Art and Politics of Public Space: Vilnius, First Half of the 20th Century
A FRINGE Centre event with Dr Rasa Antanavičiūtė, co-organised by the Lithuanian Cultural Institute
Art and Politics of Public Space: Vilnius, First Half of the 20th Century
06 Dec 2024, 18:00 – 20:00
This talk explores the ideological transformation of Vilnius’s cityscape between 1895 and 1953, a period marked by the succession of seven political regimes: namely, the Russian Empire (1895–1915), the German Empire (1915–1919), the Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic and Litbel (1920), the Republic of Lithuania (1920 and 1939-1940), the Republic of Poland (1919–1939), the Nazi Germany (1941–1944), and the Soviet Union (1940–1941 and 1944–1953).
Focusing on both realised and unrealised projects, as well as the creation and destruction of political and mnemonic markers, this talk will examine the images of themselves that different states sought to project in the urban context of Vilnius. Through this lens, it will illuminate how art and politics intersected to shape a public space, providing a compelling visual and historical narrative of Vilnius in the first half of the 20th century.
Image credit: The erection of the monument to Governor General Mikhail Muravyov, photographer Aizic Cinowiec, 1898. The Lithuanian National Museum of Art
Dr Rasa Antanavičiūtė
[[{"fid":"19240","view_mode":"small","fields":{"format":"small","alignment":"left","field_file_image_alt_text[und][0][value]":"Dr Rasa Antanavičiūtė","field_file_image_title_text[und][0][value]":"","field_caption_heading[und][0][title]":"","field_caption_heading[und][0][url]":"","field_caption[und][0][value]":"","field_float_left_right[und]":"none","field_file_image_decorative[und]":"0"},"type":"media","field_deltas":{"1":{"format":"small","alignment":"left","field_file_image_alt_text[und][0][value]":"Dr Rasa Antanavičiūtė","field_file_image_title_text[und][0][value]":"","field_caption_heading[und][0][title]":"","field_caption_heading[und][0][url]":"","field_caption[und][0][value]":"","field_float_left_right[und]":"none","field_file_image_decorative[und]":"0"}},"attributes":{"height":"3800","width":"2533","class":"media-element file-small media-wysiwyg-align-left"}}]]is an art historian and the initiator and director of the Vilnius Museum, which opened in 2021. Previously, Rasa was the director of the Nida Art Colony of the Vilnius Academy of Art. In 2019, she served as the commissioner and producer of the Lithuanian pavilion at the 58th Venice Biennale. The opera-performance Sun & Sea (Marina) presented at the pavilion earned Lithuania its first Golden Lion Award. In 2020, Rasa Antanavičiūtė was awarded the Lithuanian National Prize for Culture and Art.
Further information
Ticketing
Pre-booking essential
Cost
Free
Open to
All
Availability
Yes