Opening conference - Lithuania and France : a distance neighbourhood – a shared experience
This conference will open the Lithuanian season in France by looking at phenomena that are significant and recognisable for both countries.
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On September 12th
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17:30 - 20:00
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Cérémonie
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Grand Amphithéâtre of Sorbonne.
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French Institute and Vilnius University
Speakers from France and Lithuania will reflect on how shared experiences such as cultural epochs, artistic currents, innovations in thinking, creative breakthroughs of minorities, and controversies of historical memory are creating a neighbourhood that is not geographically based, but rather is a proximity of challenges, explorations and discoveries.
Three thematic groups – Enlightenment, Modernity and Memory – will cover the aspects of democratic political culture and the pursuit of freedom, important for Lithuania and France as creators of European values. The conference will be held in French and Lithuanian languages, supported by the simultaneous translation.
The conference will be held in French and Lithuanian languages, supported by the simultaneous translation.
Program
- 17.30-18.30 : Inaugural speeches
- 18.30-19.00 : Plenary lecture 1: From the Last Medieval Kingdom to Modern Democracy: Lithuania’s Road to Europe by Rimvydas Petrauskas
- 19.00-19.30 : Plenary lecture 2: Natural and sacred? Human rights and the Enlightenment by Céline Spector
Organization
General Curator
- Virginija Vitkienė, PhD in art history and art criticism, curator of contemporary art exhibitions (2004-2022), artistic director of the Kaunas Biennial (2009-2017), general director of Kaunas 2022 - European Capital of Culture (2018-2023)
Organizational Committee
- Marija Drėmaitė, professor, Vilnius University
- Artūras Vasiliauskas, doctor and vice-rector, Vilnius University
- French Institute
- Vilnius University
Speakers
- Prof. Rimvydas Petrauskas was inaugurated as Rector of Vilnius University on 1 April 2020. His research area is the 13th–16th c. political and social history of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. He studied and did internships at the Universities of Basel, Berlin, Greifswald and Krakow, the German Institute of History in Warsaw, and the Herder Institute in Marburg (Germany). He has published monographs and articles from the field of research in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. Also, prof. R. Petrauskas is a member of several international academic organisations, and a member of the editorial boards of ten scientific journals. Rector prof. R. Petrauskas is a member of the Lithuanian Academy of Sciences, president of the Lithuanian National Committee of Historians, member of the International Historical Commission of the German Order, former Dean of the Faculty of History (2012–2020), Chairman of the Research Council of Lithuania Board, Chairman of the Lithuanian Language Research Dissemination Programme, Member of the Lithuanian Council for Higher Education.
- Prof. Céline Spector has been teaching at the Department of Philosophy of the Faculté des Lettres of Sorbonne University since 2016. She has been instructing with Thierry Chopin a course at the College of Europe in Bruges ("Democracy, Sovereignty and European Societies") for a year. Between 2020 and 2021, Prof. Céline Spector contributed to the MOOC "European Citizenship" representing Sorbonne University within the Alliance 4EU+. She is a member of the scientific team "Sciences, Norms, Democracy" and an honorary member of the Institut Universitaire de France. Her research interests are political philosophy, philosophy of law; enlightenment philosophy and its legacy; philosophy of democracy in the context of Europe. In 2011, she was awarded the Prix de l'Académie Montesquieu for Montesquieu. Liberty, Law and History. CNRS awarded her a silver medal in 2024.
- Virginija Vitkienė, general curator of Lithuanian season in France, PhD in art history and art criticism
Event partners
This event is organized in association with the Faculté des Lettres de Sorbonne Université, Vilnius University, the Lithuanian Cultural Institute, in close collaboration with the Lithuanian Embassy in France, the French Embassy in Lithuania and the French Institute of Lithuania, under the aegis of the French Ministries of Europe and Foreign Affairs and of Culture, and the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Lithuania.
Event location
Grand Amphithéâtre of Sorbonne
47, rue des Écoles 75005 Paris
1 rue Victor Cousin 75005 Paris
The Lithuanian Season in France: see yourself in the other / Kitas tas pats
Decided by Presidents Emmanuel Macron and Gitanas Nausėda, the Lithuanian Season in France runs from September 12 to December 12, 2024.
As the starting point for renewed Franco-Lithuanian cultural exchanges, the Season of Lithuania in France presents contemporary Lithuania and its culture to the French public in a wide variety of forms: performances, exhibitions, shows, screenings, debates, conferences, gastronomy... It also aims to initiate long-term cooperation between Lithuanian institutions and creators and their French partners.
Through three major themes - Global Neighborhood, Diversity and Identities, Unbridled Imagination - the Season's programming covers a wide range of contemporary cultural phenomena, media and topical themes, sparking creative exploration and reflection on the past, present and possible futures, and addressing Europe's core values: human dignity, freedom, democracy, equality, human rights, creativity and resilience in the face of climate change.
Driven by the idea that “the other is always different, but never completely other”, as the Lithuanian philosopher Viktoras Bachmetjevas wrote, the Saison de la Lituanie en France aims to bring our two countries together to better understand each other, and to offer collaborative and inclusive programming that encourages each of us to see ourselves in the other.
Symposium - Lithuania and France: a distance neighbourhood – a shared experience, september 13th from 09:30 to 18:30.