KAUNAS FULL OF CULTURE 2020 NOVEMBER

KAUNAS FULL OF CULTURE

Festivities

2020 NOVEMBER Illustration by ABran

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The flag of Kaunas, featuring our spirit animal taurus, was officially approved in 1999.

It was designed by Algimantas Lapienis and can be spotted all around the city all year long.

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Only taxi drivers could probably provide the most accurate information about what holidays in Kaunas or in the whole of Lithuania and celebrated the most. We actually asked a few and it appears that New Years, Valentine’s Day, and Kaunas City birthday, which used to coincide with the Hanseatic Days, are in the lead. During those days, or rather evenings as well as nights, everyone is partying.

Except for taxi drivers, they work happily. And pizza makers are the happiest on the 1st of January...

Cheers!

Of course, we also have traditions that don’t last till midnight or the next morning. The love for one’s country is always ignited by the tricolors raised on the eve of March 11 and February 16 and joining a festive procession is also a pleasure. It is also wonderful to sing the National Anthem on July 6 on the mound, near Kaunas Castle, or on your balcony. By the way, the habit is still quite new, but it has already stuck to Lithuanians all over the world. Celebration in one’s heart.

And as for November... November is as gloomy as it has been for thousands of years in these lands. Only in recent years, after saying goodbye to orange pumpkins, the shop windows in the city start emanating the warmth of Christmas. Many say that it happens too early and while sustainability is trending it is definitely worth considering whether the most radiant gift, purchased before the first snow is the most heartfelt. But Christmas, even though different this year (like Easter), will surely come. As it will

next year. And in November, we offer to find out what other holiday traditions exist in Kaunas and Kaunas district.

Some have already been documented and turned into books or exhibitions, and others are still being developed.

And yet others are being imported.

So far, we have room for everyone, especially in November.

So let’s get acquainted with the heroes presented in this issue among which, the legendary Kaunas master of ceremonies Kęstutis Ignatavičius, the memory of the song festival tradition, the ingenious community of Šančiai, the incredible traditions of former factories, a culinary specialist adding some color of Indian spices to the Lithuanian cepelinai-colored sky, the elite of the interwar period salons, a growing sense of the upcoming Capital of Culture festivity and people who cannot go without clubbing every weekend. However, the latter crowd agrees that what happens too often is no longer a festivity.

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It turns out that it were the Swiss, who set the tone for the tradition of song festivals, which rippled across Europe and later subsided in the West but flourished in the Baltic countries. The first such festival was held in Zurich back in 1843, with over 2,000 singers. Our festive traditions have Germanic roots. First, the song festival came to Estonia through Baltic Germans (the first took place in Tartu in 1869), then, after several years to Riga. Independent Lithuania and its temporary capital Kaunas organised the first song festival in 1924 at Petras Vileiťis Square in Žaliakalnis. On 7 November 2003, the tradition and symbolism of Estonian, Latvian and Lithuanian song and dance festivals were proclaimed by UNESCO as a Masterpiece of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity.

It was sung for Lithuania Daina DubauskaitÄ—

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Audience at P. VileiĹĄis square in Kaunas, 1930. Personal archive of S. Sajauskas.

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Participants of Song festival in Kaunas, 1924. Personal archive of Valerija Balčiūnienė.

Participants and artists flooding to the first Song festival in Kaunas, 1924.

Archive of Kaunas District Public Library.

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Choir of the second Song festival in Kaunas, 1928.

Personal archive of S. Sajauskas.

the publication. And this is how R. Tamoliūnienė begins the chapter “It Was Sung for Lithuania”: “Song festivals are a unique phenomenon in our country.

They laid the foundations for a solid musical culture and were an important expression of the nation’s unity and cultural identity. The song festivals featured folk songs harmonised by the most prominent Lithuanian composers; they inspired love for the homeland and the mother tongue. ... Song festivals were organised by Riflemen’s Union, jaunalietuviai, pavasarininkai and ateitininkai (Catholic youth organisations). Eventually, they spread throughout Lithuania...”

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We sang then, we sang during the years of occupation (the politics, assumptions, and stylistics of the festivities of the time are topics of discussion today, for example, in Nerija Putnaitė’s book The Sounding Clay: Song Festivals and Justinas Marcinkevičius’ Trilogy as Pillars of Soviet Lithuanianness (Naujasis židinys-Aidai, 2019). But this time, let’s open a different book: a richly illustrated publication called 100 Uplifting Moments: Festivities and Celebrations of Interwar Lithuania (Kauno apskrities viešoji biblioteka, 2018) prepared by Rimantė Tamoliūnaitė. We thank the library and the author for their cooperation and permission to use the historical photographs used in

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The evenings are getting longer and colder, and today’s circumstances are making us more and more familiar with our own four walls. Many await the warm season that is still many months away, perhaps more than ever, although faraway trips overseas are not yet planned. And this year, perhaps quite a few discovered what has been hiding from them within a radius of several hundred kilometres, and especially – Lithuanian nature. On that occasion, we decided to remember the somewhat undeservedly forgotten tradition of the early twentieth century – gegužinės (spring festivals). When people left their villages, cities, and little towns on weekends, to visit nearby meadows, surrounded by forests where cultural events were held.

The trend of spring festivals in nature Paulius Tautvydas Laurinaitis

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Neo-Lithuania’s spring festival © National M. K. Čiurlionis Art Museum 2020 NOVEMBER

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From the time of the national revival in the last decades of the 19th century, spring festivals were seen not only as an opportunity to have fun but also as a place to exchange ideas about statehood. The celebrations were organised by anyone willing: from local communities or groups of friends to various organisations and societies. In independent Lithuania, during the 1920s and 30s, the popularity of spring festivals reached its peak, which became especially pronounced in Kaunas. The spring festival season traditionally started on Pentecost Sunday, when the biggest gatherings took place, music, dances, games, and torches were waiting for the townspeople in the surrounding forest areas. In the society of the time, such gatherings were massive, which later on was taken over by the Feast of St. John.

And although spring festivals were mostly associated with that Sunday, bigger or smaller festivities were held on other summer holidays.

The eternal enemy of Lithuanian outdoor events – rain – existed back then too. Because of that, almost all the important spring festival announcements noted in advance that in case of bad weather, the festivity will be moved to the next Sunday or at least the second day of Pentecost.

Although people usually went to the pinewoods and forests located on the margins of Kaunas – Kleboniškis, Panemunė or Aukštieji Šančiai – later, steamboat trips to the woods located down the river became popular. On that Sunday, crowded boats with orchestras or at least individual musicians on the deck sailed from Panemunė, Šančiai and Old Kaunas piers to Kačerginė, Kretkampis, Karnavė or Raudondvaris forests.

On the days of Pentecost, there was increasing competition between festivities organised by different organisations. For example, the festiv-

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ity organised in Panemunė in 1930 by the local branch of the Women’s Association of Military Families, expected to receive many guests but popularity was low. “There were too many spring festivals everywhere that day,” the press wrote. As illustrative was a planning failure that took place five years after. The society of St. Zita was forced to cancel and postpone its traditional spring festivity in Kretkampis because even on the second day of Pentecost there were simply no steamboats available.

Perhaps this competition was connected to a wider range of offers that started appearing alongside the traditional elements of spring festivals.

For example, the Kaunas branch of Jaunalietuviai invited to their festivity in 1932 emphasising that next to the music and songs on the steamboat “there will be an imitation of Charlie Chaplin, which will make you laugh”, and the management of Panemunė Yacht Club invited to their event of 1931 noting that one company will “demonstrate the music of the gramophone for free.” Still, the uniqueness of the various spring festivals was most often emphasised by the nature of an organisation. In 1937 in Kleboniškis Forest, the hussar regiment combined the equestrian competition with a spring festival.

Sweepstake was emphasised as a considerable novelty. Meanwhile, in 1939 the Aviation Squad of the Riflemen’s Union organised a spring festival with a lottery. The first prize consisted of plane flights. The latter accompanied the steamboat to Kretkampis environs. A new Lithuanian passion was also revealed there: a basketball match was organised at the festival.

Spring festivities of smaller towns sometimes faced less positive, unplanned events. In the case of Kaunas, such events are mostly described having in mind the smaller gatherings. The press sometimes empha-

Instead of flyers, invitations to spring festivals were common in interwar press.

sised slight overconsumption of alcohol or “the consequences that appear after 272 days and upset the girls.”

Sometimes the festivities organised by larger organisations experienced disaster too. In the evening of 1924, when the guests were returning from the civil servants’ trade union’s spring festival, the steamboat’s boiler exploded. The panic ensued, shots were fired, and the passengers who jumped into the water turned over the lifeboats.

In 1932, newspaper advertisements invited to Maistas company’s spring festival in Kačerginė. However, after the weekend, it was mentioned in the press that after workers had too much to drink, fists and even knives appeared on the evening program. The orchestra of the Fifth Infantry Regiment that played there, and its bandmaster Valerijonas Valeika, dispersed the brewing conflict, “otherwise, the festivity would

have turned into Maistas’ slaughterhouse,” the reporter of one daily newspaper noted.

And yet, most of the larger gatherings in Kaunas passed without problems and were characterised by rich cultural programs, in which the values of the respective organisation were revealed. Profits from tickets were donated either to the activities of the organisation or to charitable initiatives under its auspices. For example, the money collected in the yacht club’s spring festivals were later used to improve the lifeguards’ activities.

