number of higher education institutions (academies, universities, institutes, etc.),The
main sectors of activities are food industry, light industry, and science institutes.The
country benefits from the best quality internet connection in Europe, so
communication technologies are extremely well developed.
Significant international events, active culture institutions and creative unions, a great
number of creative youth, creators and performers make of Kaunas an important
cultural centre for the whole country. Kaunas’ cultural sector is particularly developed
in the fields of visual arts, performing arts, literature, publishing and crafts. The city
features a strong tradition of art festivals in disciplines as varied as photography, visual
arts, music, cinema and poetry. The Old Town concentrates active public
entertainment places with spaces for cultural activities such as art galleries and art
schools. An Arts Incubator is currently under reconstruction and is expected to be
opened in 2015.
City’s policy framework:
Kaunas City Municipality operates approximately 25
cultural institutions, coordinated by the Culture andTourism Development Division.
It is now developing strategic development policies based on a new concept linking
tourism, culture and economic development.
Description of the initiative:
Since 2007, the international visual arts festival “Art
in Old Lithuanian Manors” takes place yearly in Lithuania, involving a total of 7 cities
—not only the country’s main cities of Vilnius and Kaunas but also other smaller
towns— in travelling art exhibitions in historical spaces, painting plein-air and
workshops, educational programme for the local environment. The festival intends
to spread culture beyond the capital city and introduce professional art to the
audiences of both minor and major cities of Lithuania. Other objectives include
increasing the involvement of local communities and young people in cultural life and
fostering cultural exchanges in the field of visual arts, showing Europe’s varied cultural
traditions.Art in Old Lithuanian Manors also provides and enhances the opportunity
for audiences to get in direct contact with art creators, notably through the painting
plein-air, and feeds young people’s interest in visual arts.
The ultimate goal is to develop a “Culture Road” through the most important
Lithuanian tourism routes with a view to enhancing tourism, promoting the historical
places hosting the exhibitions and attracting more visitors to provincial museums.
Target beneficiaries:
Local residents, tourists, cultural institutions, cultural
managers, artists.
Stakeholders:
Local public administration, local and foreign cultural institutions
(from local museums and arts centres to international cultural organisations, such as
the Italian Cultural Institute or the Georgian Art Foundation), media partners (art
newspaper, interiors magazine).
Budget:
€30.000 - 40.000 (for the whole project in all cities):
•
Municipality: 25 %
•
National Administration: 30 %
•
Private corporate donor: 45 %
Results:
The festival is one of the most attended and well-known initiatives in the
field of visual arts in Lithuania. Since 2007, the festival has seen more than 90 artists
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