Art in non-art institutions

1/2Linas Katinas’s painting exhibition in the sports hall of the Urban Planning Institute, Vilnius, 1974. Photo: Linas Katinas (courtesy of Linas Katinas).

1/2Kazimiera (Kazė) Zimblytė’s painting exhibition at the Vaga Publishing House, Vilnius, 1968. Photo: Dainora Juchnevičiūtė (courtesy of Dainora Juchnevičiūtė).

In the period the art historian Elona Lubytė termed ‘silent modernism’ (1962–1982), unofficial exhibitions were held not only in artists’ studios or residences, but also in various non-art institutions that were home to patrons of modern art and exhibition-initiators. Among the most significant institutions were the club of the LSSR (Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic) Writers’ Union, the LSSR State Conservatory, the Urban Planning Institute, the Vaga publishing house (all based in Vilnius), and the Panevėžys Drama Theater, led by the acclaimed director Juozas Miltinis, who cultivated avant-garde ideas in his stage productions. According to contemporaries, the control of the art events that took place inside these institutions was less strict, yet these exhibitions were not advertised by official posters or covered by the press; in other words, they did not receive public attention or official evaluation. Artists’ works were exhibited in lobbies, hallways, offices, and sports and concert halls. Sometimes the unusual exhibition spaces spawned alternative approaches to displaying works of art.