Kaunas–Vilnius: Moving Mountains

Kaunas and Vilnius, Vilnius and Kaunas. Two biggest Lithuanian cities. Competing against each other or (maybe) vital for one another? How and why the two cities can(not) co-exist?

The exhibition, curated by both MO Museum and Kaunas City Museum, illustrates the fundamental dependence of Vilnius and Kaunas. It looks at the culture and social life of these two cities, their similarities and differences in various aspects. The exhibition explains what it means to be a Kaunas or Vilnius’ citizen, their attitudes towards themselves and the other, tries to identify and deconstruct the myths, stereotypes, and complexes.

It is a part of the Kaunas – European Capital of Culture 2022 programme.

The pride and prejudice enveloping the life of Vilnius and Kaunas holds a hidden truth – these cities need each other, otherwise they are doomed to a “caricature of existence”. This was written a hundred years ago by Mykolas Römeris. This is what this exhibition by MO Museum and Kaunas city museum – exhibited at the same time in Vilnius and Kaunas – talks about. It opens up the foundational interdependence between these two cities, how they formed each other and how present-day Lithuania emerged from the tension between them.

“Mountains” help us to understand the artistic, cultural and political interaction between these two cities – as a key metaphor of centrality, an obstacle, a challenge, autonomy, and protection. With the use of four key mountains, emerging in the narrative of the exhibition, – Gediminas Mountain, Žaliakalnis, Boufal Mountain and Owl Mountain – new forms of interaction between Kaunas and Vilnius emerge. The story told here highlights how these two centers – two acropoles – formed, and how they morphed from the idea of the center of Lithuania into a sense of inadequacy as capitals. One of the questions raised in the exhibition is what does it mean to be a resident of one of the two poleis – a Kaunas of Vilnius inhabitant; and how their identity as a city dwellers is constructed – its certainty, exclusivity, autonomy, stereotypes and myths.

Cities are also considered as necropolises, where we physically and symbolically bury, say goodbye and memorialize. In these rituals of memory, we show how the cities comprehend themselves, what they strive to keep and what – to throw away, and what differences emerge between the two. In the exhibition we examine the connections and exchanges between Kaunas and Vilnius – from natural to symbolic, from the vision of a dipole to a doubling identity, from cultural donations to vampirism in the work force.

The mountains and motifs of the exhibition repeat themselves in the exhibition halls of both museums, but they tell different stories. In this way the concept and architecture of the exhibition in itself embodies the römeresque necessity for Vilnius and Kaunas to be together: if you want to see the entirety of the exhibition, you have to visit both cities.

Authors and organizers: Kaunas City Museum and MO Museum
Author of the exhibition concept – Tomas Vaiseta
Curators and co-curators of the exhibition: Justina Juodišiūtė, Kotryna Lingienė, Ernestas Parulskis, Miglė Survilaitė, Rasa Žukienė
Consultans: Julijana Andriejauskienė, Marija Drėmaitė, Linara Dovydaitytė, Giedrė Godienė, Lara Lempertienė, Jurgita Verbickienė, Sigita Žemaitytė-Strazdė
Coordinators: Iveta Jaugaitė, Justina Juodišiūtė, Giedrė Malūkaitė, Sigita Žemaitytė-Strazdė
Architects: Vladas Suncovas, Julijonas Urbonas
Designer – Inga Navickaitė-Drąsutė

Thanks for Vytautas Ališauskas, Mindaugas Balkus, Ingvaras Butautas, Aušrinė Cemnolonskė, Norbertas Černiauskas, Gintaras Česonis, Algimantas Grigas, Giedrė Jankevičiūtė, Emilija Jasiulevičiūtė, Giedrė Kadžiulytė, Gražina Kadžytė, Laima Kreivytė, Mykolė Lukošienė, Gintarė Masteikaitė, Ignas Merkys, Giedrė Milerytė-Japertienė, Inga Pažereckaitė-Kalėdienė, Daiva Šabasevičienė, Helmutas Šabasevičius, Giedrius Šlikas, Irena Šutinienė, Audronė Veilentienė, Emanuelis Zingeris

Ouverture
Dalia Mikonytė, Adomas Žudys, Pijus Džiugas Meižis

Acropolis
Aušra Andziulytė,  Aušra Barzdukaitė-Vaitkūnienė, Ina Budrytė, Vilius Dranseika, Bronius Gražys, Dainius Liškevičius, Indrė Klimaitė, Eimutis Markūnas, Arvydas Martinaitis, Sigita Maslauskaitė, Henrikas Natalevičius, Algirdas Petrulis, Vytautas Povilaitis, Mindaugas Skudutis, Mikalojus Šalkauskas, Filomena Ušinskaitė, Adolfas Vaičaitis, Arūnas Vaitkūnas, Birutė Žilytė, Algirdas Steponavičius

Necropolis
Rimantas Dichavičius, Andrius Labašauskas, Onutė Narbutaitė

Polis
Robertas Antinis, Jurga Barilaitė, Milda Gailiūtė, Agnė Gintalaitė, Gailė Griciūtė, Aleksandra Jacovskytė, Algimantas Kunčius, Robertas Narkus, Milda Zabarauskaitė, Romualdas Požerskis, Auksė Petrulienė, Ieva Rojūtė, Augustas Serapinas, Rimas Sakalauskas, Evelina Šimkutė, Gintarė Stašaitytė, Andrej Vasilenko, Gintaras Zinkevičius, Povilas Konkulevičius

Dipolis
Rafaelis Chvolesas, Cooltūristės, Vladas Drėma, Antanas Gudaitis, Pranas Gudynas, Vytautas Kairiūkštis, Juozas Kamarauskas, Elijas Kaplanas, Leonas Katinas, Povilas Kaufmanas, Juozas Laivys, Aistis Kavaliauskas, Rokas Valiauga, Antanas Martinaitis, Eimutis Markūnas, Sigita Maslauskaitė, Juozas Mikėnas, Inga Navickaitė-Drąsutė, Kęstutis Paliokas,  Černė Percikovičiūtė, Audronė Petrašiūnaitė,  Algirdas Petrulis, Julija Račiūnaitė, Romualdas Rakauskas, Michailas Roskinas, Eglė Ridikaitė, Samuelis Rozinas, Arvydas Šaltenis, Arūnas Vaitkūnas, Justinas Vienožinskis, Eglė Velaniškytė, Alfonsas Vilpišauskas, Viktoras Vizgirda

Display outside
Andrius Labašaukas

Ouverture
Aleksas Andriuškevičius, Arūnas Baltėnas, Jurgis Mačiūnas

Polis
Vytautas Balčytis, Vaidotas Daunys, Gintaras Česonis, Kęstutis Navakas, Jurga Juodytė, Saulius Leonavičius, Juozas Laivys, Ieva Rojūtė

Dipolis
Kipras Dubauskas, Simon Marie Sarah,  Antanas Obcarskas, Steponas Kolupaila, Stanislovas Lukošius

Acropolis
Cooltūristės, Bernadeta Levulė, Rudolfas Levulis, Dainius Liškevičius, Julija Račiūnaitė

Necropolis
Danas Aleksa, Vidmantas Ilčiukas, Povilas Konkulevičius, Andrius Surgailis