Lithuania in the News
16th May 2021
Kaunas to take on the role of European Capital of Culture in 2022
A view of Kaunas from Aleksotas Hill.
Photo courtesy Wikipedia/ by David Iliff
Lithuania’s second city Kaunas has been chosen by the European Union (EU) to be a European Capital of Culture in 2022. For this role Kaunas now follows Lithuania’s capital Vilnius, which was European Capital of Culture in 2009. Located at the confluence of Lithuania’s largest rivers, Nemunas and Neris, Kaunas has always been a strategically important city. Between the two World Wars it served as Lithuania’s temporary capital. Hence the motto for Kaunas in 2022 - “From Temporary to Contemporary”, also emphasising its contemporary cultural significance.
In 2015 Kaunas was designated as a UNESCO City of Design and for its modern structures now has been nominated for the UNESCO World Heritage List. As stated in ref.5: “Kaunas is renowned for its unique school of architecture. In the swirl of European events, the city’s “golden age” (1918–1940) was marked by the interwar modernism architecture: its dense concentration in the city centre, a distinctive Lithuanian style of interior, exterior and furniture design, which is a unique phenomenon not only in Lithuania, but also in Europe.”
Vilnius St. in Kaunas Old Town.
Photo courtesy Wikipedia/ by Adam Jones
With a population of just near 400,000 in Kaunas and its district, Kaunas boasts 60 museums and galleries, more than 10 professional theatres, as well as many other cultural facilities. In 2022 over 300 cultural events are planned. Among the outstanding cultural events for 2022 will be the International Day of Happiness, European Capital of Culture Forum, European Youth Festival, ConTempo international performing arts festival and Fluxus Festival. Also to be mentioned is Kaunas Literature Week, Japan Days, contemporary electronic music festival, and many others. Litvak artists Philip Miller and Jenny Kagan are composing a choral cantata about Kaunas. Visual art exhibitions by world-renowned artists William Kentridge, Yoko Ono, and Marina Abramović will be part of 13th Kaunas Biennial.
With such a rich cultural presence, Kaunas has been described as “The Crown Jewel of Europe’s Contemporary Culture”, an accolade well deserved! Together with Kaunas there will be two other cities as European Capitals of Culture in 2022 - in Luxembourg there will be Esch-sur-Alzette and in Serbia Novi Sad. There were no new European Capitals of Culture as such in 2021 due to the Covid-19 crisis, so Ireland’s Galway and Croatia’s Rijeka, who had that role in 2020, had their roles extended until April 2021.

For more information:
1. https://kaunas2022.eu/en 2. https://kaunas2022.eu/en/2021/04/26/kaunas-2022-the-crown-jewel-of-europes-contemporary-culture/
3. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_Capital_of_Culture
4. https://whc.unesco.org/en/tentativelists/6166/
5. https://www.designcities.net/city/kaunas/