The Open Air Museum of Lithuania, together with partners from Estonia and Sweden, is completing the mobility project “Teaching Multicultural History in Museums” (NPAD-2023/10292) funded by the Nordplus Adult Programme. The last study visit of this project took place on July 1-6, during which museum professionals Pijus Lazauskas and Rūta Rimkevičienė visited the Jamtli Foundation Museum and the NCK (Nord-Baltic research and development centre) research centre in Östersund (Sweden).

During the visit, the project the participants were introduced to the Jamtli Museum’s engaging educational programmes, which explore migration, war, war preparedness and other contemporary issues through historical narratives. Meanwhile, the NCK Research Centre presented its educational material to the participants and led a discussion on the challenges of promoting the heritage of national and religious minorities in Sweden, Estonia and Lithuania.

Throughout their visit to the museum, the participants had the opportunity to see live the Jamtli Historyland programme, which consists of an immersive performance by actors and volunteers dressed in thematic costumes and presenting episodes of everyday life from different eras in the museum’s spaces.

This was the last visit of this Nordplus Adult Mobility project. During the project period, three visits to partner museums were organised and experiences were shared. The project enabled the Open Air Museum of Lithuania to improve its knowledge in the field of actualising and preserving the heritage of national and religious minorities and to successfully organise the Day of National Minorities in Lithuania on May 19.

The project is funded by the Nordplus Adult Programme.

On October 3—9, staff members of the Open-Air Museum of Lithuania—Pijus Lazauskas and Milda Šemeklytė—visited Tallinn and met with the project partners/colleagues of the Estonian Open-Air Museum (Eesti Vabaõhumuuseum). This visit is part of the mobility project “Teaching multicultural history in museums” (NPAD-2023/10292) funded by the Nordplus Adult programme. The aims of the project include (1) exchanging experience, widening horizons and exploring new methods of teaching about ethnic and religious minorities; (2) improving activities dedicated to the aforementioned minority groups in museums/organizations considering the needs of minorities and ever-changing landscape of migration; (3) and in a wider context, teaching tolerance, fostering inclusion as well as developing dialogue with the minority groups in corresponding countries.

During the week in Estonia Pijus and Milda familiarised themselves with all the expositions of the Estonian Open-Air Museum, took part in the educational programs of the museum and participated in the Onion and fish day, which focused on promoting traditions of old believers’ religious group and the Setus’ ethnic community. In addition to the activities in the museum, the visit  to the Ukrainian Cultural Center located in the vicinity of the Tallinn City Wall was organised, where the head of the center, Anatoly Lyutyuk, gave a tour around his spectacular workshop and explained the activities of the center. The participants of the project also visited the Museum of Occupations and Freedom in Tallinn.

Other visits and meetings of the project are planned at the Open-Air Museum of Lithuania and the Jamtli Foundation Museum and Nordic Center of Heritage Learning and Creativity in Östersund in spring 2024.

The Open-Air Museum of Lithuania cooperates with representatives of ethnic and religious minorities in organizing various events and providing spaces in the museum. It is expected that the museum staff will gain experience and useful knowledge that will help to improve the relevant expositions of the museum and will give a start to the annual day of national and religious minorities in the museum.

The project of a traveling exhibition “Lithuanian bread. With a loaf of bread of one‘s own, one is welcome at any table” received funding from the Lithuanian Council of Culture.

With this project, the Museum aims to innovatively present a significant theme for the history of Lithuania, namely the path of rye bread (from grain to table). Pictures of rye harvesting and its customs, harvesting tools, and the peculiarities of baking black rye bread in the ethnographic regions of Lithuania will be displayed in the exhibition.

The exhibition will be presented in the “Horse Musuem” (Niuronys); Musuem “Senoji Klebonija” (Punsk, Poland); Musuem “Aušra” (Siauliai); Taurage Regional Musuem “Santaka” (Skaudvile).

Project title: “Creation and Application of Service Provision Methodology for Persons with Disabilities in the Museum”.

Project type: Pilot project to ensure the accessibility of museums for persons with disabilities.

Project implementation deadline: 15/12/2023

Relevance of the project: in our efforts to adapt the museum to human well-being, we consider the need for specialized services for people with mental disabilities, and accordingly raise the competencies of museum employees working with people with disabilities. In cooperation with social partners, we analyze the need for essential services in order to successfully integrate people with mental disabilities. Implementing an information system of pictograms would expand the opportunities of disabled people and enable them to visit the museum independently without the need for special educational programs.

Project partners:

• “Social therapy house” – AKVILA (public institution)
• Saint Faustina School (multifunctional center) in Kaisiadorys
• Kaunas Alzheimer Club
• Lithuanian autism association “Lietaus vaikai”
• Kaunas Pranas Daunys Education Center

Project stages:

• Internship in Denmark (Den Gamble By) – learning from others with years of experience
• Employee training (to be held in July and September at the Open-Air Museum of Lithuania, the goal is to train 50 employees of the Museum)
• Internships of the Museum employees in AKVILA – practice with the project partners
• Preparation of methodical material
• Adaptation of the Museum spaces for the disabled:
  • Memory space
  • Interactive educational space
  • An oasis of peace
  • Informational pictogram systems
  • Specialized educational programs for people with intellectual disabilities

The project is financed by: The Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Lithuania

Moments from the internship in Denmark (Den Gamble By), which took place on May 2-7, 2023:

The Open-Air Museum of Lithuania, in cooperation with AKVILA and social workshops PILNOS SIRDYS, is implementing the project “Creation and Application of Service Provision Methodology for Persons with Disabilities in the Museum”. In the course of this project, the Open-Air Museum of Lithuania will be equipped with educational spaces and adapted programs for people with intellectual disabilities, while the Museum employees will receive training for working with visitors with disabilities.

Museum employees and educators prepare responsibly and do internships in AKVILA. They participate in activities with AKVILA housemates, learn how to work together, how to formulate tasks, how to use easy-to-understand language. AKVILA’s staff strives to ensure that the Museum employees understand even the most severely disabled person and their needs. Moreover, the Museum employees are thought to respond to this in educational activities at the Museum. Preconceived fears, prejudices or inner tensions due to uncertainty fall away during such activities. Cooperation with AKVILA will continue until the end of the year.

Moments from AKVILA:

“Walks through the Life of Swamp Dwellers” is an exhibition reflecting the uniqueness of the ethnographic region of Lithuania Minor. The exhibition aims to acquaint visitors with the political history of Lithuania Minor, life in the swamps, the history of one family of swamp farmers, and the religion of the region.

This exhibition is a permanent and important part of the Museum, where education and tours will also be included. This will be the first innovative exhibition of its kind in the Open-Air Museum of Lithuania. It will be opened in the Vabalai farmstead of the Museum.

The project will be implemented by the end of the year, emphasizing that 2023 is the year of the Klaipeda region (which is part of Lithuania Minor).

The Open Air Museum of Lithuania (Lithuania) together with the Estonian Open Air Museum (Estonia) and the Jamtli Foundation (Sweden) organizes a project aimed at exchanging experience and raising the qualifications of employees in presenting ethnic and religious minorities in museums. Project participants will prepare special week-long programs in their countries.

The first project visit is scheduled for autumn 2023 in the Estonian Open Air Museum in Tallinn.

Visits to the Open Air Museum of Lithuania and the Jamtli Foundation Museum and Training Center in Östersund are planned for spring 2024.