences of the 20th century fine arts, simultaneously keeping a focus on a broad stylistic spectrum and the diversity of artistic facets. At various developmental stages, these have interspersed with the impact of such art movements and styles as Symbolism, Impressionism, Art Deco, Expressionism, Surrealism, Abstractionism, and the Lithuanian folk art.

07 01 – 10 28

“Kaunas Photo” exhibition “Migrations” Lithuanian Zoo, Radvilėnų pl. 21

Born and raised in Kaunas, painter Ruta Velykytė feels an unbreakable bond with the city’s architecture and history. The artist creates cycles rather than individual works of art; this is what allows her paintings to interact with each other.

06 29 – 10 07

Exhibition “Multifaceted Creation. A retrospective of Adomas Galdikas (1893–1969)”

Kaunas Picture Gallery, K. Donelaičio g. 16

Anup Shah, from an incredibly close and intimate distance, looks at African animals and discusses migration and the desire of a natural person to survive. The open-air exhibition by one of the most important festivals in Lithuania and the Baltics is located near the giraffes‘ area of the zoo.

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Calendar 06 28 – 08 19

Exhibition “Let Everything Come into Bloom”

A. Žmuidzinavičius Creations and Collections museum, V. Putvinskio g. 64

Music 07 05 – 06

17th International Music Festival “Operetė Kauno pilyje” [“Operetta at the Kaunas Castle”

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Kaunas Castle field

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The painting exhibition commemorates the 90th anniversary of folk artist Adelė Velykienė and presents almost entire creative legacy of the artist from the collections of M. K. Čiurlionis National Museum of Art and relatives.

Alongside, visitors can see works of art

by Adelė’s brother Juozas Banaitis (19171988), son Gintautas Velykis, granddaughters Laura Velykytė-Didžiokienė (the very first painting by Adelė was her self-portrait with the granddaughter Laura) and Giedrė Velykytė-Jarinienė, also the great-granddaughter Sofija Didžiokaitė. All the works depict nature, village, flowers, the native land, relatives, the artist’s father carpenter Jurgis Banevičius and, of course, Adelė herself.

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

The two grand concerts of this year’s festival are dedicated to the Centenary of the Restoration of the State. The show on July 5th will start at 8 pm.

On July 6th, the Lithuanian Statehood Day, the participants of the festival will sing our National Anthem with Lithuanians around the world. The ceremony will be followed by “Radvila Perkūnas”, a Lithuanian opera by Jurgis Karnavičius. The festival will continue through November in various locations in Kaunas and Kaunas region.

Friday, 07 06, 12 pm

Carillon Music Summer Concert Series

Vytautas the Great War Museum garden, K. Donelaičio g. 64 Carillonist Austėja Staniunaitytė has prepared an unique Statehood Day programme, including Lithuanian folk music and pieces by Juozas Naujalis, Česlovas Sasnauskas, Galina Savinienė and Balys Dvarionas.

More events pilnas.kaunas.lt

July Saturday, 07 07, 5 pm

Pažaislis Music Festival: “Virility. Keturių žaidimas” [“Virility. A Game of Four”] Vytauto Didžiojo karo muziejus, K. Donelaičio g. 64

The versatile Swiss musician Bruno Bieri will amaze the Lithuanian audience with the subtle sound of hang and overtone singing. Together with local artists, he will present the project of Viktoras Gerulaitis.

Sunday, 07 08, 5 pm

Pažaislis Music Festival: “Pokalbiai be žodžių” [“Conversations Without Words”]

Admirers of organ music will be thrilled to hear the instrument played b Franz Wassermann, a prominent German artist. Pieces by Johann Sebastian Bach, Léon Boëllmann, Louis-Claude Daquin, Antonín Dvořák, George Job Elvey, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and other composers are included in the programme.

Thursday, 07 12, 7 pm

“GM Gyvai”: “BaBa ZuLa” “Adform” courtyard, Rotušės a. 19

Kauno valstybinė filharmonija, L. Sapiegos g. 5

Pianist Petras Geniušas recently met his university friend from India, Fali Pavri, in Glasgow. He could not help but invite an old acquaintance to perform together in Kaunas.

Thursday, 07 12, 7 pm

Pažaislis Music Festival: “Europos muzika vargonams” [“European Organ Music”] Kaunas Cathedral Basilica of apostles St. Peter and St. Paul, Vilniaus g. 1

BaBa ZuLa is the most popular alternative music band in Turkey. They have brought to the light shaman traditional music dating even before Islamic tradition. The unbeatable Turkish psychedelic masters of the 21st century create a unique experience by combining eastern instruments like electric saz, darbuka and spoons with electronic music and modern dub and reggae sounds.