The spring festivities of students, schoolchildren, public or military organisations, were often known for their order and most of the time the biggest complaint was the noise, the leadership, which stayed away, or the “lack of girls for dancing”, which was particularly pronounced in some military gatherings.

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“The host welcomes us very warmly, dressed in fancy clothes, asks us to sit down as if we were not his students. ... We are all standing straight, dignified, polite. We sat down silently. Putinas sat down next to us, took out a pipe with a curved mouthpiece, and lit it up...” This is the image of the first students-litterateurs’ salon meeting in Kaunas that has survived in the memories of the writer Juozas Paukštelis. While teaching at the university, writer Vincas Mykolaitis-Putinas invited students with a particular interest in literature to present creative experiments in his home environment and later discuss them over a cup of coffee.

Salon as a meeting place Kristina Stankaitė

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Salon culture in Kaunas appealed to people representing various worlds including religion, diplomacy, art, media and even medicine; each member meant an individual history. In the picture; member of XXVII Book Lovers Society Magdalena Avietėnaitė, a rapporteur at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The 1930s. © National M. K. Čiurlionis Art Museum (ČDM čTa 9420)

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XXVII Book Lovers Society was founded in 1930. The idea came from a meeting of three good friends: Prof. Paulius Galaunė, bibliologist and colonel Vytautas Steponavičius, and historian Marija Mašiotaitė, who had recently returned from France.

“On the 27th of each month, we would gather at the home of one of the members. Everyone had equal rights.

There were many such societies with similar names in Paris,” Kazimiera Galaunienė recorded the episodes of Kaunas salon culture in her memoir.

Probably the best-known salon in interwar Kaunas was the Literary Saturdays of Sofija Kymantaitė-Čiurlionienė. The salon was held continuously for a whole decade, every week, at the same agreed time, at the writer’s home (Žemaičių Str. 10). On the day of the meeting, a spacious study room was waiting for the most famous litterateurs, writers, and translators. “Near one wall there was a bookshelf with a desk, and in front of it, next to the other wall, there was a big sofa for women. There were two armchairs, several chairs, and tables in front of them for manuscripts and coffee,” Danutė Čiurlionytė-Zubovienė, the daughter of Sofija, recalls. In this way, through the memories of interwar artists, a fascinating cultural phenomenon and a unique leisure tradition of interwar intellectuals – salon culture – unfolds.

Let’s take a fragmentary excursion into the history of the classic European salon. The first salons appear in Paris in the 17th century, when aristocrats start concentrating their social life not on their rural estates but in their residencies in the capital, closer to the royal manor.

The private space of a person – the salon – becomes a place for bold ideas, meetings, and discussions.

Initially, the famous salons of Paris only explored the themes of art, especially literature. Later, philoso-

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phers and politicians stepped into the salon. A sense of greater changes in society, social relations, and even in the structure of the state was being shaped in the salon environment.

Salons became a natural part of the culture of the Enlightenment era.

And what kind of salon culture existed in the increasingly modernised Lithuanian society of the early 20th century? The existence of Kaunas salons was determined by the purposeful creative activities of the salon participants. In the private space, people read and discussed new works, translations, carried out presentations on the topics of art and developed thematic discussion on cultural issues.

S. Kymantaitė-Čiurlionienė’s Literary Saturdays that ran for a decade had a specific goal: to increase the professionalism of literary language and translations. The members of the XXVII Book Lovers Society sought to increase the quality of book art in Lithuania.

The second important feature of this tradition is specific roles and personal connections of the salon participants. The salon was usually created on the initiative of several friends via natural communication. New members gathered around this nucleus, thanks to personal connections and recommendations. Access to the salon was at the invitation of the salon owner, or on the recommendation of an existing member. The creative potential and reputation of the participant were also considered.

Prof. P. Galaunė: “I no longer remember exactly where the first meeting of [XXVII Book Lovers Society] took place. I only know that the three of us [with M. Mašiotaitė-Urbšienė] visited Steponaitis and discussed who should be invited to become members.”

The salon owner’s role as a moderator is special and characteristic of interwar salons. The famous Čiurlionienė’s Saturdays probably lasted for so long

Painter Žmuidzinavičius (first from the left) with his friends in Kaunas, 1934. © A. Žmuidzinavičius Creations and Collections Museum. (ČDM ŽFp 243)

due to the undisputed authority of the hostess. Communication in the salon was sort of intuitive, but people did observe peculiar communication traditions. In S. Čiurlionienė’s salon political or religious topics were not discussed, thus it accommodated Dovydas Michelis a teacher of Italian of Jewish ethnicity, a writer, and a priest Mykolas Vaitkus and left-wing writers Halina Korsakienė and Kostas Korsakas.

The tradition of salons united a number of artists during the interwar period, but this was not a universal phenomenon. And some of the artists of the younger generation even considered it a voiceless and foreign tradition. Having participated in several literary salons for several times, Juozas Keliuotis mockingly referred to this tradition as “noblemen’s club” and caricatured the image of Kaunas salons, “I would soon get bored there and had to drink a lot of black coffee so that I wouldn’t fall asleep or start yawning which of course would be a scandalous offence to a good style.” But despite the different views on the tradition of salons, it was a particular sign of the European culture in the society of the time. K. Galaunienė had marked in her notes, “Urbšienė was one of the XXVII Book Lovers Society’s founders.

Her husband worked in France [diplo-

mat Juozas Urbšys]. She was the one who brought the idea to establish a bibliophile society in Lithuania.

Steponaitis and Paulius [Galaunė] contributed to this idea later.”

During the interwar period, the salon tradition was also a sign of urban culture. The subjective relationship with the environment was intertwined with private domestic and family rituals. Peculiar salon traditions existed in the homes of many. At his home in Kaunas (V. Putvinskio str. 64) on the working days, artist Antanas Žmuidzinavičius waited for the fellow artists at noon for coffee, which was served at the workshop by the artist’s wife, Marija Žmuid z inav ičienė-P ut v in sk a itė.

Thus, salon culture also existed as a kind of social communication etiquette. Many educated people’s private home space would become a place of the tradition of a social phenomenon – the salon.

Salon culture is a small detail of the city and history, where the most important thing is the meeting of people, conversation, and relationship.

After all, a meeting for a conversation always turns into an event, whether it is happening in the interwar period or today.

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I have visited Benediktinių Street in Kaunas Old Town for the first time. Kęstutis Ignatavičius, a guardian of newlyweds and a well-known master of ceremonies at the Kaunas Town Hall, welcomed me in his home for an interview. As soon as I entered, an electric guitar decorating the house drew my attention. Apparently, in addition to all the great work done for the city, the respondent was the leader of the legendary ensemble Aitvarai and a solo guitarist. Together with his band, from 1967 to 1975, he actively entertained crowds of music lovers. Because of these pleasant memories, Kęstutis divides his life into two different stages which we discussed during our meeting.

The games of Kaunas city history Monika Balčiauskaitė Photos by Arvydas Čiukšys

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Kęstutis, tell us your life story.

I used to be a well-known musician, but after a while, I decided to take a break from it and started building the municipality with the Reform Movement of Lithuania. I was elected as a deputy to the first council of Kaunas and appointed as the master of ceremonies at the Kaunas Town Hall as well as the head of the registry office. That is when the next stage of my life began, during which I did much more than just being the head of the registry office who, married over 45 thousand couples.

To this day, few people know about the work I did when serving as the master of ceremonies at the Town Hall. I like to say that in 25 years, I have done 25 good deeds: from implementing the City Days to incorporating St. Nicholas as the patron saint of the city. Sometimes I am asked how all these ideas were born in my head, and I think: who else would have thought of that if not a person who worked at the town hall for 30 years. I became interested in history and I am delighted that the specialists of this field appreciated my modest work. In a book, professor Zigmantas Kiaupa named me the guardian of Kaunas Tow Hall and the history of the city.

Apparently, I was doing something right. Although I graduated from the conservatory and studied architecture – just like for my colleague Liudas Mažylis – this wasn’t an obstacle. He is not a historian either, but he understood the Act of 16 February well and discovered it. I think that sometimes a person unrelated to a specific academic field finds a lot more things.

After a while, I started thinking: why doesn’t Kaunas have its own day? Vilnius and other cities have, and Kaunas does not, so I decided to 1 8

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organise conferences for historians along with the Kaunas Deputies’ Club I lead. During them, we focused a lot on discussions and finding the most suitable date. After several years of deliberation, we have chosen the most appropriate and convenient date, May 20, which was legalised by the members of the council in 1999. This is one of my modest initiatives, which I implemented in pursuit of what I thought was very important and necessary for Kaunas at that time.

In the long run, this led to thinking about other things that the city was missing. Think about it, to register a marriage, we have to show a passport or an ID card. In my mind, a city had to have that too, but my beloved Kaunas didn’t. According to Zigmantas Kiaupa, Kaunas had several privileges, but the first two were missing and the third, the oldest, was in the Russian archives.

I saw significant meaning in this. It is the oldest surviving document, so I decided to dive into that search, and eventually, that copy from St. Petersburg reached me. After that, other activities followed, the privilege was not enough. This drew me into all these games of Kaunas history, which have become a big part of my life.

Kaunas is the only Lithuanian city belonging to the New Hanseatic League. How do you see this celebration?

