Vytautas Magnus University

Research on Lithuanian Art and Cultural Heritage: Identities, Memories, Policies

Research overview

The main focus of the scientific cluster is interdisciplinary research of Lithuanian visual art, architecture and cultural heritage in the context of European and global cultural processes. The research encompasses analysis of Lithuanian art and architecture objects, processes, artists’ biographies, art and architecture schools, styles, and iconography, art historiography and methodology, art dissemination and reception. The research of sacred and secular art in the former territory of The Grand Duchy of Lithuania has been developed with a focus on iconography and intercultural artistic schools. Another important area of research is the history of architecture ranging from investigation of Lithuanian renaissance and classical architecture, inter-war period Modernism to the history of Soviet architecture and design.

The researchers of the cluster also develop the studies of tangible and intangible heritage focusing on the issues of contemporary management and animation of cultural heritage and its usage as socio-cultural and economic potential. The thematic framework of the cluster includes the research on the development of Lithuanian modern and contemporary art, encompassing applied arts, and the dissemination and reception of creative practices from the perspective of memory politics, museum studies, contested heritage.

The scholars of the cluster seek to develop the fundamental and applied research of Lithuanian art, architecture and cultural heritage in the European and global contexts, combining art historical analysis with the approaches of heritage management and cultural studies, and widely disseminating the outcomes of the research thus making impact on cultural life and policies.

Main researchers

PhD candidates