At the ceremony held at the LNDM National Art Gallery, the award was presented by the French Ambassador to Lithuania, Lucie Stepanyan.
“This award from the French Republic is not only a personal recognition for me – I accept it as an acknowledgment of the work of our entire Lithuanian National Art Museum community, the cultural partnership between Lithuania and France, and the belief that art is a universal language of diplomacy.
French culture has accompanied me since childhood, and today I am proud that our museum, together with distinguished French partners, creates projects that bring people and countries closer. This award also reminds me that we are united not only by a love of art but also by shared values – respect for human dignity, freedom, and culture,” said Dr. Arūnas Gelūnas, General Director of LNDM.
Bridges to France for Lithuanian Culture
During the Lithuanian cultural season in France, LNDM, together with French partners, presented four exhibitions and became one of the most prominent participants of this season. The exhibition “Ambassadors,” opened in Romenvilles at the “Fiminco” Foundation spaces, introduced the LNDM collection and the works of artists from different generations, revealing the diversity of Lithuanian contemporary art.
The exhibition “Aleksandra Kasuba. Imagining the Future” held at the Carré d’Art Museum of Contemporary Art in Nîmes was the first major exhibition of the Lithuanian-American artist’s work in France. It showcased the innovative, interdisciplinary work of Aleksandra Kasuba, combining experimental art, design, and architecture. At the same museum, the contemporary artist Marija Olšauskaitė’s exhibition “Core” was also displayed, where the latest works combined craft and ornament traditions with the social role of sculpture.
The exhibition “Tell Them About Amber, Metal, and Life: Lithuanian Jewelry 1990–2023” held at the Contemporary Jewelry Museum in Cannes on the coast presented works by twelve creators from different generations, telling about Lithuanian identity and the country’s cultural development over more than three decades. This exhibition not only introduced Lithuanian art to the French audience but also marked a new stage of cooperation between Lithuanian and French museums, based on growing mutual trust and long-term partnerships.
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French Culture in Lithuania – Completed Projects and Future Plans
This cooperation was also reflected in exhibitions held in Lithuania. In 2023, the Vytautas Kasiulis Art Museum hosted the exhibition “Litvak Artists in Paris,” which for the first time in the Baltic states presented in such detail the work of Litvaks who emigrated to Paris. The internationally significant project borrowed works from the Pompidou Center, the Museum of Jewish Art and History (MahJ), Lithuanian museums, and private collectors.
In 2024, the Applied Arts and Design Museum hosted the exhibition “Chagall. Picasso. Ernst. Ceramics and Tapestries,” giving Lithuanian viewers a rare opportunity to closely explore the work of 20th-century modernist classics. The exhibition was complemented by the creative legacy of French tapestry master Yvette Cauquil-Prince and the exhibition “Return to the Origins” by her son, artist Darius Hecq-Cauquilo. In 2025, one of the most prominent contemporary French artists, Tania Mouraud, specially created the exhibition “To Honor Reborn Pain” for the Vytautas Kasiulis Art Museum, where the heritage of Litvak culture, texts of Vilnius Ghetto poets, and the memory of the Yiddish language became a sensitive dialogue between Lithuanian history and French cultures.
The partnership between the Lithuanian National Art Museum and French cultural institutions continues to strengthen. Together with the famous Pompidou Center, a new exhibition is being prepared, which visitors to the National Art Gallery will see in two years. A new joint project is also being developed in collaboration with the curator of the Musée du quai Branly – Jacques Chirac, Prof. Nicol Garnier. It will present the collection of Papua New Guinea sculptures held in the LNDM collections. “Such projects prove that culture is the strongest language of diplomacy – it creates trust, long-term friendship, and a shared vision for the future,” said A. Gelūnas in his thank-you speech.
International Recognition for Cultural Diplomacy
Arūnas Gelūnas has been leading the Lithuanian National Art Museum since 2019. During this period, he has been awarded the Japanese Order of the Rising Sun with Gold and Silver Star, received the Officer’s Cross of the Order for Merits to Lithuania in 2023, was awarded the III degree Order for Merits by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in 2025, and this year his international recognitions were further enriched by the Knight’s Cross of the French National Legion of Honor.
Before becoming the museum director, A. Gelūnas was awarded the Order of Orange-Nassau of the Kingdom of the Netherlands for efforts in organizing Queen Beatrix’s visit to the Vilnius Academy of Arts in 2008, the Medal “For Merits to Polish Culture” from the Polish Ministry of Culture for efforts in commemorating the 100th birth anniversary of Nobel laureate Czesław Miłosz born in Lithuania, and the Honorary Badge of the President of the Republic of Lithuania for planning and implementing cultural programs during Lithuania’s presidency of the Council of the European Union in the second half of 2013.
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