“Design Foundation: designed in Lithuania in 1960s” at the National Gallery of Art in 2016

Having started the project in 2016, we initially aimed at researching the 1960s Lithuanian design through interviews, the selected period’s design artefacts, case studies, archival documentation and photographs.

During creative workshops conducted in collaboration with Lithuanian design studios, artists and designers, a variety of design samples were recreated, uniquely interpreted or created anew, telling a story about the personalities of the Lithuanian design of 1960s, of the period’s events as well as objects and their history. These design samples were presented at the exposition and in the pop-up design shop:

  • Illustrations by Birutė Žilytė from the book Golden Strainer by Janis Rainis (1967) (personal collection of artist) and
  • Scarves from illustrations by Birutė Žilytė from the book Golden Strainer (1967) (“Indigo textile”)
  • Tribute collection of ties, bow ties and pocket squares dedicated to composer Julius Juzeliūnas (limited edition) (“Indigo textile”, “April look”)
  • Packaging project “Children’s Marmalade” designed by Raisa Šmuriginaitė in the 1960s (personal collection of author) and limited edition “Children’s Marmalade” set (“Less table”)
  • Lamps “Composer I” and “Composer II”, interpretation of Vytautas Čekanauskas lamp (1966) created for Composers’ House (“Torem”)
  • Transforming chair by Lygija Marija Stapulionienė (1960) (restored by “Old-new”)
  • Chair from living room set “Oak” by Valerija Ema Cukermanienė (1964) (restored by “Old-new”)
  • Limited edition of Posters from the 1960s designed by prominent Lithuanian graphic designers:
  • Poster “Book – the best friend” by Juozas Galkus, 1960 (Galkus’ personal collection)
  • A promotional poster for an exhibition of industrial aesthetics by Vytautas Kaušinis, 1968 (Kaušinis’ family collection)
  • A promotional poster for the city of Palanga ("Visit Palanga") by Kęstutis Gvalda, 1969
  • A dairy promotional Poster "Milk - the secret to youth and beauty" by Kęstutis Šveikauskas, 1970
  • Limited edition of Calendars “Designed in Lithuania in 1960s” with 12 photos - postcards from Lithuanian Central State Archives (designed by Laura Grigaliūnaitė)

The curated exposition “Design Foundation: designed in Lithuania in 1960s” was introduced at the National Gallery of Art on December 15 - 31, 2016.

Curators: Karolina Jakaitė, Šarūnas Šlektavičius and Gintautė Žemaitytė

Exposition designer: Paulius Vitkauskas

Coordinator: Kristina Puleikytė

The project was carried out in collaboration with the Vilnius Academy of Arts, Lithuanian Central State Archives, National Gallery of Art, Modern Art Museum (MO), Lithuanian Composer’s Union.

The project was partially funded by the Lithuanian Council for Culture.