According to historians, Kaunas has never been a member of the Hanseatic League, and I believe that. Yes, we had a Hanseatic merchants’ office in Kaunas, but it was not a full member of the union.

It operated for some time, was beneficial to merchants, but after a while, the king began to receive complaints about the obstruction of trade, so a decision was made to close it. Considering that the office

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was here as well as the connection with the Hanseatic League, it was decided to revive it, and now Kaunas is a member of the New Hanseatic League, although in the middle of the 15th century it was only an office located in the town hall square. It regulated the activities of traders, mediated relations with the local government and self-government, which defended the interests of the city.

I remember perfectly the International New Hanseatic Days held in Kaunas in 2011. Each year, they are held in a different city of the New Hanseatic League. I am glad that the event is held to this day.

In recent years, the birthday of Kaunas City and Kaunas Hanseatic Days have been taking place at the same time.

How are these festivities related to each other?

They aren’t.

Kaunas city municipality decided to combine these two successful, albeit unrelated, festivities and named them Kaunas Hanseatic Days. May 20 is the day of the Grand Duke of Lithuania Kazimieras Jogailaitis, which was mentioned in the privilege that we received from St. Petersburg. It turns out that the king, the grand duke, and the townspeople received news that Kaunas is completely burnt down and all the ancestral documents have been destroyed, so the city is being rebuilt, taxes are being removed for a while, and the city’s territory expanded. This was mentioned in the privilege of Kaunas revival, which is the reason why we celebrate that birthday on May 20.

The Hanseatic Days are not even mentioned there, and historians did not support this merger. We started demanding changes. The current mayor with all of his offices reacted 2 0

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to our demands and eventually, the festivities were separated.

How could Kaunas Hanseatic Days surprise a visitor?

Each festivity has its own spine around which everything revolves, right? Hanseatic Days had no attachment to one specific thing.

There were various medieval plays, processions, merchants, solemn hangings, and other similar activities. Of course, in 2011, when the festival was international, and we had guests from all over Europe, the program was full of the most interesting things – I suggested and conducted one myself.

Since ancient times, Kaunas has been famous for melting wax, so we decided to uncover furnaces that lie in the town hall square, deep underground. Unfortunately, we managed to open only one of them. According to historians, in the Middle Ages, the wax was transported from the surrounding villages to Kaunas, melted, and later shipped to the Hanseatic cities for sale. I suggested recreating this during the days of the event. The visitors, who were bustling in the town hall near the furnace, were greeted and given a piece of wax, which we urged them to throw into the furnace. After melting the wax, we printed it and obtained three pieces of Kaunas wax stones, which we later distributed. One of them can be found at the Kaunas City Museum or my home.

Wax melting is significantly developed in Lithuania, and the only furnace that has survived in Europe is in Kaunas, near the town hall. True, the stove was unveiled on my own initiative with the help of sponsors, which has now become a wonderful tradition. There is no fountain around, so people throw

the coins in there. After a while, we installed quirks there and started collecting money, which we distribute to those who it need more. This is probably the only place in the world where people throw money into a furnace instead of a fountain.

Thanks to your initiative, today we can celebrate Kaunas City’s birthday. What thoughts come to mind when you think of this celebration?

This would be the very first festivity I organised with a group of other helpers. In interwar Lithuania, the Day of Remembrance of Partisans, Unity of the Army and Society was celebrated, during which huge ship parades took place in the Nemunas.

I decided to repeat it all. You can’t imagine what was happening in Kaunas. Around 100 thousand people gathered on the embankments and bridges waiting for the parade, and it was tiny. There were only 20 ships: 2 barges and 18 little boats. The music played, the ships sailed and were illuminated near the Aleksotas Bridge. Fireworks were fired from the barges and a wall of fire fell from the bridge. I liked it, only a pity that there were very few ships.

This year, the birthday of Kaunas city took place in the face of a world-threatening pandemic.

Did you attend the festivity?

Yes, you could say that. In my yard, I filmed a greeting while playing the guitar and singing a song about Kaunas. That was enough; after all, everyone was at home. The situation was familiar to everyone. When the rules of quarantine were partially lifted, on the birthday of Kaunas city, I organised a festivity in my yard for neighbours. I invited my musician friends with whom we

prepared a program and delighted crowds of people from a distance.

Many brought food and celebrated the city’s birthday with me. I think many people did that.

Let’s talk about St. Nicholas Day. For many years, you have been inviting Kaunas residents and guests to celebrate the festivity of a patron saint of Kaunas, the predecessor of Santa Claus, St. Nicholas. If I am not mistaken, on 6 December each year, you dress up as St. Nicholas yourself.

What does this person’s legend speak of?

What city wouldn’t want Santa’s predecessor to be its patron? I personally had this idea. I live on Benediktinių Street, and just below there is a non-parochial St. Nicholas Church. I remember when I was elected to the deputies, I promised to rebuild it because at the time it was turned into a vast warehouse. I was interested in both the name of St. Nicholas and the church, its original architecture, and the atmosphere that surrounds you as soon as you enter. I started looking for connections. Vilnius had St. Christopher, and Kaunas nothing. How can that be? I turned to Edmundas Antanas Rimšas, who wrote in the book Lithuanian Heraldry that St. Nicholas was found in the seals of Kaunas. Presumably, it was somehow connected to the city, so I decided to do some research.

In the books, he is called a miracle worker because everyone who asks for his help, receives it. Legend has it that he saved three impoverished girls from slavery. A father, having no money, decided to sell his daughters. Nicholas was rich. He took three little baskets of golden coins and started throwing them out the window. He did that for

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several nights in a row. That father found them, rejoiced, and did not sell his daughters. It was a gift to the poor, from which came the story of Santa Claus, which is still relied upon.

Together with the representatives of the municipality, we went to Italy, the city of Bari, where there is a cathedral built for St. Nicholas.

Above the basement, where the altar is located, Queen Bona Sforza was buried, to whom the ruler Sigismund the Elder had gifted the Kaunas region. Presumably, that was the reason why the 2 2

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queen ordered to mention St. Nicholas in the seals. Everything is linked to Kaunas; therefore, the representatives agreed for him to become the patron saint of the city.

I allow myself to think that I am personally connected with St. Nicholas. When the church down BenediktiniĹł Street had to be renovated, I, as a deputy, found the resources for that but I was unable to do it thoroughly. We needed a bell that was missing. I was then assigned to work at the town hall, and in its tower, I found the missing bell, which I returned

(after discussing it with historians).

Eventually, I noticed that my house, church, and the town hall tower were on the same straight line.

It seems that everything was planned in advance: if you rebuild the church, you will end up in the town hall, if you go there – you will find the bell. Of course, I came up with this explanation, but it is a strange coincidence. I’m not a fanatic, but I think saints should be viewed as role models instead of people praying to them.

Have you ever wondered why all this is so important to you?

I am the one who strives to be everywhere and always. The philosophy of my life is the third line of the Lithuanian anthem, “May your sons draw their strength from the past”. I always wanted to restore what was banned and closed during the Soviet occupation. I also have many ideas about the beginning of Lithuanian rock. Recently I was in a documentary, which is being made

by Audrius Juzėnas. I took my guitar with me, played it, and told them about the whole beginning. I want to revive that too because from time to time we meet with colleagues to play, to this day.

Why is it important to me? You know I am directly involved in history. As the first deputy of the restored municipality, I am probably the only one who remained since the beginning. I like guarding the history, facts and looking for the missing data. I am still upset about one set of the town hall documents that weren’t returned to us. There is a 500-year-old municipal book kept in Vilnius. Since we have nowhere to store it ourselves, we received an offer to take a photo of it. Funny, right? Of course, this is a matter for historians, but I think that

sometimes their good deeds need help from others. I like history and things that are related to reality.

I was glad to find out why in 1408, on February 14th Vytautas the Great granted Kaunas Magdeburg rights. Why? And why in Birštonas?

Kaunas loved and worshipped Vytautas the Great so much, and he didn’t even favour the city with his visit? I didn’t believe it, so I started analysing it and searching for documents. It turns out that there are a hill and a manor of Vytautas in Birštonas, which was there for hunting purposes. My assumption is that after successfully chasing down a Taurus – at the request of Kaunas townspeople – on Valentine’s day Vytautas the Great, put a stamp in that place. We hope to build a monument there, where people who are in love with Kaunas can take pictures. It is fascinating to research these things, you know.

Why Kaunas and not the other Lithuanian cities?

I am from Kaunas. Paradoxically, I was born when my parents still lived next to the town hall. I did not move far from it – started to work there. Eventually, my parents moved to Benediktinių Street as the square was always flooded to the second floor during the Nemunas floods. Perhaps I remember, or it was a dream, or someone told me that back in 1946, we swam together with my parents from the second floor of our apartment across the town hall square. Or maybe it didn’t happen.

And in general, Kaunas is a lovely name. The city is located at the confluence of the two largest rivers.

I was born here; I live, I breathe this air and enjoy a magnificent city, that is why only Kaunas and nothing else.

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A team celebration with thousands of people! It sounds incredible, but this is how Lithuanian factory communities commemorated various occasions. With dancing, music, homemade games, and plenty of food. Documentation of such celebrations and other traditions of factory communities, fell into the hands of curator Auksė Petrulienė a few years ago and soon turned into exhibitions. Currently, the third exhibition from the Great Industry series dedicated to the Inkaras factory is taking place in Kaunas Picture Gallery.

