"FAIRY TALE". CHILDHOOD IN LITHUANIA IN THE LATE SOVIET ERA

A legendary children's café "Pasaka" is back! But not as a dining and entertainment space, rather as a portal of glowing stained-glass windows, leading to contrasting childhood memories – from a city‘s housing areas to a small Lithuanian town, from a crushing system to art that is nurtured by the imagination – the exhibition encompasses the diversity of childhood issues characteristic of the late Soviet era. This narrative fills and transforms all three floors of the Picture Gallery.

The exhibition combines objects of art and design, documentary material, everyday objects, live stories of people and insights of experts in different fields.

A rare opportunity to view a complex historical period from a child's perspective is provided by authentic testimonies of children of the time. Most of them were collected and recorded by a researcher of childhood Goda Damaševičiūtė.

The exhibition opens up various children spaces – houses and courtyards, squares and playgrounds, even the reality of extremely closed institutions during the Soviet era: one of the exhibition‘s spaces is dedicated to a "Maternity Hospital" and "Orphan's Room", the history of which has been curated by Dr. Ieva Balčiūnė. In the room "After-Dinner Sleep“ visitors are presented the scenes of children‘s everyday life in amateur 8 mm films created by a political prisoner Leonas Čerškus – a complete alternative to Soviet newsreels.

A part of the exhibition "A March of Discipline" acquaints with the formation of an ideal Soviet child, while "A Child as Freedom", on the contrary, tells the story of a resistance to propaganda. Inventive artists who were able to create much more interesting and free worlds, which became a refuge not only for children, but also for the creators themselves.

In a space "A Fairy Tale Alphabet", Audronė Meškauskaitė outlined a certain leap of children's literature in the late Soviet era – the texts and illustrations from children's books are hidden in mysterious "hollows".

A Giant Hippopotamus – an example of a reconstructed historical toy by designer Rasa Balaišė – is housed in a space of unrealised projects of toy design curated by Dr. Karolína Jakaitė. Just next door, you are invited to an educational classroom full of creative inspirations for every visitor.

"A Toy Doctor's Bag“ interweaves stories about toys, care and affection towards them. A large amount of the exhibits were kindly lent from a personal collection of Assoc. Prof. Dr. Tomas Biržietis, head of Pranas Mažylis Maternity Hospital. The rest part was gathered from generous people who responded to the curators' invitation and willingly lent their most precious childhood toys for the exhibition.

The exhibition shows not only the best works by artists from the late Soviet era, that reveal a theme of childhood, but also pieces of the contemporary art – textile installations by Martyna Plioplytė-Zujienė and Dovilė Gudačiauskaitė. A mysterious hall of the “Toy Doctor‘s Bag“ has been sound recorded by Karolis Lasys.

The exhibition also presents gourmet stories that bring back bits of the "Pasaka" menu: recipes and dessert drawings by the chef Felicija Bagdonienė, who created recipes for the "Pasaka" café. The café “Kultūra“ in the Picture Gallery will invite to taste a dessert specially created on this occasion.

Curators: Auksė Petrulienė, Vaiva Mikelionytė, dr. Karolina Jakaitė, Aidas Kulbokas

Experts: Goda Damaševičiūtė (Vilnius University), Dr. Ieva Balčiūnė (Lithuanian Institute of History), Audronė Meškauskaitė (Maironis Museum of Lithuanian Literature), Dr. Natalija Arlauskaitė (Vilnius University Institute of International Relations and Political Science), Assoc. Prof., Dr. Tomas Biržietis (P. Mažylis Maternity Hospital), curator of social projects Rūta Klevaitė (M. K. Čiurlionis National Museum of Art)

Partner: Lithuanian Institute of History

Financed by: Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Lithuania

Organizer: M. K. Čiurlionis National Museum of Art, The community platform “Backup stories“

Architects: Jautra Bernotaitė, Paulius Vaitiekūnas, Andrius Ropolas (“Office de Architectura“)

Graphic design: Julija Tolvaišytė-Leonavičienė

Reconstruction of a historic design object – Rasa Balaišė / RASA deSIGN

Contemporary art installations: Dovilė Gudačiauskaitė, Martyna Plioplytė-Zujienė
Sound recording: Karolis Lasys

Audioguide: Bernadeta Lukošiūtė-Stankevičienė, Auksė Petrulienė, Matas Jančauskas (VDU)

Restorers: Dalia Mulevičienė, Daugis Bumbulis, Laima Bielskė, Artūras Skopas, Ona Ramoškienė

Technical producer: Irmantas Kuskys

Technicians: Izoldas Smagarauskas, Mindaugas Bagdonavičius

Cooperating institutions: Lithuanian National Museum of Art, MO Museum, Šiauliai "Aušros" Museum, Lithuanian Museum of Education, VDA Museum, Antanas Baranauskas and Antanas Vienuolis-Žukauskas Memorial Museum, Tauragė Regional Museum "Santaka", Kėdainiai Regional Museum, Panevėžys Museum of Regional History, Jonava Regional Museum, Museum of Occupations and Freedom Fights, Central State Archives of Lithuania, Lithuanian Union of Photographers, Romas Juškelis Foundation, Lithuanian Film Centre, LRT, "Meno Avilys", Kaunas Artists‘ House

Sponsor – Cafe “Kultūra“

Special thanks: Vida Ambraškaitė, Regina Bandzienė, Michailas Belikovas (The Museum of Clothing), Robertas Čerškus, Fominas, Vytautas Gailius, Ilona Gluosnienė, Vitalija Gražienė, Rūta Gurčinienė, Marius Januškevičius, Oksana Judakova, Jolanta Karašauskienė, Snieguolė Michelkevičiūtė-Masevičienė, Rita Namikė, Jonas Palys, Modestas Patašius, Titas Petrikis, Eglė Rakauskaitė, Vytautas Stanionis, Arvydas Šaltenis, Pille Veljataga, Vengraitis family, Onutė Zigmantienė, Antanas Zinkevičius, Audronė Žukauskaitė, Monika Gineikienė, Rima Zakarauskienė, Vaida Sirvydaitė, Nijolė Adomavičienė, Džiugas Palukaitis, Vilija Plioplienė, Greta Grendaitė, Julija Genienė, Aurelija Simokaitienė, Sigita Dereškevičiūtė, Rasa Čižinauskienė, Natalija Andriuščenko-Jurevičienė, Rasa Janulevičiūtė, Justinas Dadonas, Vita Kašėtaitė-Čaplikienė, Rimvydas Laurutis, Karolis Milaševičius, Jonas Paulius Nakas, Ina Novikova, Vidas Poškus, Kristina Pumputytė, Goda Šuminaitė, Nijolė Žvirgždienė.