YIVO in Lithuania, May 2022

YIVO Executive Director & CEO Jonathan Brent visited Vilnius, Lithuania in May 2022 to participate in two important events: the opening of the 5th World Litvak Congress, and the opening of the Lithuanian Art Centre TARTLE’s latest exhibit.

Speech Given in Lithuanian Seimas (Parliament)

At the opening ceremony for the 5th World Litvak Congress, Jonathan Brent gave a speech before the Lithuanian Seimas titled “YIVO: The Geography of Freedom” on May 23rd as part of the 2022 Litvak Days festival. Litvak Days is an annual event in Vilnius celebrating the heritage of Lithuanian Jewry.

Read the remarks.

YIVO Participation in New TARTLE Exhibition

The YIVO Institute loaned materials from its archives for the Lithuanian Art Centre TARTLE’s new exhibition, Vilnius Forever. A Dialogue of Artworks and Guides to the City. The exhibition explores how the touristic profile of Vilnius was formed in the middle of the 19th century, and how it changed over more than a century. The materials loaned by YIVO include eight drawings representing Vilnius by the Ukrainian-born American Jewish artist Lionel Reiss from the 1920s, and a photograph with a view of the Old Town from the side of the City Hall from the 1930s. These works have never been exhibited either in Lithuania or, to YIVO’s knowledge, anywhere in the world, and will hopefully give visitors knowledge about Jewish Vilnius and a wider picture of the city’s multicultural character.

• Kultūra, „Tartle“ naujoje parodoje – pirmą kartą Lietuvoje eksponuojami darbai iš Niujorko YIVO instituto (May 20, 2022, also picked up by Delfi, Lyrtas, Made in Vilnius, Spaudos centras)
• Lyrtas, Į naują „Tartle“ parodą atskubėjo žinomi žmonės (May 24, 2022)
• Žmonės, Lietuvos meno pažinimo centras „Tartle“ (May 2022)