Prior to that, the largest textile company Drobė and the smallest – Kaspinas, as well as J. Janonis paper factory and its history were presented in the expositions.

We talked with A. Petruliene about the grandiose factory feasts and the continuation of traditions today.

Celebrating at work Justė Vyšniauskaitė

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Staff of Inkaras factory celebrating Chemist’s Day. 1984. Archive of E. Nicienė.

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Why did the factory culture end up in the museum?

What did these feasts look like?

Who organized them?

Industrial memory is rapidly disappearing – huge Soviet-era factories have collapsed, their territories are changing, production samples and equipment have disappeared, and archives have disappeared in the heat of wild privatisation. Surprisingly, lively factory communities have survived under these ruins – former workers who still communicate although their factories have seized to exist several decades ago. We have been organising exhibitions at the Small Stories community space of the Kaunas Picture Gallery with the former factory workers, artists, and museologists since 2017. We have pulled out the industrial past from the margins of history just at the right time before it became the missing link in the evolution of our identity.

The festivities were a great opportunity to perform for numerous amateur factory collectives: choirs, dance, and vocal ensembles. The festivities in the factory were organised by the organiser of the cultural/mass activities, labour union activists, or simply the head of the library.

How and why did the tradition of celebrating in factories come about?

Factory workers remember incredibly fun professional holidays.

J. Janonis paper factory celebrated Forester’s Day on the third Saturday of September, and Inkaras celebrated Chemist’s Day on the last Sunday of May. These festivals took place in the resort areas of the factories – on the outdoor stages of camps or prophylactoriums, where large collectives would perform, and then various fun and games would ensue in nature. These were grandiose feasts; after all, factory staff consisted of two or three thousand people.

A holiday is a natural counterweight to work. During industrialisation, the roar of the factories overshadowed the Lithuanian songs of agricultural work but the need to celebrate work did not disappear.

The workers of more massive Kaunas factories already had organised leisure before the war. Kaunas paper factory not only had installed the most advanced Swedish paper production equipment but have also intercepted an equally advanced Swedish tradition to take care of the employees’ wellbeing. A pleasant recreational environment was created – a flower garden on the factory grounds, and people’s self-expression was encouraged – even before the war, the factory had its own wind orchestra. Labora et celebra!

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What was celebrated?

Of course, the obligatory, official Soviet-era holidays also had to be celebrated: May 1 parades (after which, parties in friend circles took place), May 9, March 8, New Year with coupon-based holiday parcels containing peas that were in short supply and “champagne.”

The so-called Christmas trees were organised for children, where they would meet Santa Claus.

Weddings often became a part of factory celebrations as well. Young professionals assigned to the factory often met their better half there.

Marriages between co-workers were commonplace; entire families worked there. So, the factories celebrated the anniversaries of employees – birthdays especially

A feast in collective gardens of Inkaras. Archive of E. Nicienė.

wildly – like one big family. The Drobė workers even had a specially designed souvenir, which they presented to the celebrant: a shaped metal cup with stripes on the stalk indicating the person’s age. People managed to celebrate Catholic holidays – Christmas and Easter – in the workshops, in smaller groups of co-workers, without much noise, unofficially, although everyone knew about it.

Were there favourite games at the festivities?

An old photograph by G. Jaronis captures a celebration of Janonis factory families in the plant’s dormitory. The game with chairs, which is portrayed there, looks mystical. Only a frozen moment reached us, the rules of the game didn’t survive, but we can always make up our own.

We have preserved some very poetic entertainment featured in

festivities – toasts that were rhymed and read by J. Janonis factory mechanic Jokūbas Tomaševičius to his celebrant co-workers. Back then, in the festivities, people ate, drank, and danced much more.

Were the executives present at the festivities, or were they hidden from them?

In Soviet-era factories, the relationship between administration and workers was slightly different than it is now – much more intimate. Everyone tried to survive in the reality of a planned economy – enemies and abusers lived in Moscow, and the administration and workers helped each to cleverly circumvent the insane instructions of the “centre.”

The administration and the unions took care of the festivities by allocating funds for them. Burba, the director of J. Janonis factory, even built a banquet hall for employees on the shore of Kaunas Lagoon!

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Forester’s Day of J. Janonis factory, 1983. Photo by R. Požerskis.

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Important guests also took part in the jubilee factory celebrations.

Algirdas Mykolas Brazauskas visited the 50th-anniversary festival of J. Janonis factory. The feast took place in the hall of the House of Culture, where the staff had organised a culinary exhibition. A. Brazauskas chose a table with a barrel of Ragutis beer and sandwiches with salmon and caviar – the delicacies that were in deficit obtained directly from Tulpė, where a friend of one Inkaras employee worked. While sipping beer, A. Brazauskas said, “I will stand and remain here, where the beer barrel and good sandwiches are.”

Do the festivities of those times share anything in common with the present-day corporate parties?

The idea is very similar: to solidify the group, to motivate workers by providing them with pleasant leisure events. Only back then people created the programs and decorations for festivities themselves, and the amateur vocal or dance ensembles of the factory gave performances. Santa Claus was not hired, one of the workers – male or female, funny and witty, gifted talkers – would dress up. Nowadays,

corporate parties are often entrusted to professionals – party organisers, animators, hired music or theatre groups.

Is the phenomenon of such festivities still alive? What of the old traditions could we apply today?

Self-created festivities are slowly disappearing from our hurried everyday life. It is shrinking along with an atmosphere of sincere communication between coworkers, disappearing as quickly as the emotional and strong connections between people.

Our museum (M. K. Čiurlionis National Art Museum) is a peculiar cultural factory with two hundred employees. Once upon a time, fantastic New Year’s Eve parties were taking place here with a fantastic theatrical program created by the museologists themselves. But now, the last months of the year in the museum have become tense with the completion of triple reports, the calculation of indicators, and the execution of annual plans. There is simply no enthusiasm or time left for organising and rehearsing a festivity. The pace and the passing of time take away our holidays.

Perhaps it is not worth expecting that the same grandiose factory festivities could take place now. However, the non-commercial nature of the festivities, organised by the work team itself, seems lovely and adaptable to me. When a party is managed by someone else, of course, you save your time and energy, but at the same time, you feel more of a spectator than a participant.

Therefore, I would very much like to bring back at least some of the enthusiasm of the people to create their own festivity.

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When building a boathouse for the factory workers in 1976, he managed to set up a banquet hall, sauna, and rooms for an overnight stay there.

He received a reprimand for this at a party meeting and Janonis factory workers gained a great party house. Numerous weddings and wild parties had taken place there!

The factory founding anniversaries were marked quite opulently. On the 50th anniversary of Inkaras factory (1933 – 1983), a memorial stone was built in the territory and a recreation area with a grandiose fountain was opened.

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Photos by Jonas Danielevičius Where? Of course, in Žemieji Šančiai. The 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and so on Kranto (Bank) streets flow into the Nemunas river, and their inhabitants do not need any asphalt barrier between the river and the district. The title of the article is the second line of the Šančiai Opera libretto. Music for the opera was composed by the late composer, who was, of course, a Šančiai native – Vidmantas Bartulis.

The libretto is the result of creative workshops. The Šančiai community parted with the year 2018 with the opera, which brought together over a hundred professional and amateur artists. And this is just one reason to admire the phenomenon, which is still relatively young, but has a solid historical foundation and has already received both local and international acclaim for its bold activities. The Ministry of Environment awarded the community for the best urban creation – the living Nemunas Road, or more precisely, for rallying around and the diligent work in defending the local spirit of Šančiai district, preserving the identity and uniqueness of this district for future generations.

Where the twenty riverbanks are Kotryna Lingienė Photos by Jonas Danielevičius

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As Vilma Ragauskienė, one of the members of the community tells me, she noticed the active local people right away after she moved to Šančiai with her husband eight years ago. “I remember how charmed I was when I watched the Šančiai parade in 2017. Back then, I did not find the opportunity to get involved and maybe wasn’t sure how I could be useful. I was a stranger to community affairs, and I remained only as a spectator, although it was nice to feel that such community was taking place.”

Vilma’s great involvement began in April of 2019 after hearing about the intention to build a street on the bank of the Nemunas. “It affected me although I don’t live on that side of the Nemunas. We like to go hiking there with the family, ride our bikes near the riverbank. I was and still am captivated by the tranquillity of the riverbank, which is so lacking today; its green areas, flora, and fauna. The Western world praises the influence of green spaces on the peace of mind of a person, and finally turns to it, seeks to preserve it at all costs, so I couldn’t comprehend the need to implement this project,” the interviewee recalls. Her goal of joining an active community, which currently consists of 40 members (this many people are paying the membership fee), was to draw media and public attention to the fact that reckless urban development must be of concern to everyone. She aims to involve local people in urban development projects so that they would be smoothly and timely introduced to territorial planning and would have a real opportunity to express their views on urban development issues.

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cultivates one’s ability to accept different people. For her, it is essential that her growing son, who observes the fruits of communal labour, sees this example. “He sees that we ourselves create the feeling of festivity and community in life.” On that note, let’s talk about festivities, more specifically about Šančinės, which has taken place for the 6th time already and which, each September, is different. Šančinės is a publicly initiated festival taking place in September. Many things happen during it: a colourful Kėdė (chair) parade of everyone who lives and works there, a symphony for Kaunas buses, written by the composer mentioned above V. Bartulis, picnics, and concerts on the banks of the Nemunas.

