Museum Night events at the Lithuanian National Museum of Art (LNDM)
The Lithuanian National Museum of Art (LNDM) invites you to spend the night of Saturday, May 17, participating in the European Museum Night events held in LNDM branches across Vilnius. Visitors will enjoy not only renewed permanent exhibitions and newly opened shows but also exclusive nighttime events, guided tours, and educational programs.
All events and exhibition visits in LNDM museums and galleries during this program are free of charge. Detailed information about the exhibitions available during European Museum Night is published on the official LNDM website.
Vilnius Picture Gallery
Open 5 PM – 11 PM, free admission
During Museum Night at Vilnius Picture Gallery, besides the permanent exhibitions, visitors will be welcomed by the exhibition commemorating the 100th anniversary of the founding of the YIVO Institute for Jewish Research in Vilnius, titled “You Shall Not Make for Yourself an Image. Commandments, Everyday Life, and Trends.”
Events:
- 5:30 PM – Educational program “Journey Through Books”
(at the exhibition “You Shall Not Make for Yourself an Image. Commandments, Everyday Life, and Trends”)
Reading books individually and communally is inseparable from Jewish religious tradition and later secular culture. This session introduces the main Judaic religious texts—the Torah and Talmud—and explores how they are read. It traces the development of books from manuscripts and incunabula to the first printing presses and the popularization of secular literature. It also considers women’s historical relationship with reading in Jewish communities and children’s early encounters with books in traditional Jewish culture. The practical part includes learning the Hebrew alphabet, differences between Hebrew and Yiddish, and writing names and birthdates in Hebrew letters.
Designed for students in grades 5–9, adaptable for older children.
Registration required: +370 659 58056, [email protected] - 6:00 PM – Tour of the historic rooms of the Chodkiewicz Palace and the permanent Vilnius Picture Gallery exhibition
Discover the history of the Chodkiewicz Palace and view the permanent collection featuring 16th–19th century Lithuanian art. See works by renowned artists such as Franciszek Smuglewicz, Jonas Rustemas, Kanutas Ruseckas, Vincentas Smakauskas, and others, along with the stories behind the paintings.
Duration: 45–60 minutes. For older students, youth, and adults. Adaptable for visitors with special needs.
Registration required: [email protected] or +370 681 90 329 - 8:30 PM and 9:30 PM – Tour “What Do the Palace Walls Whisper?”
A special tour of the historic Chodkiewicz Palace, where each wall quietly tells stories of the past. Learn that the first hot air balloon in Vilnius ascended from this courtyard in 1806, explore 19th-century interiors, hear about the noble families and their daily lives, and discover where a swimming pool was supposed to be. The tour ends with a visit to the mysterious palace cellars dating back to Gothic times, which will be open to visitors for the first time during Museum Night.
Up to 25 participants.
Registration required: [email protected] or +370 681 90 329
National Gallery of Art
Open 5 PM – 10 PM, free admission
Visitors are invited to explore the newly renewed permanent exhibition, opened at the end of April, featuring Lithuanian art of the early 20th century. The curators have revisited the canonical narrative of Lithuanian art, providing a new perspective on the artistic life, realities, hopes, and visions of early 20th-century Lithuania in a broader historical context.
Museum Night is also a great opportunity to visit the photography exhibition “Silver Girls: Retouched History of Baltic Photography”, showcasing works by Lithuanian, Latvian, and Estonian artists that highlight technical and artistic achievements as well as women’s roles in shaping the visual history of the Baltic region.
Events:
- 5:30 PM – Creative workshop on nature in artworks
Participants recall and paint their most memorable image of nature in watercolor.
Free event. Registration required [here]. - 6:30 PM – Guided tours of the exhibitions
Tours through “Silver Girls: Retouched History of Baltic Photography” and the renewed early 20th-century Lithuanian art permanent exhibition, focusing on the “Tensions” room.
Free event. Registration required [here].