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Calendar Saturday, 07 14, 5 pm

Sung poetry festival “Akacijų alėja” [“Acacia Boulevard”]

Pažaislis Music Festival: “Svaiginanti Kuba” [“Intoxicating Cuba”] VMU Great Hall, S. Daukanto g. 28

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Kulautuva, Kaunas region

Friday, 07 20, 7 pm

For the 18th time in a row, thousands of sung poetry admirers will lay under acacia trees for some seven hours, listening to the local prodigies of the genre. The resort town of Kulautuva doesn’t get busier than that!

Sunday, 07 15, 4 pm

Carillon Music Summer Concert Series

Vytautas the Great War Museum garden, K. Donelaičio g. 64 This time, Austėja Staniunaitytė will bring some classical music to the carillon tower. Expect melodies by Johann Sebastian Bach, George Frideric Handel, Ludwig van Beethoven etc.

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The Vytautas Magnus University hall will host the magical Cuban music performed by the Latin Grammy winners “Son Del Nene”. Cheaper than a ticket to Cuba!

Saturday, 07 21, 4 pm

Pažaislis music festival: “Skambančios istorijos” [“Stories with Sound”]

Vytautas the Great War Museum garden, K. Donelaičio g. 64

July Raimundas Eimontas will join Austėja Staniunaitytė in the carillon concert presented by the festival. The programme will include music by Johann Sebastian Bach, Wilhelm Bender, Peter Langberg, Mikalojus Konstantinas Čiurlionis, Balys Dvarionas, Isaac Albéniz, Manuel de Falla, Raimundas Eimontas, Philip Glass, Bronius Kutavičius and Geert D‘Hollander.

Tuesday, 07 24, 7 pm

“GM Gyvai”: Carlos Johnson vs Chris Cain and Luca Giordano band “Adform” courtyard, Rotušės a. 19

Carlos Johnson will represent Chicago blues, and Chris Cain will represent Memphis. The blues fight will be brought into harmony by the charismatic Italian band of Luca Giordano.

Friday, 07 27, 8 pm

Live: Andrius Mamontovas “Renginių oazė” club, Baltų pr. 16

Andrius Mamontovas is one of the best-known and most-loved Lithuanian musicians and songwriters of all time. Having spent some 30 years on stage, he has enough hits to play for hours. The organisers of the show promise just that.

Friday, 07 27, 8 pm

Party: “Jachtklubas Open Air” Kaunas yacht club, R. Kalantos g. 124

The electronic music party on the shore of Kaunas Reservoir is a yearly event that gathers hundreds, even thousands of likeminded spirits.

Manfredas, Donatello, Kastis Torrau, junior a and Beissoul & Einius are on the lineup.

Saturday, 07 28, 5 pm

Pažaislis Music Festival: “Užburtasis muzikos sodas” [“The Magical Music Garden”] VMU Kaunas Botanical Garden, Ž. E. Žilibero g. 6

The lively community of Kaunas Aleksotas district invites you to a fiesta full of local manor traditions and music at the botanical garden. The Lithuanian Chamber Orchestra and soloist Lina Dambrauskaitė will be responsible for the musical part.

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Calendar Sunday, 07 29, 4 pm

Carillon Music Summer Concert Series

Vytautas the Great War Museum garden, K. Donelaičio g. 64

describe the musical trinity, which has been known since 2008 as the Trio Alba. The trio of the German violinist Livia Sellin, the Austro-Italian cellist Philipp Comploi and the Chinese-Austrian pianist Chengcheng Zhao met and found to a joint music-making at the University of Music and Performing Arts in Graz, Austria.

Cinema

The last Sunday of July is dedicated to the little ones – carillonist Austėja Staniunaitytė will perform some of the most catchy melodies by British and American composers.

Kaunas Castle field

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Wednesday, 07 11, 10:15 pm

“Open-air Cinema”: “Dviračiais Afrikoje: Namibija” [“Africa on Bike: Namibia”]

Sunday, 07 29, 17:00

Pažaislis Music Festival: “Meistrai iš Vienos” [“The Austrian Masters”] Kaunas State Philharmonic, L. Sapiegos g. 5

Youthful vigour, passion on stage and compelling playfulness, all based on a profound knowledge of sound perception and chamber music structures. This is how you would

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

The Kaunas cinema centre “Romuva” is on holidays but that doesn’t mean no movies are shown in the city. In fact, the “Romuva” team has prepared a unique Lithuanian cinema programme for parks. On July 11th, a documentary about friends travelling in Africa will be screened (in Lithuanian).

More events pilnas.kaunas.lt

July Tuesday, 07 17, 10:15 pm

“Open-air Cinema”: “Skrydis per Atlantą” [“Flight over the Atlantic”]

Thursday, 07 26, 10 pm

“Open-air Cinema”: “Rūta” Kaunas Castle field

Panemunė pinewood

In 1933, Lithuanian pilots Steponas Darius and Stasys Girėnas crashed in the territory of Poland right before finishing the first-ever flight over the Atlantic. In 1983, Raimondas Vabalas made a movie about the two heroes. In Lithuanian, but well worth watching.