As Vilma says, everyone contributes with whatever they can, what they have, or what they can share: professional experience, things, finances, contacts, time. “The most important thread that unites everyone is the desire to act for the common good. People give as much as they can or are capable of. Everyone’s contribution is welcome and important. It is like work without a boss – motivation and time management come from within.”

Thanks to several local enthusiasts, first of all, Vita Gelūnienė and her husband Ed Carroll (whom we interviewed for one of the first issues of our magazine) who returned to live in her family’s home, a genuinely motley district was unified.

Working families have long lived here, as well as a number of artists who have their studios here, and after the restoration of the tsarist barracks, the younger generation is moving in. Audrius Mikitiukas, the priest in Šančiai, is also an active member of the community. With a smile, Vilma remembers how, after agreeing to give a welcoming speech during Šančinės, he offered

to treat the locals with his cabbage stew, “Cooking is his hobby.” My interviewee is sincerely impressed with that all-encompassing Šančiai simplicity, “When I first attended the Sunday Mass in Šančiai, I was sincerely surprised and impressed by the priest’s invitation to the voluntary clean-up organised at that time. The question from the rostrum was simple, “Maybe someone here has a trimmer and can bring it to the clean-up?”

Although the main festival of Šančiai takes place once a year (in fact, one more festivity usually takes place during Christmas next to one of the oldest trees in the district, a balsam poplar, located in another tsarist relic – a cabbage field, cleaned up and now returned to the city, unfortunately, this year, the winter festivity is cancelled due to the pandemic) the most active members of the community meet regularly – at least once a month.

“When the weather is good, we are happy to meet on the banks of the Nemunas (then we have an opportunity to cool off by putting our feet in the river) and during other seasons or when it rains, we use the opportunity to gather in the Šančiai branch of Kaunas Vincas Kudirka Public Library or at someone’s home full of delicious cakes,” Vilma speaks about casual but essential local traditions.

When I explore Šančiai, it seems that Šančinės and other examples of communality highlight the original face of the district in the context of the city and even the country.

Historic places, architecture, quiet neighbourhood, lush nature, barracks, and then colourful costumes, parades, bikers, operas, revealing new or long-hidden talents – all in harmony with each other. Vilma thinks that we live for each other, and if not, it should be everyone’s

aspiration, “I am glad that the indifference to the things happing outside of your yard is decreasing.

We are all connected. And we create unity for ourselves; only we are responsible for it. The good old truth is that if you want to change the world, look for opportunities for change in yourself – that’s where it all begins. I believe that these communities are slowly forming throughout Lithuania in many cities or districts, perhaps on a smaller scale, more locally, in a rather chamber environment.”

There is no end to the stories; after all, we didn’t even discuss Šančiai history. For those who want to delve deeper into this district, I recommend reading Jurgis Vanagas book On the Trails of Šančiai Past: Memories (Šančių praeities takais: prisiminimai). By the way, Šančiai also has its own logo, which was created by Rolandas Rimkūnas, the author of many cities’ coats of arms.

The composition consists of a red brick masonry structure reminiscent of military fortifications. Also depicted are octagonal stars that give sense to the place’s past and future and symbolise hope. And also, two Šančiai – Žemieji and Aukštieji, which we were not able to reach in this article. The emblem was soon moved on the flag, which you can see in many courtyards. This is also one of the initiatives – Robertas Knispelis, a local, came up with a campaign, “Give a Šančiai flag to your neighbour.” And let’s not forget the legendary (physically nonexistent anymore) Šančiai kiosk and its treasures, the gunpowder warehouse located between Aukštieji and Žemieji Šančiai, which was turned into Parakas (gunpowder) of art and culture. And all of that created by the community and always open for people with open hearts.

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More than three years have passed since the announcement that Kaunas will become the European Capital of Culture in 2022. It is interesting to observe the program’s currents that are getting stronger and more independent and the increasing number of people getting involved in this “game.”

We have already told the readers in our Kaunas 2022 column about a forester turned clock collector, sandbox gardeners, the guardians of the buried stories of Kaunas Lagoon, and many others, which, we probably would not have gotten to know without this program. Or they would not have started growing celery among the block apartments. The most fun festivity is the one you create yourself. And in 2022 we will all be responsible for the festive mood both during the opening and closing. We talk to Virginija Vitkienė, the director of Kaunas 2022, and Ana Kočegarova, the program manager, on how to involve, attract and catalyse and learn not to be afraid of the word “culture.”

A festival all year round Kotryna Lingienė Photos from Kaunas 2022 archive

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We did not include this in our chat, but it’s worth mentioning that under the first quarantine “Kaunas 2022” together with community program “Fluxus Labs” invited to get back feelings of the thrill of anticipation, direct connection with the performers and spectators around you while staying at your home – in the yards. Project “Culture to the Yards” was appreciated not only by the city‘s and it‘s districts‘ dwellers, but also the whole of Europe – the project was announced one of the finalists in The Innovation in Politics Awards 2020, organised by The Innovation in Politics Institute.

Photo by Martynas Plepys / Kaunas 2022

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Ana Kočegarova: In fact, the first Capitals of Culture were very time-concentrated and similar to festivals. These were high artistic quality events designed to present the most valuable culture of the country. Over the years, an extensive impact of the Capital of Culture programs on various sectors was noticed – tourism, investment attractiveness of the cities and an impact on local resident’s self-awareness, on how they feel in their own city. The pride of the residents in their city has grown, and this is very much related to the big Capital of Culture events – these celebrations are special. Of course, during the year of the Capital of Culture, a major qualitative leap occurs throughout the cultural sector.

Basically, when such a wide-ranging impact was noticed, the coordinators of the program, the European Commission, decided to shift it more strategically by encouraging cities to reflect on those future impacts and look at those projects more strategically when preparing the program.

As for the openings we managed to see – not only to look around, evaluate the performers and artistic solutions of the events but also to understand the principles and methodology of creating those events – personally, I did not find the most expensive festivities memorable. The most impressive events are those that the townspeople (not only guests) find impressive; the ones that are not just a celebration. It is a story about a city, and its residents can be its authors. The involvement of the population in the creation process, their voice in the narrative of the event seems to me to be a decisive factor in this success.

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Virginija Vitkienė: As Ana has already mentioned, the European Capitals of Culture and their programs tend to move from a festival to a participatory format. Of course, we cannot lose sight of the professional art outlook, but we also pay a lot of attention to participatory culture in the Kaunas program. The task of project creators is to involve local organisations, local and international artists, and most importantly, local people so that they wouldn’t be only spectators but also participants. I was impressed by the European Capital of Culture opening in Wroclaw, which was attended by one and a half thousand people: actors, performers, dancers, singers. Almost all cultural organisations took part in four processions that flooded the main town square. Even the trams participated in the festival, the city was open to the people, open for a celebration.

You both mentioned the involvement of communities and people. As far as I see, especially in Kaunas district, the events initiated or inspired by Kaunas 2022, are often modernised, updated – and really fun! – local traditions. Traditions that seem boring and outdated to a typical townie, but it doesn’t take much for them to fit into the overall fabric of the Capital of Culture.

Was that your aim from the very beginning when you started to shape the program – not only to create a new culture and dictate a new way of celebrating but also to remember what is truly Lithuanian, authentic, Kaunas-like?

V. V.: We included the Kaunas district when preparing the application, albeit quite mechanically. We thought that we would implement the themes of modernism, memory, and youth in the same way, both in Kaunas and Kaunas district. And

after the first year, we realised it wasn’t working. Then that unique Modern Elderships program came about. In each eldership, we started with the gathering of the community, all active people, or institution representatives willing to contribute.

We wanted them to express their joys, problems, and sorrows and the spots they want to make public or perhaps repair with the help of cultural tools.

And if that eldership already has an event then we will strengthen it together. I think that this domain and direction has developed successfully in the Kaunas district.

For 2022, we plan an event or an art program in twenty-five elderships of Kaunas district. We hope that this project will remain in the Kaunas district as their strategy for further cultural development. It is now that the cultural centres – having previously worked less together – started cooperating with elderships, schools, business informal and formal communities. If this synergy could be maintained beyond 2022, it would be the greatest achievement.

A. K.: I would also add festivals. In the run-up to 2022, a number of similar programs were born. A model of Modern Elderships was created specifically for the district also both the city and the district partly got involved in such festivals as the International Day of Happiness or the CityTelling festival, Kaunas Design Event, Fluxus Festival, and various other events.

We do not seek to impose a superstructure on an existing cultural life, but rather to extend what already exists. The model of Modern Elderships is based on acupuncture and research. We observe what cultural phenomena – be it in an early or advanced stage – exist; whether there is any communal thinking, how can these events or traditions

be enriched, made more internationally visible and how can their life be prolonged.

Fluxus Festival, which culminates with the ascent to Parodos Hill, is probably the most vibrant and fun event, you never know what you might see there. After all, Lithuanian parades are usually quite serious, formal – God forbid someone laughs. And Fluxus as well as with Šančiai residents’ march-parade is a real Kaunas carnival, which was sorely lacking. There was a lack of opportunities just to get dressed, to become someone you’re not, to laugh. Did you plan this event, which, let’s say, in a textbook sense, is less of an art event but more an entertaining one, purposely?

