On May 18, Kaunas City Museum is inviting you to celebrate the International Day of Museums and the European Museum Night.

On this day, the museum branches are waiting for visitors from 12:00 to 24:00.

Kaunas Town Hall (Rotušės Square 15)

Kaunas Castle (Pilies Str. 17)

Folk Music Branch (L. Zamenhofo Str. 12)

Mikas and Kipras Petrauskai House (K. Petrausko Str. 31)

A special programme of the International Day of Museums at the Town Hall Branch:

• From 12:00 to 16:00, the architecture education workshop “Miesto architektai” (“City Architects”) will take place at the Town Hall Branch organized by the museum and “200M2”. During the workshop, you will be introduced to the most prominent works of interwar Kaunas architects and the features of their creation; you will also learn to identify distinctive details in the buildings that they designed. The workshop will take place in Lithuanian.
• At 18:00, the temporary exhibition “Kauno (ne)laikinumai” (“Kaunas (Un)Temporariness”) dedicated to the Year of the Temporary Capital will be opened. The temporary exhibition presents Kaunas in 1919-1940. After WWI, when Vilnius was occupied by the Bolsheviks and later by the Polish, Kaunas became the temporary capital of Lithuania from January, 1919. This exhibition represents not only the past, but also the present of the city and analyses which signs of the Temporary Capital Period have become an inseparable part of Kaunas identity.

On the occasion of the European Museum Night, the branches of the museum can be visited free of charge from 18:00 to midnight!

At the the Kaunas Town Hall, The Kaunas Castle, The Folk Music, and M. and K. Petrauskai Branches, the museologists will be waiting for you ready to tell you the most unexpected stories.

At the Kaunas Town Hall, the historical exposition in the underground of the museum will transfer you to the oldest times; you will move to the Temporary Capital Period when you visit the office of the Burgomaster of Kaunas, Jonas Vileišis, and have a look at the newest temporary exhibition “Kauno (ne)laikinumai” (“Kaunas (Un)Temporariness”). You will be able to feel the spirit of Soviet Kaunas examining the temporary exhibitions of ceramics and photography, while contemporary Kaunas may be enjoyed through the windows of Kaunas Town Hall tower.

At the Kaunas Castle, you will meet an interactive ghost living in the underground, play a Medieval game, or have a look at an exceptional temporary exhibition “Vytis of Lithuania and Lithuanians. The Contribution of Émigrés to the Creation of State Symbols.”

At the Folk Music Branch, be prepared to play some music: in the interactive exhibition, you will be able to play all music instruments, to sing a karaoke of Lithuanian multipart songs, or even to become DJs using a unique interactive game “DJ Folk.” You should also have a look at the newest temporary exhibition on post-folklore festivals.

At the yard of Mikas and Kipras Petrauskai House, a music interwar photo studio will be operating, and the museologists of the branch will invite you to see the memorial flat of K. Petrauskas, the temporary exhibition “State Theatre. The Music that Brings the Nation together,” an educational class and its attributes, and the temporary exhibition “Lithuanian Operas and their Creators. From “Birutė” to “Dryžuota opera” arranged in the class. You’ll be able to have some rest at the informal “X Space” of the branch.