Vytautas Kasiulis Art Museum
Open 1 PM – 9 PM, free admission
Visitors can view the new exhibition “Open Seas: Leonardo Andriekus and the Franciscan Brothers’ Emigrant Art Collection”, featuring a unique collection of Lithuanian émigré art assembled by Franciscan priest Leonardas Kazimieras Andriekus in the mid-20th century. About 100 works are displayed, many shown publicly for the first time, revealing both sacred and secular art evolution in the diaspora with artists such as Pranas Domšaitis, Vytautas and Aleksandra Kašubos, Elena Kepalaitė, Elena Urbaitytė, and others.
Events:
- 6:00 PM – Creative workshop “Abstract Landscapes”
Explore landscapes captured in the “Open Seas” exhibition, focusing on artistic expression and color diversity. Duration 50–60 minutes.
No advance registration required.
Museum of Applied Arts and Design
Open 5 PM – 11 PM, free admission
Visitors can see the exceptional interdisciplinary exhibition of Lithuanian artist Stasys Ušinskas titled “Stasys Ušinskas: The Iceberg of Lithuanian Modernism.” The retrospective features paintings, stained glass works and sketches, marionettes and their X-rays, set and costume designs, archival footage, and the puppet animation film Storulis’ Dream. A documentary about Ušinskas’ stained glass for Lithuanian churches is also included.
The contemporary Latvian jewelry exhibition “Touch and Feel” presents stories of people, their jewelry, and the artists behind them. It showcases collections by 23 Latvian artists alongside portraits of their chosen models, offering a chance to experience the allure of jewelry in traditional, modern, and innovative forms using various materials and techniques.
Events:
- 6:00 PM – Educational workshop “Making Mini Marionettes”
Stasys Ušinskas founded Lithuania’s professional puppet theater and pioneered animation. On May 6, 1936, the premiere of the marionette play Silvestras Dūdelė was held in Kaunas. This day is now celebrated as Puppeteer’s Day. The workshop includes a short exhibition tour, viewing Ušinskas’ oldest puppets and X-rays, watching fragments of Storulis’ Dream, and creating a mini marionette. Suitable for all ages.
Registration required: +370 5 212 1813, [email protected] - 7:00 PM – Tour led by Rimas Driežis, director and artist of Vilnius theater “Lėlė”
For children and adults, this tour tells about the significance of Ušinskas’ marionettes in world theater and history.
No registration required.
Radvila Palace Art Museum
Open 4 PM – 11 PM, free admission
Visitors can explore long-term exhibitions “Art of Protest: The Disobedient of the Soviet Era” (from Vladimir Tarasov’s collection donated to LNDM) and “Vivid Profiles of the Old World. 16th–19th Century Western European Painting from LNDM Collections”, as well as short-term exhibitions “Post Ars. Intersection” and “All That Is Forbidden: Lithuanian 21st Century Women Artists in the Historical Painting Collection of the Radvila Palace Art Museum.” Guests are invited to experience these through tours and educational programs.
Events:
- 4:00 PM – Educational session for families at the exhibition “All That Is Forbidden”
Explore nature, movement, and transformation through video art by Eglė Budvytytė and creative activities involving movement and spontaneous drawing, forming a family nature project. Recommended for families with children aged 5–10.
Registration required: +370 659 58066, [email protected] - 5:00 PM – Building history: Tour of the Jonušas Radvila Palace surroundings
Learn the palace’s layered history, architectural transformations, and its significance.
No registration needed. Meeting point: northern wing vestibule.
Info: +370 616 16550, [email protected] - 6:00 PM – Educational session for adults at “Post Ars” exhibition “Intersection”
Explore the artistic processes in Lithuania before and after independence through interpretation, visual and writing exercises, and creative release.
Registration required: +370 659 58066, [email protected] - 7:00 PM – Tour of the exhibition “All That Is Forbidden”
Focus on women’s art within the museum’s historic painting collection and contemporary works from the 21st century.
No registration required. Meeting point: southern wing vestibule. - 9:00 PM – Tour of the “Post Ars” exhibition “Intersection”
Discover the creative work of the Lithuanian avant-garde group Post Ars, formed in 1989, known for their bold experiments, performances, happenings, and boundary-pushing artworks. Includes the feminist activist group Cooltūristės.
No registration required. Meeting point: northern wing vestibule.