A. K.: It was very spontaneous. The first Fluxus Festival crowned the camp of the 100 First Times, which took place in the summer of 2018, with young people from all over Europe. We started to think about what we could do that would be really unusual. Because what is a festivity?

It is something original. Perhaps we should close the street... Ultimately, it ended with an event that wasn’t really meant as a tradition. In fact, by coordinating all the closure permits, explaining to the police chiefs, to everyone who is involved in transport, what the meaning of the event is and why it is being done, we were not completely sure that people will come and how will they look at this invitation to participate. It turns out, as you say, there was a terrible lack of such an event in Kaunas. Everyone enthusiastically accepted that invitation, leaving no doubt that it needed to be repeated.

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cultural result but sometimes the role of artists or culture is to stop the traffic and provide a stage for a play or everyone’s individuality and creativity. We ourselves continue to analyse what kind of phenomenon that Fluxus program is. On the one hand, it popularises the Fluxus connection to Kaunas, the city it was born in. And on the other hand, Fluxus is simply an inspiration for a community program. Maybe such aspects of the Fluxus movement, tradition, like do-it-yourself, or antielitism were the decisive factors when we imagined what should the Capital of Culture community program be.

Would you agree that events of a lighter format, less serious, also contribute to the dissemination of the values of the Capital of Culture? Perhaps the people who don’t go to events like the CittyTelling Festival, are not interested in modernism, don’t participate in the Capital of Culture forum, or otherwise don’t pay attention to what Kaunas 2022 does, become fascinated with the colourful statements of Fluxus Festival or the Day of Happiness?

A. K: First, the Capital of Culture is neither a ballet capital nor the clog capital, it is the capital of culture in the broadest sense, and that is how we need to think about it in our office.

We shouldn’t think about one specific audience, to which we may belong, but about the interests of all the residents or guests of the city or the communication bubbles. We cannot allow our habits, our mindsets to limit the program of the Capital of Culture. The aspect of audience development is very important in such events as the Fluxus Festival.

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to delve into the program, after all, more action awaits when you reach the top of Parodos Hill. This year, for example, everyone watched a film about Kaunas communities and learned how the residents get together in different districts and what interesting activities they engage in. People also saw an outstanding dance performance by the Aura dance company and other cultural initiatives. The audience development aspect is a key concept in all our open calls and in the program that we are planning.

V. V.: We keep reminding not only ourselves but also our partners that all this is not the European Capital of Art. Art, food, fashion, pop culture, and high culture are also a part of the culture, and we want that to be reflected in 2022 as well – both during the three major events and, for example, during the highly successful

ConTempo festival of performing arts, which has already taken place twice.

It takes the performances of top performers to the city, to the district, to those audiences that would not come to the theatre. It catches you off guard.

2022 seems so far away, and if you cannot be specific about how we are going to celebrate maybe you could at least let us know on which dates we should definitely stay in the city?

A. K.: We invite you to mark the three weekends of 2022 in red. On those days you will definitely want to stay in Kaunas and invite your relatives or friends for an overnight visit. The days are January 21-23, May 20-22, and November 25-27.

This is a trilogy of our major events, three peaks, the biggest celebrations

when the city, with all its nooks and crannies, will wake up, be awakened.

The program will be created by hundreds of different organisers from Lithuania and Europe. Kaunas will surely become the centre of European attention, at least during the opening, and you will see its name in the headlines of international magazines.

We are already working intensively on both the dramaturgy of its events and its artistic concept so that it wouldn’t only be about the foreign repertoires of the touring performers.

So that these events would speak of our city, that the residents would feel that these events are about them and for them, open to them. And if it would not encourage more pride in our city, then it would at least help us feel the spirit of Kaunas. And let’s keep the rest shrouded in mystery for now.

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ConTempo festival at Kaukas stairs earlier this year. Photo by Martynas Plepys / Kaunas 2022

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We have already discussed in the previous issues how Kaunas residents danced and partied in the second half of the last century and at the beginning of this one. From big-beat to rave. Now, let’s go back to the electronic dance music again, which and its party culture was seriously impacted by the sudden pandemic, halted flights, and clubbers with empty wallets. Some recommend DJs to change professions, others have bigger plans. Lizdas club that was opened under M. Žilinskas Art Gallery five years ago can be added to the latter. And it doesn’t matter that it only fits a handful of people and you cannot take pictures there. The legend is so alive that once every few months, Lizdas, like that fairy-tale pumpkin, turns into the carriage of Prisukamas Abrikosas (en. clockwork apricot) and goes to a different place in Kaunas.

There, you count DJs not the dancers in dozens. Žilvinas Širka and Mantas Pakeltis, the authors of the idea and a few of Lizdas creators (DJs themselves, of course), tell us how to become an integral part of Kaunas culture in less than a decade.

Show must go on Daina Dubauskaitė Photos from Prisukamas Abrikosas’ archive

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Nightclub-goers celebrate every weekend. Why do you think this tradition is so strong? Why do some people go partying on a Friday night (it is a way to relax for them) and others to sleep? Žilvinas Širka: I think that being in that everyday reality, which is not always tolerable, stresses people out.

Then comes the weekend and during it, you must release all your demons.

It is a brief explanation but if we delved deeper into several-decades old origins of the entire culture of electronic dance music, we could note that it is a bit schismatic and didn’t have such clubs as we know them now. The so-called raves took place in warehouses, away from everyone’s eyes, and most often, electronic music would catch on in places with many factories and their workers and other impoverished and marginalized sections of society. Detroit, Chicago… People needed to let off steam somehow. But, actually, I don’t know if we could call partying every weekend a celebration.

True, after all, Lizdas last season’s motto was “Going to the Club is Like Going to Work.” Was it said jokingly, as a sort of invitation not to miss meetings?

Mantas Pakeltis: Yes, this is what all of the modern social existence is like.

For example, I can’t meet everyone during the working days because one day you go to the gym, then you also have to eat, go home and sleep. And the weekend is like: what now? You don’t have to go to work the next day, so you can afford to escape a little.

There is also a cultural tradition. You go to the theatre on, say, Wednesday, to the cinema on Thursday and to the club on Friday and the rest of the weekend is spent based on how much energy you have left. Ž. Š.: Probably the most important thing about the celebration is 4 2

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that moment of socialization. From Vienna Balls to basement discos.

Communication is the connecting axis of everything.

This issue of the magazine will feature a read on the interwar salon culture. On Saturday afternoons invited guests gathered to discuss various art and life issues.

Of course, you cannot make a direct parallel with a club here but there are similarities. For example, you have face control in Lizdas, not everyone can get in.

Is it to make like-minded people feel good and safe? Ž. Š.: Well, in part yes. Not only face control but the music itself and the content we create shape a certain stratum of people. It can be both good and bad because there are people who don’t go to the club because of music but because of those acquaintances that they expect to meet there.

These types of visitors, the so-called smoking lounge clubbers, never hear the music, they don’t even get close to the dancefloor.

After all, communication, as we have already decided, is key. And if we agree that partying every weekend is not a celebration, let us move to the reason for our meeting – Prisukamas Abrikosas series organized by your team.

These grandiose multi-stage events in spectacular, often industrial locations often coincide with public holidays, more precisely, their eve because no one needs to go to work the next day, right? Ž. Š.: There is truth to that, but migration is as important. For a while, Kaunas was a city, to which people returned for the holidays instead of leaving it. That is why we started organizing these festivities so that friends would have a place to meet.

The first events were not that gran-

diose, the attic of Punto Jazz could accommodate only a few hundred friends and it really was a kind of a salon. But the very first event of that name was quite accidental and without any special occasion.

M. P.: Christmas, as a theme, came about when we ourselves had gotten a bit distant from all the parties and DJing. The event as it is now, and how it developed, took place in the hall of the former Kiemelis 837 bar located in the now-closed Communications’ Museum. The hall was big, like the ones they use for wedding receptions, and we were not modest – a huge amount of people gathered. Ž. Š.: In terms of music, it all started with drum’n’bass, and after resuming Christmas activities, three consecutive years we celebrated with live Golden Parazyth concerts.

Later on, he created a separate event and we realized that he may not have been the most important element. The most important thing was the wild mood of the party, everyone just had to happen. I remember there were even people who were scratched.

M. P.: There were scratched backs and broken hearts. A party of lost consciousnesses. Everyone danced

behind the DJ. The only lighting was a garland light near the DJ table. There was also a visualization that was ruined during the first two hours of the party. Ž. Š.: Someone passed right through the screen. It was fun. I think it took place six or seven years before we opened Lizdas.

M. P.: That’s when the tradition was born. We moved to the former premises of the Exit Club on A. Jakšto Street and started to think that we should organize the event more often because it is quite nice to meet everyone. The events kept growing and growing and now it is what it is.

In what other places have you already hosted the event? I think those who don’t attend your events would be interested to learn that parties can be hosted in such places, to begin with.

In unison: Currently Kaunas Culture Center (Nation’s Home back then), Stumbras brewery (it’s where Lemmy club is also located), Radio factory, Pergalė factory, Drobė factory. Ž. Š.: And a factory of household chemicals, where we cleaned toxic

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waste with masks. I don’t know how safe it was to organize an event there.

