These days, a 50% discount is applied to the museum admission ticket, and visitors can look forward to six events – tours, family games, and paper marbling education. These activities are related to the exhibition “The Book Dragon. A Fantastic Tale about the Beauty of Books,” which will be open in the museum until September 27.
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“The museum’s daily work is to allow trying what has not yet been tried and to invite experiencing art in a new way. So by choosing one or another event dedicated to this weekend, viewers can discover unexpected details of our exhibition or enjoy meditative creativity. Vilnius Galleries Weekend brings together those who are constantly interested in art and those who visit art spaces for the first time into one route.
For the LNM Kazys Varnelis House-Museum, it is extremely meaningful to be on this map, which brings new visitors who discover both Kazys Varnelis’s work and the exhibitions held in this museum, choose an event of interest, or return to explore Kazys Varnelis’s collection and work more thoroughly,” shares Dr. Daiva Vaišnienė, head of the LNM Kazys Varnelis House-Museum.
Vilnius Galleries Weekend (VGS) is an annual capital city art festival, traditionally marking the beginning of the autumn exhibition season. In recent years, about 40 city galleries, projects, and art spaces have participated in its program, and this year the festival pays more attention to the history of galleries, the art market, and their operating principles.
The Dragon Who Learned to Read
On September 10 and 11 at 6 p.m., visitors are invited to tours of the exhibition “The Book Dragon. A Fantastic Tale about the Beauty of Books.” They will learn how a book is born – from what materials it is made, how it is printed, illustrated, and bound. Visitors will also be introduced to ex libris, small graphic works with which book lovers mark the editions in their libraries.
The narrative threads of the exhibition are led by the character Ugnius the Dragon. Coming from an old family of book burners, he discovers a hidden treasure of books in his parents’ home, becomes fascinated by their beauty, and learns to read. The exhibition is accompanied by a children’s book of the same name – a story created by illustrator Reda Tomingas and exhibition curator Indrė Urbelytė about the adventures of Ugnius and a girl named Jurga who learned to read him.
“The exhibition is primarily intended for children, but it is designed as an experience for the whole family and book lovers. The exhibition features seven thematic stations dedicated to learning about printing, binding, materials, illustrations, the history of the blind and art, and ex libris. Following Ugnius’s instructions, you will be able to print your own book page – trying different fonts and illustrations,” says the exhibition’s author and curator I. Urbelytė.
A Vanishing Craft and the Search for Dragons in Labyrinths
The art of the book at the Kazys Varnelis House-Museum is a unique direction dictated by the personality and hobbies of the museum’s founder. The artist himself, together with his wife Gabrielė Varnelienė, accumulated nearly 9,500 books – one of the largest personal libraries in Lithuania. The artist valued not only the content of books but also their form: paper, font, illustrations, binding. Education, workshops, tours, and exhibitions on these topics are an important part of the mission of the Kazys Varnelis House-Museum.
On September 12 at 3 p.m., families and adults are invited to the education session “Dragon Skin Patterns,” during which paper marbling can be tried practically. It is one of the oldest paper decoration techniques, originating in 10th-century Japan; it was used to decorate endpapers, covers, and edges of book blocks. Today, marbling is considered a vanishing craft.
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On September 12 and 13 at 10 a.m., families can enjoy the game “The Search for Dragons and Their Friends.” In it, you will embark on a journey through the labyrinths of the Kazys Varnelis House-Museum, searching for traces of dragons and other mythical creatures and getting acquainted with the myths and legends that accompany them.
The weekend concludes on September 13 at 3 p.m. with a tour that leads not only through the exhibition but also to Kazys Varnelis’s library. At the same time, two other book-related exhibitions are open in the museum – “The Art of the Book: The Most Beautiful Lithuanian and Czech Books” and “The Most Beautiful Latvian Books of 2025.”
Vilnius Galleries Weekend program at the LNM Kazys Varnelis House-Museum (Didžioji St. 26, Vilnius):
September 10, 6–6:45 p.m. – tour of the exhibition “The Book Dragon. A Fantastic Tale about the Beauty of Books.”
September 11, 6–6:45 p.m. – tour of the exhibition “The Book Dragon. A Fantastic Tale about the Beauty of Books.”
September 12, 10–10:45 a.m. – family game “The Search for Dragons and Their Friends.”
September 12, 3–4 p.m. – paper marbling education for families and adults “Dragon Skin Patterns.”
September 13, 10–10:45 a.m. – family game “The Search for Dragons and Their Friends.”
September 13, 3–3:45 p.m. – tour of the exhibition “The Book Dragon. A Fantastic Tale about the Beauty of Books” and Kazys Varnelis’s library.
September 10–13, a 50% discount is applied to the museum admission ticket. The exhibition “The Book Dragon. A Fantastic Tale about the Beauty of Books” will be open until September 27.
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More information and registration links can be found here.
