The axis of the exhibition is people: physicists, biochemists, engineers, programmers, entrepreneurs, and patrons whose decisions over several decades have made a small country visible on the world map of science and technology. Visitors will learn how the first Lithuanian lasers were cooled with a washing machine vacuum, how the plans for the first Lithuanian satellite were born on a napkin in the NASA cafeteria, and how research conducted at Vilnius University became one of the foundations of gene editing technology.
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“The exhibition was born out of a desire to interest the younger generation in high technologies and the people who created and continue to create them. We wanted to show as wide a range as possible – different generations, disciplines, professional paths. Here meet scientists, engineers, entrepreneurs, and visionaries, as well as those whose names often remain behind the walls of laboratories or factories, although their contribution is no less important,” says the author and main curator of the exhibition, Simona Širvydaitė-Šliupienė.
The story of each field was prepared together with the main curator by specialists in that field, who became co-curators of the exhibition: Algirdas Augustaitis (robotics), Kristina Ananičienė (lasers), Dr. Ramūnas Kondratas (biotechnology), Saulius Lapienis (space and information technologies), and Ieva Meilutė-Svinkūnienė (arts).
According to LNM Director General Dr. Rūta Kačkutė, the choice to organize such an exhibition is thoughtful and purposeful.
“Creative adaptation repeats so often in Lithuanian history that it can already be called our trait: what the world invented was adopted here, extended, and returned to the world in the form of a unique improvement or innovation. This trait can be noticed not only in the history of Lithuanian high technologies but also in art, poetry, and creativity in general. Even in the pursuit of regaining freedom – Lithuania’s ability to constantly recreate itself, adapt, and look boldly to the future even in difficult circumstances amazes those who are just getting acquainted with our history. Therefore, embedding the story of the development of Lithuanian high technologies into the broader narrative of the history of the Lithuanian state was a natural part of the LNM mission,” shares Dr. R. Kačkutė.
Not only devices but also people
One of the main goals of the exhibition creators is to present the history of Lithuanian high technologies as alive and full of various twists, surprises, and most importantly – humanity.
“In everyday life, we often use various devices or services centered around various technologies. The truth is, we often use them without thinking about how much curiosity, mistakes, coincidences, long working hours, courage, and joy of discovery lie within them. Moreover, it is important to emphasize that human imagination also operates throughout this process: it can see the future,” shares the author of the exhibition idea, S. Širvydaitė-Šliupienė.
Each field in the exhibition will be presented from its beginning in Lithuanian history. For example, in the history of laser development, persuasion was important: in 1962, Evaldas Kazys Maldutis, sent to Moscow, had to convince the mother of his classmate Algis Petras Piskarskas to let her son go – she did not want to at first. After their studies, they both returned – A.P. Piskarskas stayed at Vilnius University and began research on ultrashort pulses, while E.K. Maldutis moved to the Physics Institute and studied the interaction of laser and material.
At the beginning of the biotechnology trajectory was Prof. Arvydas Janulaitis’s laboratory. This direction is also important because it was home to the first woman distinguished in the field of Lithuanian biotechnology, Vida Petrušytė. In 1975, she became the first employee in A. Janulaitis’s team. After three years, she discovered the first restriction enzyme in Lithuania, later led the laboratory, and the production technologies of the enzymes she found became the basis on which the company “Fermentas” started its commercial activity.
In the information technology section – the path of Algirdas Antanas Avižienis. Having left Lithuania with his family in 1944, lived in displaced persons’ camps (so-called “DPs”) in Germany, and arrived in the USA in 1950, he formulated the principle of self-testing and self-diagnosis – one of the fundamental ideas of reliable computer systems. Under his leadership, thirty-one people earned doctorates.
In the space section – the experiment “Fiton-3” by Danguolė Švegždienė and her colleagues: in 1982, in a microgreenhouse created by Lithuanians on the orbital station “Salyut 7,” a plant was grown from seed to seed for the first time in the world.
The origins of robotics in Lithuania date back to 1963, when the Vibrotechnics Laboratory was established at the Kaunas Polytechnic Institute – now Kaunas University of Technology. It grew into one of the largest precision vibromechanics research centers in the Soviet Union, and after independence was restored, mechatronics studies began here. Interest in this field among the younger generation is rapidly growing even now. Algirdas Augustaitis, leader and founder of the Lithuanian school robotics teams community “Lituanica X,” although not an engineer himself, became interested when his son asked for a robotics kit in fifth grade: from one school team grew more than fifty teams and almost a thousand children, parents, mentors, and volunteers.
Visitors to the exhibition will also be able to see works of art reflecting on the human relationship with technology – from painter Marija Teresė Rožanskaitė to contemporary artist Julijonas Urbonas and others.
From the laboratory to global markets
The exhibition also emphasizes the close, gently competitive but forward-moving relationship between the scientific and business communities. Without scientific discoveries, there would be no business achievements, and business ultimately finds a reason to invest in science. The startup ecosystem also plays an important role in the exhibition “Trajectory of the Future. The History of Lithuanian High Technologies” as a driving force in both technology and business fields.
Other scientific fields also constantly collaborate with business. The first Lithuanian commercial picosecond laser PL1020, presented at the Munich exhibition in 1987, was sold to the University of Münster. In 1992–1993, Lithuanian lasers reached Japan for the first time, which became one of the most important export markets. In 2010, the company “Fermentas” was acquired by the US corporation “Thermo Fisher Scientific” – at that time the largest private business deal in Lithuanian history. In 2014, the first Lithuanian satellites “LitSat-1” and “LituanicaSAT-1” were launched into orbit, and in 2019 “Vinted” became the country’s first unicorn.
Today, more than sixty laser companies operate in Lithuania, exporting over 90% of their products to about eighty countries; Lithuanian laser solutions are used by 96 of the top 100 universities in the world. More than a thousand startups and over forty space sector companies are registered in the country.
Patrons and their importance
A separate theme of the exhibition is people and institutions that supported science when no one could yet guarantee results. This narrative line of the exhibition speaks about how important financial support from outside is for progress: both from the state and from people continuing the tradition of patronage. The exhibition presents patronage as an activity with deep traditions in Lithuania since the 16th century, when in 1579, by the privilege of Stephen Báthory, Vilnius University became a state institution. The connection between the state, the scientific community, and patrons continues to this day – through funds and new initiatives.
“The boldest discoveries are not born in a vacuum: they need an environment, trust, and people who believe in ideas even when no one can guarantee their results. We view patronage broadly – it is not only financial support but also partnerships, knowledge, time, expert contributions, donated objects, and connections,” says Dr. R. Kačkutė.
The exhibition “Trajectory of the Future. The History of Lithuanian High Technologies” opens at the Lithuanian National Museum’s House of Stories (T. Kosciuškos St. 3, Vilnius) on September 9, 2026. It will run until June 6, 2027.
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