“Uncomfortable Vilnius” invites you to look beyond the polished surface of the city Culture

The exhibition “Uncomfortable Vilnius” tells about the inhabitants of the city surrounded by superstitions, stereotypes, and sometimes even myths. The themes presented in the exhibition reveal ten fictional characters from the past and present. Their life stories are based on the experiences and stories of real people collected during the preparation of the exhibition, and open up topics that at first glance do not fit the picture of an ideal city.

“The exhibition is inconvenient not only for the visitors, not only for the lovers of Vilnius, but it was also inconvenient for us, the organizers of the exhibition, because there were many different dangers lurking. In preparing this exhibition, we had set certain limits – precautions according to which we controlled the narrative of the exhibition and the exhibits. Those fuses were an effort not to romanticize, not to exoticize, not to stigmatize and not to be didactic.” – says Rasa Antanavičiūtė, director of the Vilnius Museum, one of the curators of the exhibition.

Vilnius University Library photo/Beggar, art. Arthur Barthels, 1850

The implementation of these “precautionary measures” was helped by the consultations held during the preparation of the exhibition, not only with experts in the field, but also with experience. The collected stories made it possible to delve into the themes presented in the exhibition. Some of these topics, according to the curators, have not been extensively researched until now.

The exhibition is an invitation to discussion and an invitation to raise questions: Are the topics revealed in the exhibition uncomfortable and for whom? Maybe our reaction to the phenomena of the city is uncomfortable, or its inhabitants are somehow different? Or is the city uncomfortable for people who are sometimes not seen as part of it?

“Each of the ten parts of the exhibition is accompanied by a question to which we invite visitors to the exhibition to answer. We tried to think of questions in such a way that there would not be one correct answer and they would invite you to think.

We encourage visitors not to miss this part of the exhibition and after answering the questions, see how other people who visited the exhibition answered the same questions. During the opening of the exhibition, the answer statistics will not be very objective yet, but by the end of the exhibition, we will already be able to see certain trends.” – says Rasa Antanavičiūtė.

Vilnius University Library photo/Vilnius Medical Society library and meeting room, photo. Władysław Zahorski, 1897 (?)

The experience of the “Uncomfortable Vilnius” exhibition is complemented not only by the usual audio guide in Lithuanian, but also by an audio guide with sound representation, adapted for people with visual impairments.

The opening of the exhibition this time is a bit different than usual, without the opening speeches characteristic of new exhibitions. We invite you to visit the opening of the exhibition at a time convenient for you from 18:00 to 20:00.