The location of Prisukamas Abrikosas is usually concealed until the last minute. Now, people don’t care about the location anymore, they will come anyway. But did you notice if some areas were less attractive?

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Ž. Š.: Now I can trust myself and say, “I can organize an event at the Aleksotas meat factory, or I can do it in Vilijampolė, people will still come.”

M. P.: There was a time when you had to do everything in the centre.

God forbid you will need to drive somewhere a little further, climb a hill somewhere. That’s it then, forget it – no one will show up. Ž. Š.: Another turning point here.

We danced all over the centre and then started scouting for locations in other parts of the city. We saw that the effect wasn’t so bad, and it is also interesting to wander around a bit, to look for that location, and then you see some colourful people ready for the party, lost in a dark alley.

Sometimes space itself creates a theme and a mood. All you have to do is build a stage there, like in Pergalė factory, and that alone creates an effect, and sometimes you need to work for a few weeks, like in Radio factory, which has a lot of small spaces. You are creating a future sensation for a person; you think about what they will see and how they will feel after entering that space, that event, where will they go.

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a construction site. It was a former printing house Aušra, currently a SPA. Everything looked good there, but the building was completely hollow. There were windows and then there weren’t – confusing. There were no stable walls. We sensed it will be difficult. When we checked the sound, I went out and realized that the sound was the same as it was inside. And the station area is full of wooden houses without sound insulation... Of course, the police come, you need to talk to them, try to make time, tell them you will turn the speakers to the other side or decrease the volume but of course, you don’t do any of that because the show must go on.

Do your chosen event locations have any influence on the lineup or the sound you want to spread that night? Ž. Š.: I would see things differently.

The sound can differ depending on the stage. By laying out the scenography that appears in a particular hall, you think about how to create an atmosphere for that specific place. Because all you get is walls.

OK, there are factories where you find some kind of industrial crane and that already dictates a certain topic. If it’s just some kind of empty factory hall then it is easier to decorate that place based on the music that will be played.

Our conversation is taking place at the end of October and according to the latest pandemics-related news, the annual Prisukamas Abrikosas.

All Saints is cancelled. Sounds sad, but this is 2020. Still, despite the restrictions, what ambitions do you have for this event series?

M. P.: Every time you organize events, you want them to be better,

Ž. Š.: I can add here that we usually announce the location of the event just before it takes place, not necessarily for bustle and excitement. Sometimes we really only confirm the location six days before… It’s a never-ending struggle.

On the other hand, I fear that if we set up space for a long time – and this is a trend now, many people do that, just as Mantas says – we may lose spontaneity.

M. P.: but maybe it’s time to grow up? Stress is starting to irritate me; I don’t like it much anymore. Ž. Š.: Of course, it is unlikely that we will ever let go of Prisukamas

Abrikosas. It no longer depends on us.

Someone said it has already become an urban tradition.

M. P.: Therefore, I would like to expand it all. Perhaps hold concerts a day or two before and then bring installations that could be visited before the event and after that – a rave. Ž. Š.: It is a convenient platform for trying out something new and interesting. Maybe bringing a complex foreign performance that costs a lot, when you start everything from scratch is a bit risky. But here, under an umbrella project, we see an opportunity to organize interesting concerts that Kaunas lacks. And the lack exists for various reasons, including the lack of concert venues.

But we have learned from our own experience how to organize events in a factory or other unconventional spaces. We also have other interdisciplinary vectors that we want to develop in Lizdas itself. For example, in February collaboration with Kaunas City Symphony Orchestra began. But I will not disclose yet what we are all working on.

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more professional. It is no longer a complete rave as it used to be four years ago. I want – not all of us share this opinion – to have one place and stay there, for example, for a year, so we could prepare it better and develop certain projects there. Because sometimes you don’t manage to find a specific location ahead of time and thus fail to present a certain art project, video, or light installation.

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Phaneendra Challapalli, the owner of this authentic place, opened the door of the Challapalli Indian restaurant located on Girstupio Street just five months ago. After dreaming of living in France, in 2016 the interviewer decided to choose the Kaunas University of Technology for master‘s studies and stayed here led by dreams, love for food production, and a new city – Kaunas.

Tasting Indian Holidays in Kaunas Monika Balčiauskaitė Photos by Arvydas Čiukšys

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Phaneendra, who originated in the Guntur district of Andhra Pradesh, India which is famous for art, culture, and drama, immediately fell in love with Kaunas: “Before coming here, I visited Paris, but in the long run I realised that the city was not for me. There was just too much of everything. I felt much more comfortable and calm in Kaunas, so after three years here I dared to start my own business.”

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Showing colourful paintings reminiscent of India adorning the walls of Challapalli restaurant, owner and chef Phaneendra said it was a dream that had been on the mind every day for the past six years. While still living in India, every Sunday, the interlocutor prepared food for the church, which he visited with his family, where the journey of cooking for larger communities of people gradually began.

He did not give up his skills when he moved to Kaunas, because at least once a month at the events of the Lithuanian Christian Student Union he prepared food for all members: “During each event, I tried to prepare different dishes, many of which have not been tasted yet. It was interesting to observe the reactions of those around us and to listen to the comments that we took into account when compiling the menu of the restaurant Challapalli. When thinking about starting a business, I fluctuated for a long time between a few completely unrelated areas. Still, these experiences and the support of those around me helped me realise that I was able to produce food that appealed not only to my family but others. That’s what I thought – why not start an Indian restaurant in Kaunas?”

for the various celebrations that are very common in India over the years.

Not only the holidays themselves but also the food prepared for them.

Imagine families of 4 or 5 people waiting for a tasting of at least 15 dishes each time, which requires as many as 18 different types of spices. During the festivities, great attention is always paid to vegetarian flavours, which we will often not see in the daily diet of Indian food, and to a few dishes with meat. Holidays usually last for a week, and sometimes even longer, so there is not only something to admire but also something to taste.

Phaneendra’s very first steps towards culinary were to move into the home kitchen, helping his mother prepare

On October 26, Dussehra began, lasting even nine days. It turns out it’s one of the most important holidays of

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not only with delicious dishes and delicacies but also with lights.

I have read that according to the prevailing traditions in India; women are responsible for preparing and serving meals to the whole family, as this is considered to be the greatest pleasure and privilege. But, according to Phaneendra, all this is in the past, and there is no significant difference – now the most important thing is the people’s desire and way of life. As a result, the Challapalli‘s restaurant owner prepares food for customers and occasionally serves people himself, who has been dreaming about it for many years.

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the year, during which the gods are believed to wake up, and people can engage in agricultural and military affairs. Of the interlocutor’s stories, I was most intrigued by the traditional Indian festival of Diwali, which is especially important to Hindus, Sikhs, and Jains. It is like a braid of lights designed to rejoice in the victory of good over evil. One of the main highlights of this celebration is the lights, candles, and fireworks that colour the entire sky.

Phaneendra mentioned that he tries to celebrate all the major Indian holidays, no matter where he is – an essential part of his life. At the Challapalli restaurant in November, together with colleagues, they plan to hold a commemoration of the traditional Diwali festival, where visitors will be greeted

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Calendar Dear readers, please keep in mind that currently public gatherings are limited due to the pandemics situation in Lithuania and the world.

Because of that, in November, for culture enthusiasts we recommend visiting safe and vast spaces such as museums and galleries, and, of course, spending time in nature in Kaunas and around. Do check beforehand if a certain place is open or an event is not postponed or cancelled. Stay safe and healthy!

08 14 – 11 22

Exhibition “And the Word Became a Sight: Visual Narratives in Lithuanian Wood Carvings and Linocuts of the 18th – 20th Centuries” M. K. Čiurlionis National Art Museum, V. Putvinskio g. 55

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EXHIBITIONS

carvings, these are the word of God, religious stories, narratives of the saints, carved and ‘enlivened’ on the planks of branchless trees by known and anonymous folk masters. Usually, both sides of a plank were carved by means of blades and chisels. The compositions were printed manually by applying paint on a plank and pressing paper to it with a roller. When printed on a sheet of paper, the image was sometimes coloured with paint.

Works of larger dimensions were composed of several fragments printed separately. When going to religious festivities, carvers used to take with them clichés and paint so that they could print more images on the spot in case they ran out of them. Thus, a self-educated Lithuanian engraver has combined the ancient Lithuanian worldview and peasant folklore with canonised Christian representations and deep-rooted European culture.

09 10 – 01 10

Exhibition “Elephants and Chameleons. Visual Art of 1978 – 1985” Kaunas Picture Gallery, K. Donelaičio g. 16

In this exhibition, the observations on Soviet dependence delve within a short period of 1978–1985. That was the time when the visions of socialist reality were still alive. Loyalty to the Soviet Photo by the museum government mattered – in exchange, artists were provided with workshops, The exhibition presents carvings commissions, invitations to Plein airs, and linocuts by Lithuanian folk and creative trips; they, too, were granted professional authors from the collections bonuses, and household privileges. The of the M. K. Čiurlionis National Museum review of the period winds up with the of Art. All the carvings on display creation of the then young generation combine a word, a story, a narrative of artists, which coincided with the composing an integral whole. In folk commence of the “perestroika” that

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Calendar involved political and economic reforms initiated by a new leader of the USSR Mikhail Gorbachev. A group of young artists from Kaunas had changed the current perception of the tradition and led to the introduction into art studies a term ‘a new worldview’. That was also the time when usual state commissions began to disappear, the creation of monuments ceased; instead, smaller, individualised forms took shape in painting and sculpture.

will shine in the most bright colors.