Wednesday, 07 18, 8 pm

“Kitas kinas”: “ A Bucket of Blood”

Kaunas Artists’ House, V. Putvinskio g. 56

“Kitas Kinas” is an educational platform dedicated to “other kind of cinema”, mostly underground and indie movies. The 1959 American black comedy horror film directed by Roger Corman stars Dick Miller and is set in beatnik culture.

Swimmer Rūta Meilutytė became the Olympic champion when she was 15 years old in 2012. In 2016 in Rio, her start was not that successful. The documentary focuses on the emotional side of sports. Subtitled in English!

Other events 07 05 – 07 08

Hot Air Balloon Festival “Wind of Freedom” Nemunas Island

Dedicated to the Centenary of the Baltic States, the festival expects air balloon pilots from all around the world. 100 balloons will rise from the Nemunas island, this is the landing point, too. The first day of the festival will coincide with the Open Kitchen street food market!

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Calendar 07 06 – 07 08

World Lithuanian Youth Summit

“Harmony Park”, Prienai district

07 09 – 07 22

Contemporary Circus Festival “Cirkuliacija” Various locations

“We are bringing together the best of the best as inspiration to those Lithuanians across the planet currently working to develop both their own and their country’s futures”, promise the organisers.

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Over the course of the three-day Summit, young Lithuanians from around the world gather to share their experiences, discuss pressing issues, exchange contacts, and engage directly with key representatives from four different spheres - politics, education, business and culture.

07 07 – 07 15

International Youth Summer Camp “100 First Times” Various locations

100 young people from 28 countries are coming over to the first-ever camp organised by Kaunas 2022 team. New hobbies, ideas, friends and projects are expected to be born and evolve during the week. The campers will travel to different towns in the Kaunas region and interact with the locals, investigating the topics offered by the curators of programmes of Kaunas 2022.

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

“Cirkuliacija“ is a community-based educational contemporary circus festival, happening in Kaunas from 2016 and growing ever since. The festival aims to disseminate a somewhat unknown and new (at least in Lithuania) genre of performing arts – to make it more known and, by different community interventions, accessible.

The festival invites the residents and visitors of Kaunas to break their daily borders. The latter will be done not only with the help of unique circus shows, workshops and family events, but, first of all, the festival will put a big pink circus tent beneath the balconies of big apartment houses in the grey neighbourhood of Šilainiai.

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July 07 14 – 07 15

Centennial aviation festival

S. Darius and S. Girėnas aerodrome, Veiverių g. 132

One of the oldest airfields in Europe turned 100 three years ago, but this time the centennial is of Restored Lithuania. 2018 also marks 85 years since the first flight over the Atlantic by pilots Steponas Darius and Stasys Girėnas. The grand party will be filled with acrobatic flights, the sound of the motors, dancing pursue planes, live music and beyond.

Saturday, 07 21, all day long

“SkirtBike Kaunas” Dainava park

Cycling to work is natural and acceptable unless you wear a skirt. Says who?! In 2010, the ladies of Bucharest, Romania, decided to break the stereotypes and organised the first SkirtBike parade. The initiative keeps rolling – the women of Dainava, the densest neighbourhood of Kaunas, have decided it’s time for them to ride their bikes more often. More bikes means fewer cars and less pollution, right?

Tuesday, 07 24, 7 pm

Slemas #12

Kaunas Artists’ House, V. Putvinskio g. 56

Saturday, 07 14, all day long

The Unexpected Festival “100 First Times” Various locations

We’ve recommended the international youth camp bearing the same name a few blocks above. The final event of the camp will be a festival full of unexpected happenings all around the Old Town, Centre of Kaunas, with a couple of occasions in Vilijampolė and Žaliakalnis districts. The activities start at 11 am!

The poetry slam is becoming underground national sports in Lithuania, and Kaunas adds a lot of reason for that. There are no language restrictions so bring your rhymes over if you’re in town and share them with the crowd.

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“ Some like us, some not, but to fulfill opposite requests at the same time? We haven’t yet invented the means for that.”

Juozas Bieliūnas, CEO of Kaunas Radiophone June 12, 1936

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

Laisvės alėja 59, third floor

Editorial office:

Authors: Andrejus Bykovas, Artūras Bulota, Austėja Banytė, Bernadeta Buzaitė, Daina Dubauskaitė, Dainius Ščiuka, Eglė Šertvyčūtė, Gunars Bakšejevs, Julija Račiūnaitė, Kotryna Lingienė, Kęstutis Lingys, Lukas Mykolaitis, Paulius Tautvydas Laurinaitis, Ramunė Barkauskaitė, Tautė Bernotaitė, Teodoras Biliūnas.

Patrons:

KAUNO MIESTO SAVIVALDYBĖ

RUN 100010COPIES TIRAŽAS 000 EGZ.

ISSN 2424-4481 2424-4465

Leidžia: Publisher

2018 2017No. Nr. 7 2 (35) (18)