The Lithuanian season in France will be opened by the historical exhibition of the MO Museum and the Pompidou Center Culture

The works of the Lithuanian Art Gold Fund, which will complement the collection of the Pompidou Center, are a donation from the MO Museum’s collection by Danguolės and Viktoras Butkai, the founders of the MO Museum. This is a historical event, when the works of Lithuanian artists who created during the Soviet occupation become part of the collection of one of the most famous modern art institutions in the world.

The donation of D. and V. Butkai consists of the most important works of the artists Marija Teresė Rožanskaitė, Kazimiera Zimblytė, Linas Leon Katinas, Marija Švažienė, Vincas Kisarauskas, while the drawings of Elvyra Kairiūkštytė are donated to the Pompidou Center by Regina Norvaišienė.

In order to preserve their creative freedom during the occupation, these artists often carried out their work underground or covered their essential ideas with metaphors, myths and biblical allegories.

Most of these artists, whose innovative artistic practices were suppressed during the Soviet occupation, received recognition only after Lithuania regained its independence or after their death.

Most of these artists, whose innovative artistic practices were suppressed during the Soviet occupation, received recognition only after Lithuania regained its independence or after their death. One of the most prominent examples of this is Marija Teresė Rožanskaitė (1933-2007), whose work is currently representing Lithuania at the 60th Venice Biennale together with the work of Pakui Hardware.

According to Milda Ivanauskienė, head of the MO Museum, the Lithuanian art exhibition organized by the MO Museum and the Pompidou Center fills the gap created by the occupation and the Iron Curtain, which kept our country’s artists on the margins of Western European art for many decades.

“During the Soviet occupation, Lithuanian artists were silenced, and their brave and innovative works were hidden behind the Iron Curtain. Due to this isolation, Lithuanian modern art remained unnoticed in the world for many years, which is a huge loss not only for our country, but also for the entire art history of Western Europe.

During the Soviet occupation, Lithuanian artists were silenced, and their bold and innovative works were hidden behind the Iron Curtain.

Thanks to the MO Museum’s founders, exceptional works of Lithuanian art are included in the Pompidou collection – this event is a symbolic gesture of restoring historical justice, returning Lithuania to its rightful place in the history of art,” M. Ivanauskienė is happy.

The Pompidou Center also acquires the works of contemporary Lithuanian artists Eglė Rakauskaitė, Anastasija Sosunova, Andrias Arutiunians, Žilvins Landzberg and Pakui Hardware exhibited in the exhibition. These artists, with their unique creative approach, have already gained international recognition and continue to make significant contributions to the global art scene.

“Artists who started their creative path after regaining Independence in the 1990s connect the past and the future, new narratives and traditions, solve global problems and question identity in an international context.

This exhibition, which presents a fragmentary overview of Lithuanian art from the times of the Soviet occupation and the restoration of independence, convincingly reveals the history of Lithuanian art and the changing cultural landscape”, says Pompidou Center curator Alicia Knock.

The exhibition “Lithuanian art from the 1960s to the present day. “Historical Donation” at the Pompidou Center in Paris will operate until 2025. January 6