A new exhibition is coming to life at the Sugihara House Museum

Using new creative tools and methodologies, in collaboration with renowned British artist Jenny Kagan, the Sugihara House Museum is creating a unique and innovative exhibition that will attract a wide Lithuanian and international audience thanks to its engaging and interesting historical content.

Visitors will be engaged in learning about history and storytelling through interactive artistic experiences that will both touch and educate, and provoke discussion and further interest. A mobile app audio experience will extend beyond the walls of the museum, bringing visitors from the city centre to the museum and encouraging them to explore other locations in the city that are important in the story of the issuing of the 'Visas for Life'. The project will aim to recall the city at that time and immerse the audience in the historical narrative and the events of Kaunas at the beginning of the Second World War.

The renovation of the exhibition will be based on the latest historical research and contemporary museum principles. The exhibition will present not only the personalities of Sugihara and Zwartendijk and the works they produced, but also the personal stories of Jewish refugees and the unique context of Kaunas and Lithuania in 1939-1940.

The new exhibition invites visitors to be curious, critical thinkers who will explore different stories and reflect on the meaning they have for themselves and their actions in contemporary society. This innovative approach will create a unique experience for both Lithuanian and international visitors, as well as attracting young people and audiences who are sceptical of traditional exhibitions.

The project is partly funded by the Lithuanian Council for Culture, the Rothschild Foundation, the Embassy of the Netherlands in Lithuania, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Lithuania, the Embassy of the United Kingdom, the Embassy of Sweden, the USCPAHA, and private sponsors.

Jenny Kagan, photo by Teodoras Biliūnas.