MODERNIST RESORTS OF KAUNAS DURING THE INTERWAR PERIOD (1918–1940)

(material exhibited during the exposition in VMU art gallery “101” from 17 11 – 22 12 2016, curator: Viltė Migonytė-Petrulienė).

When the state started to pay more attention to the matters of hygiene, wellness and recreation institutions had become an integral part of the social infrastructure used every day. Therefore, as early as at the end of the 1910s, the largest concentration of wellness institutions started to appear next to the rivers surrounding the capital. This recreational network and beaches in Kaunas included Kulautuva, Kačerginė, Lampėdžiai, the settlement of Aukštoji Panemunė and, Birštonas a bit further away.

This exhibition aims to reveal the phenomenon of Kaunas resorts during the Interwar Period as a proof of modernisation processes of the society and point out architectural urbanisation in public and private spaces. These include various adapted and newly built villas, summer houses, kurhauses, restaurants, sanatoriums, health resorts, buildings for trade (kiosks), public infrastructure (bathing places, pavilions) designed for resort recreation, treatment (rehabilitation) and residences. The physical environment points to the fact that with the change of the traditional mindset, enriching life with new forms of activity, especially the ones related to recreation, entertainment and wellness, the variety of forms and types of architecture adapted to the resting people, expands as well.

Sponsors:
Lithuanian Council for Culture
VMU art gallery “101” (Daiva Citvarienė, director)

Friends:
Lithuanian Central State Archives
Kaunas Regional State Archives
Kaunas City Museum
Collectors: Jonas Palys, Antanas Burkus, Vytautas Sinkevičius, Andrius Dručkus, Gintaras Dručkus, Adomas Miliauskas.

Thanks for designer Eglė Simonavičiūtė, historians Algis Marazas and Arvydas Pakštalis, Rimantė Tamoliūnienė and Alvydas Surblys.