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#LT27EU: Culture

During Lithuania's Presidency of the Council of the European Union in the first half of 2027, the country's culture and arts will be showcased in 52 countries across six continents. The programme includes concerts, exhibitions, film, performing arts and literature presentations, as well as joint projects with international artists.

"Europe does not live only in treaties or institutions. It lives in people's desire to get to know one another, to share their experiences and to build the future together. Culture opens up a unique space for dialogue, from which trust and lasting partnerships are born. I am grateful and proud that we will hold the Presidency of the Council of the European Union together with cultural professionals, and that together we will strive to ensure the world knows Lithuania not only through its political decisions but also through its creativity," said Minister of Foreign Affairs Kęstutis Budrys.

While the cultural programme builds on the long-standing international work of Lithuanian cultural institutions, organisations and artists, and on partnerships already in place, it also opens up opportunities for Lithuanian artists to reach new audiences.

"We have consistently held to the principle that every project should be an opportunity to build professional partnerships and create connections that will last well beyond the programme itself. Presenting both established artists and rising young talent to the world will not only strengthen Lithuania's visibility as a modern state, but also allow us to rethink our historical experience from a contemporary perspective," said Julija Reklaitė, Director of the Lithuanian Culture Institute.

From symphonic music to film and architecture

The programme will span more than ten fields of culture and the arts. Music accounts for the largest share of events, ranging from symphonic and chamber concerts to jazz and contemporary music. The visual arts also feature prominently, with contemporary art and photography exhibitions. These will be complemented by film, dance, theatre, literature, architecture and culinary heritage.

The events are aimed at a wide range of audiences, from teenagers to cultural policymakers, diplomats, city festival-goers, and art lovers visiting concert halls, museums and festivals around the world.

The full international and national cultural programme will be announced in December, but its main highlights can already be revealed.

Highlights in Belgium

Belgium, home to the EU institutions, will host more than 70 Lithuanian cultural events. The programme will open with the Presidency's inaugural concerts on 22–23 January. Opera soloists Asmik Grigorian and Edgaras Montvidas will perform at Brussels' Centre for Fine Arts (Bozar) and Antwerp's De Singel, together with the Lithuanian National Symphony Orchestra conducted by Giedrė Šlekytė.

Bozar will also open a retrospective of the work of Aleksandra Kašuba, organised in cooperation with the Lithuanian National Museum of Art (LNDM), and will present a Lithuanian film programme in partnership with the Lithuanian Film Centre (LKC). The FeliX Art & Eco Museum is planning an exhibition of Kazimiera Zimblytė's work titled Hidden Abstractionism. Eglė Budvytytė's Venice Biennale programme will travel to Kanal–Centre Pompidou.

Augustas Serapinas, one of Lithuania's most prominent contemporary artists, is preparing an installation together with the curatorial team of the Sapieha Palace (Contemporary Art Centre) for the Justus Lipsius building – the main seat of the Council of the EU, which is regularly visited by delegations from all member states and where journalists work.

A special programme in Germany

The Lithuanian Presidency of the Council of the EU will coincide with the launch of the Year of Lithuania in Germany. As in Brussels, the two-year cultural programme will open with a concert by Asmik Grigorian, Edgaras Montvidas and the Lithuanian National Symphony Orchestra, at Hamburg's Elbphilharmonie on 28 January.

Lithuanian contemporary music will be presented to German audiences at the 25th anniversary edition of Berlin's MärzMusik festival for contemporary music; Lithuanian jazz performers will appear at the jazzahead! trade fair in Bremen, and an issue of the journal Sprache im technischen Zeitalter will be devoted exclusively to Lithuanian literature and its authors.

A programme titled Security, Defense and Border, running throughout the six months in Düsseldorf, will explore security issues through artistic means. In cooperation with the dance house tanzhaus nrw, it will feature dance performances by Agnietė Lisičkinaitė and Igor Shugaleev, Vilma Pitrinaitė, Agnija Šeiko, Liza Baliasnaja and Low Air, along with meetings and discussions with the artists.

Creative partnerships in other countries

Cultural exchanges will take place in countries where Lithuania has cultural attachés and diplomatic missions: Japan, the United Kingdom, Poland, Italy, France, the United States, the Nordic countries and Ukraine. The programme will be complemented by cultural cooperation initiatives in Latvia, Estonia, Moldova and South Korea.

In Ukraine, Happyendless and the Kyiv-based B. Lyatoshynsky Classical Music Ensemble are planning a joint project, Anthology. In Moldova, Lithuanian soloists Glebas Pyšniakas, Dalia Dėdinskaitė and Lukas Geniušas will give a joint concert with the country's National Philharmonic Orchestra. In Latvia, pianist Onutė Gražinytė will perform with the Latvian National Symphony Orchestra under the baton of maestro Gintaras Rinkevičius.

In Japan, the Tokyo Metropolitan Teien Art Museum will open an exhibition of Lithuanian folk art, A Time for Loves and Prayers, in January. It will feature works from the collections of the National Museum of Lithuania, the LNDM and the M. K. Čiurlionis National Museum of Art.

The programme's geographic reach will be significantly extended by cultural presentations organised by all of Lithuania's diplomatic missions. These include an anthology of Lithuanian cinema prepared by the public institution Meno avilys, presented in Prague (Czech Republic); a sculpture-installation by Agnė Kišonaitė in Cape Town (South Africa); concerts by the Lithuanian Choral Union in São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro (Brazil); and a performance by accordionist Martynas Levickis with the orchestra of the national drama theatre in Astana (Kazakhstan).

Disinformation resilience training for cultural professionals

Alongside the artistic programme, the Lithuanian Culture Institute, together with the disinformation analysis centre Debunk.org and the European Union National Institutes for Culture network (EUNIC), is organising training for cultural sector workers in various countries. The sessions will examine how hostile states use culture to spread disinformation and how the cultural sector itself becomes a target. Participants will learn to recognise such influence and respond to it. Local cultural attachés and partners will be involved in the training.

The programme, which will cover more than a hundred cities worldwide, was developed over the past two years by the Lithuanian Culture Institute and Lithuania's network of cultural attachés, together with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Lithuanian diplomatic missions, and was approved by a government inter-institutional working group. The international cultural programme has a budget of €2.1 million from the Presidency budget and €300,000 from the Ministry of Culture.

More information about Lithuania's Presidency of the Council of the EU is available at www.lt27.eu.