Culture

by Tom Gregg (Grigonis) Eons ago in his prime he depicted the country’s elite, including Arvydas Sabonis senior, Valdas Adamkus, Jonas Mekas and Vytautas Landsbergis. He chronicled demonstrations in Kaunas following Romas Kalanta’s self-immolation in 1972. For this he was arrested, sentenced to 15 days in jail, and expelled (temporarily) …

Birutė Vaičjurgis Šležas Couples stepping smartly on the dance floor to the sounds of a foxtrot, the bandleader directing black and white musicians in jazzy renditions of the latest hits, the haughty diva strutting through a glittering crowd to the posh table reserved for celebrities. Is this London, New York, …

Liepa Boberienė. Few moments in history capture the essence of human determination and solidarity as vividly as the Baltic Way. On August 23, 1989, this momentous event not only hastened the demise of our Soviet occupiers but also sparked a worldwide movement for freedom. It serves to this day as …

Julius (Jay) Sakas. In the early hours of July 15, 1933, a heavily laden airplane, the Bellanca 300 christened the Lituanica, lifted off from Floyd Bennett Field in New York City. Two Lithuanian aviators had just taken to the air in pursuit of their dream. Steponas Darius and Stasys Girėnas …

Laima Vincė. The global quarantine of 2020–21 was like the game Musical Chairs. Wherever you were on planet Earth when the music stopped and the quarantine went into effect, that’s where you stayed. I found myself on a sandy strip of shifting dunes held tentatively in place by ancient forests …

The most ambitious internet project documenting Lithuanian American heritage sites is nearing completion. The dynamic duo of Augustinas and Aistė Žemaitis, known as the “Destination Lithuanian America” team, have created an interactive online map and encyclopedia showcasing Lithuanian heritage sites in North America. They have been exploring the U.S. and …

Laima Vincė. When I was growing up in the 1970’s and 1980’s, our family made a yearly summer pilgrimage to the St. Anthony’s Guest House on the Franciscan monastery grounds. My mother recalls spending her summers here in the 1950s and 1960s. Back then, we would hear Lithuanian spoken on …

Interviewed by Gailė Vitas, Lithuanian Research Center, Musicology Archive Last summer and for the past two months I have had the pleasure of working with Yusuke Ishii. He is Japanese, studying music in Lithuania. He speaks Lithuanian fluently. In addition to his academic work, Ishii has won various prizes in …

On May 23, the Lithuanian Jesuit Fathers signed over ownership of the Lithuanian Youth Center to Chicago’s Lithuanian community. The center is a large complex located in Chicago’s Gage Park neighborhood. It has been the epicenter of Lithuanian cultural activity for over a half-century. The new owner, Lithuanian Center, Inc., …

Laima Vincė. Ten years ago, two couples met in Jamaica to spend their vacation together. New York-based Lithuanian-born artist Ray Bartkus and his wife, Ina, a fashion designer, flew from New York to Jamaica, while Algirdas Kumža, signatory of Lithuania’s Declaration of Independence, and his wife, Toma, and their two …