Lithuania’s Cultural History From The End Of World War II To The Present Day

The main goal of the MO Museum is to assemble a broad, representative collection of Lithuanian art created from the 1950s to the present day. While each work in the MO Museum collection is interesting and valuable in its own right, each piece can be viewed in a new light when we learn more about the context in which it was created and the overall history of art in which each work plays a part.

The Cultural History project was born out of a desire to learn more about this context: the connections between each piece of art, the relationships shared by the artists, and the changes in and styles, and trends of our conception of art. After all, art does not appear out of a vacuum—it is surrounded by political and economic context, and within culture itself different aspects of life intertwine with and influence each other. People and ideas meet, separate, and change, each impacting the other. In order to better understand cultural development and to grasp general (or contradicting) trends, we invited contributions from specialists in various cultural fields (read more about the authors). Their published articles, and those still being written, join with a constantly updated catalogue of visual materials on the Cultural History website into one polyphonic archive of knowledge.

With his or her contribution, each author expresses their own individual experience and subjective view, therefore this cultural history is not, and cannot be, uniform or objective. It is rather more reminiscent of a colorful kaleidoscope, radiating not only events, facts, dates, names, or works of art, but also varying artistic interpretations that emerge from today’s perspective.

The site will review 10 cultural fields: the fine arts, applied art, design, literature, theatre, set design, dance, architecture, photography, and cinema. Each field will be discussed individually, allowing the reader to explore the interconnections and differences between them on his or her own.

The section on the fine arts is closely associated with the MO Museum own collection. Here you'll find many works mentioned by the authors that are now part of the MO Museum collection. The principle text in this section is divided according to the different branches of the visual arts, reviewing the development of painting, graphic art, and the new art of the late 20th century. All other fields are first examined by time period, with several or more themes explored within these period sections. Texts are usually succinct articles that aim to give a general overview of a given period, though some phenomena, events, works of art, or individuals may be explored in greater depth. The main project text includes many references and links to these more comprehensive articles. Over time, we hope to add to the number of such links.

Currently, the Cultural History website features only a portion of these articles. Others are still being prepared for publication and will be added to the Cultural History in the future.

The main goal of the MO Museum is to assemble a broad, representative collection of Lithuanian art created from the 1950s to the present day. While each work in the MO Museum collection is interesting and valuable in its own right, each piece can be viewed in a new light when we learn more about the context in which it was created and the overall history of art in which each work plays a part.

The Cultural History project was born out of a desire to learn more about this context: the connections between each piece of art, the relationships shared by the artists, and the changes in and styles, and trends of our conception of art. After all, art does not appear out of a vacuum—it is surrounded by political and economic context, and within culture itself different aspects of life intertwine with and influence each other. People and ideas meet, separate, and change, each impacting the other. In order to better understand cultural development and to grasp general (or contradicting) trends, we invited contributions from specialists in various cultural fields (read more about the authors). Their published articles, and those still being written, join with a constantly updated catalogue of visual materials on the Cultural History website into one polyphonic archive of knowledge.

With his or her contribution, each author expresses their own individual experience and subjective view, therefore this cultural history is not, and cannot be, uniform or objective. It is rather more reminiscent of a colorful kaleidoscope, radiating not only events, facts, dates, names, or works of art, but also varying artistic interpretations that emerge from today’s perspective.

The site will review 10 cultural fields: the fine arts, applied art, design, literature, theatre, set design, dance, architecture, photography, and cinema. Each field will be discussed individually, allowing the reader to explore the interconnections and differences between them on his or her own.

The section on the fine arts is closely associated with the MO Museum own collection. Here you'll find many works mentioned by the authors that are now part of the MO Museum collection. The principle text in this section is divided according to the different branches of the visual arts, reviewing the development of painting, graphic art, and the new art of the late 20th century. All other fields are first examined by time period, with several or more themes explored within these period sections. Texts are usually succinct articles that aim to give a general overview of a given period, though some phenomena, events, works of art, or individuals may be explored in greater depth. The main project text includes many references and links to these more comprehensive articles. Over time, we hope to add to the number of such links.

Currently, the Cultural History website features only a portion of these articles. Others are still being prepared for publication and will be added to the Cultural History in the future.

How to navigate the site

The blue menu bar on the left side of your screen shows all of the subjects that can be explored in greater depth by clicking on a drop-down menu of additional articles. This main menu will always show the location of the currently open article within the overall structure of the site. By selecting specific time periods and subjects you can compare different processes taking place concurrently in different fields, exploring their interrelationships and contradictions.

The orange bar on the right-hand side of the screen allows you to skip to the next article or return to an earlier text in the sequence envisioned by the authors. When you start with the first article in a given cultural field, you can make your way through the entire series along a chronological line by clicking “Next Article”. This menu bar also contains a few practical functions allowing you to share an article on social media, post a comment about an article, or print a text. Please note that only the text of an article will be printed, not any accompanying visual material.

How to navigate the site

The blue menu bar on the left side of your screen shows all of the subjects that can be explored in greater depth by clicking on a drop-down menu of additional articles. This main menu will always show the location of the currently open article within the overall structure of the site. By selecting specific time periods and subjects you can compare different processes taking place concurrently in different fields, exploring their interrelationships and contradictions.

The orange bar on the right-hand side of the screen allows you to skip to the next article or return to an earlier text in the sequence envisioned by the authors. When you start with the first article in a given cultural field, you can make your way through the entire series along a chronological line by clicking “Next Article”. This menu bar also contains a few practical functions allowing you to share an article on social media, post a comment about an article, or print a text. Please note that only the text of an article will be printed, not any accompanying visual material.

Copyright

When referencing any articles published on our website, both the author and source must be clearly cited. Citation example:

Šarūnė Trinkūnaitė, “Juozas Miltinis and the Laboratory for the Modern Consciousness”, in: Lithuania’s Cultural History from the End of World War II to the Present Day, MO Museum, accessed online: http://www.mmcentras.lt/cultural-history/kulturos-istorija/theatre/19561968-recovery-and-first-strides/juozas-miltinis-and-the-laboratory-for-the-modern-consciousness/74485.

The permission of the MO Museum and any article author must be obtained prior to any commercial use of written material obtained from this site.

For permission to use any visual works published on this website, please contact their copyright holders.