The Old Arsenal in Vilnius reopens as a cultural stage this weekend with *Foot, Face, Vault and Key*, a solo exhibition by interdisciplinary artist Danas Aleksa that transforms the 16th-century armoury of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania into a site of contemporary sound, architecture and social inclusion. The show, which opened on 18 June at the Museum of Applied Arts and Design (Arsenalo St 3A, Vilnius), is anchored in the building’s historic arches and features a new immersive performance created with composer Snieguolė Dikčiūtė. “Do not miss the opportunity to see this exhibition and take part in the opening performance,” urged Džiuljeta Žiugždienė, director of the LNMA Museum of Applied Arts and Design. “The piece *The Arsenal – the Cross-Sections of the Arch* celebrates creative cooperation among professional artists, enthusiasts and disabled participants, strengthening cultural dialogue through inclusivity.”
Aleksa’s installation interprets the museum’s history through the arch, one of architecture’s oldest elements that once bridged engineering breakthroughs, military conquests and spiritual symbolism. Though arches are rare in modern construction and their medieval builders’ terminology has faded, their traces remain visible in the museum’s graceful curves. The exhibition also folds in the concrete mixer—an icon of today’s urban expansion—whose rotating drum evokes both a seashell’s spiral and the golden ratio, while recalling Brutalism’s concrete language. “Personal details—cannon names—reveal historic strata of the arsenal,” Aleksa notes. “One cannon was called ‘Vitold,’ likely a nod to Vytautas, while another bore the name ‘Baba.’”
The Vilnius show coincides with another diaspora milestone: on 2 July at 6 pm, the Vytautas Kasiulis Museum of Art (A. Goštauto St 1, Vilnius) launched *“Nijolė Šivickas de Mockus. The Universe from a Spiral”*, the first comprehensive Lithuanian presentation of the ceramic artist and sculptor’s oeuvre. The exhibition displays over 200 works donated by the artist’s family, including sculptures, paintings, graphics and drawings that travelled from Bogotá to Klaipėda earlier this year. “The art by Nijolė Šivickas de Mockus is one of the most amazing phenomena of the Lithuanian diaspora,” said Dr Arūnas Gelūnas, director general of the Lithuanian National Museum of Art. “Born in Lithuania, she created a unique world in Colombia by fusing European modernism, pre-Columbian inspiration and a philosophically subtle perception of humanity and medium.” The donation, he added, “brings her art back into the orbit of Lithuanian culture and ensures future access for scholars and art lovers.”
Both exhibitions underscore how historic sites in Vilnius are being reimagined as spaces of contemporary creativity and transnational memory. The Old Arsenal’s transformation from military stronghold to cultural venue, and the return of Šivickas’s legacy from Colombia, reflect broader trends in which architecture and migration converge to reshape cultural narratives.
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