Isaac is a fictitious character which represents the history of Jews in Kaunas – before WW2, they made up 30 per cent of city’s population, while in the Slabada (Vilijampolė) neighbourhood, the number was 66.21 per cent.

10 23 – 11 15

Photography exhibition by Kristina Gulbinaitė Bar “Godo”, Laisvės al. 89–1D

10 09 – 12 31

Exhibition “Once Upon a Time There Lived Isaac” Maironis Lithuanian Literature Museum, Rotušės a. 13

Photo from the archive of the museum

The exhibition was opened during the CityTelling Festival by Kaunas 2022 and dedicated to Jewish tradition in Kaunas, as well as 2020, the year of the Vilna Gaon and the History of the Jews of Lithuania. In one day of Isaac, depicted in his diary, many aspects of the city and the realities of Jewish life in it are revealed – there’s a lot that can happen in a day, including a football match, a date or a visit to a canteen. True stories, facts, and documents are combined into one fictional diary story, and the story

Photo by K. Gulbinaitė

What’s special about the photographer’s work is a magical handle she manages to turn and make the world around her (and us) much brighter. She is not afraid to stand out of the crowd and choose paths unknown; they always lead to a sparkling and bright result. After a few years of practicing her magic craft in London, she’s now back in Lithuania and ready to deal with our national colour gray.

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Calendar 10 29 – 01 31

Exhibition “BETWEEN THE SKY AND THE SEA II” Kaunas Picture Gallery, K. Donelaičio g. 16

of the spit, its unique architecture, people who lived, worked and rested there. They tell us how Neringa has grown from devastated post-war villages and fishing collective settlements into a recognized and coveted resort, famous not only in Lithuania.

11 03 – 12 14

Traveling exhibition “Quarantine windows” Various locations

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V. V. Tarabildienė “Summer by the lagoon”. 1975

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“BETWEEN THE SKY AND THE SEA II” is the first exhibition meant to view the artistic heritage created on the Curonian Spit during the Soviet years.

Almost one hundred works of art by more than 30 painters feature the unique landscape and inhabitants, disclose significant changes on the spit.

Only few prewar residents – the Curonians returned to the spit after the war, much more newsletters have been recruited by the new Soviet government to develop the fish industry on the emptied peninsula.

Likewise the old Curonian sailing ships were being replaced by smaller and faster motorboats – trawlers, dories and boats that were more likely to implement and exceed the Soviet fiveyear plans. The works on display in the exhibition also reflect the history of the Neringa resort. Since the 1950s, the then Lithuanian government, having appreciated the uniqueness of the Curonian Spit landscape and realizing that fish resources in the Curonian Lagoon were limited, started thinking about establishing a resort. The paintings depict the wonderful nature

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Photo by G. Vainiutė

Quarantine has become part of everyone’s daily life… Again. Some look at the world through computer screens, others through home windows. The desire to capture people‘s moods and time spent at home has taken Kaunas 2022 community programme Fluxus Labas together with photographer Gabija Vainiūtė. Their joint photo project was created in Spring and is now travelling around Kaunas and Kaunas district’s open spaces. Maybe it’s now below your own window? The exhibition’s route starts in Kalniečiai park and will end in Pažaislis.

11 04 – 11 30

Exhibition of cuttings and metal art “From the memory’s chest”

Kaunas Municipal Vincas Kudirka Public Library Youth, Art and Music Department, A. Mapu g.18

November For the first time in the gallery, art of three generations of one family is presented. Emilija Liobytė-Vilutienė (1916–1955) was a prominent children book illustrator. Her daughter-in-law Nijolė Ingelevičiūtė-Vilutienė (b. 1949) is known in the field of graphic and drawing. Emilija Vilutytė-Balas (b.

1977) combines her passion for poster art and figurative painting.

11 13 – 12 13

Exhibition “Germano” by Sarah Mei Herman Cutting by D. Lukošiūnaitė

Every artist seeks wisdom in his or her roots and history. The name of this exhibition, coded in the cuttings, as well as the exhibits, were born out out his very memory hidden deep in subconsciousness. Diana Lukošiūnaitė in her cuttings and Saulės Damaševičienė in her metal art represent crafts of our ancestors, such as weaving, woodcutting, cross-making etc.

11 12 – 12 06

Exhibition “Three women” Gallery “Meno parkas”, Rotušės a. 27

Emilija Balas. “Hawaii”. 2019 m.

Kaunas Gallery Vilniaus g. 2

Sarah Mei Herman’s grandfather and his brothers. Rokiškis, 1923

In 2016, photographer and artist Sarah Mei Herman found a box of photos taken by her grandfather Mordechai. Together with his youngest brother Jehuda, he ran a photography studio in Kaunas, Lithuania before the Second World War. The studio was called Foto Germano, Lithuanian for Herman, and specialised in family portraits.

Herman recognises her own work in the portraits that her grandfather made in the 1920s and 1930s: the composition, the still faces and subdued looks. The discovery was the starting point for an investigation into the pre- and post-war history of the Germano family. During a stay in Kaunas, Herman conducted archival research and explored the places where her family 2020 NOVEMBER

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Calendar members lived and worked. In 2016, she visited Tonia Levin (1925-2019), the daughter of her grandfather’s eldest brother. At that time, she was the only living family member who had personal experience of the photo studio. Levin barely survived the Holocaust and moved to Israel after the war. Her memories are the most important in the exhibition; archival photos are combined with documents, letters and other sentimental elements.

Wednesday, 11 25, 6 pm

11 19 – 01 03

Photo by Justinas Stonkus

Antanas Žmuidzinavičius Creations and Collections Museum, V. Putvinskio g. 64

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6th Vilnius ceramics art biennale “Naujas/Fresh”

Logo of the society

The 6th Vilnius ceramics art biennale “Naujas/Fresh” is a continuous project that has a goal to present the tendencies of contemporary ceramics. This project is an overview of contemporary ceramics. Its collection consists of works of professional artists from Lithuania and other countries.

As it’s been ten years since the first biennale, the new edition is a great chance to check how the trends are renewing themselves. Speaking of the themes, the variety of interpretations of the concept of a landscape steals the show. Creators of both nature and urban motifs also use their own reflections and memories by using a unique symbolic language.

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“ECHOtektūra”: exhibition and presentation Online

It’s the 49th birthday of Kaunas Artists’ House! The celebration is virtual this year; still, there is a lot to be reflected, as it’s one of the busiest cultural institutions. One of the key events will be a presentation of project “ECHOtektūra”

by Kaunas Artists’ House and Rasa Chmieliauskaitė dedicated to those with vision impairment or low vision.

Sound artist Arnas Mikalkėnas and art historian Justinas Kalinauskas also took part in searching for new forms of architecture education.

More events visit.kaunas.lt

November 11 27 – 01 03

Exhibition for the 90th anniversary of XXVII book lovers society

M. K. Čiurlionis National Art Museum, V. Putvinskio g. 55

Logo of the society

The society is a bibliophilical association established back in 1930, when Kaunas was the temporary capital of Lithuania. The exhibition organised together with Kaunas University of Technology will reveal the mystery behind the society’s name and present its most prominent members and deeds.

MORE 11 05 – 11 22

European Film Forum “Scanorama” “Forum Cinemas”, Karaliaus Mindaugo pr. 49

One of the largest and most prominent international cultural film events in Lithuania brings together over 40 000 film-fans each year. Every November the company introduces a selection of highly regarded European films and best-pics from other continents. This year, part of the programme will be available online at kinas.scanorama.lt Saturday, 11 28, 6 pm

Christmas Season Start Town Hall Square

Friday, 12 04, 6 pm

Exhibition “Upynės”

Žaliakalnis water reservoir, “Kauno vandenys”, Aukštaičių g. 43 River research platform TẽKA invited kaunasians to six expeditions this autumn; not only the participants discovered new nature corners in Kaunas, but also collected various items in the rivers. They are now part of an exhibition and virtual archive (www.upynes.lt).

Photo by Kaunas Municipality

Major events and holidays around the world are highly affected by the pandemics. Christmas will be different, of course, but the magic is not going anywhere. If not live, then virtually, try to visit our Town Hall Square and see what our Christmas tree is all about.

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pilnas.kaunas.lt fb.com/kaunaspilnaskulturos @kaunaspilnaskulturos pilnas@kaunas.lt

“Properly perceived festivity provides a special occasion because it is an intensively experienced time, in which the past, the present and the future intertwine.”

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Kaunas Artists’ House, V. Putvinskio g. 56

Editorial office:

Provincial superior of Lithuania and Latvia, Vidmantas Šimkūnas SJ

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

Authors: ABran, Artūras Bulota, Arvydas Čiukšys, Austėja Banytė, Emilija Visockaitė, Justė Vyšniauskaitė, Kotryna Lingienė, Kęstutis Lingys, Kristina Stankaitė, Monika Balčiauskaitė, Paulius Tautvydas Laurinaitis, Rita Dočkuvienė.

Patrons:

KAUNO MIESTO SAVIVALDYBĖ

RUN 500 COPIES TIRAŽAS 10 000 EGZ.

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ISSN 2424-4465

Leidžia: Publisher:

2020 No. 2017 Nr.112 (63) (18)