25 August 2025

Exhibition “YIVO Centennial: Origins, Journey, Legacy”

In 2025, we will celebrate the centennial of the Institute for Jewish Research (YIVO). To mark this significant anniversary, the Martynas Mažvydas National Library of Lithuania is organizing an exhibition entitled “YIVO Centennial: Origins, Journey, Legacy”. The exhibition will be open from September 4 until the end of the year in the Exhibition Hall (3rd floor) of the National Library.

Founded in Vilnius in 1925, YIVO was one of the most important Jewish cultural institutions in the city, the first secular academy for the study of Eastern European Jewish culture, where the Yiddish language was standardized, young scholars were trained, and a huge library and archive were accumulated. The institute’s honorary presidium included prominent scholars and public figures of the time: Albert Einstein, Sigmund Freud, Eduard Bernstein, and Simon Dubnov. YIVO is the only Jewish institution in Vilnius that did not cease its activities during the Holocaust and continues to operate to this day in New York.

There are still quite a few traces of the institute’s activities in Vilnius: documentation, correspondence, fragments of libraries and archives scattered across several memory institutions. The National Library holds a large collection of YIVO documents of significant scope and content, revealing the origins of YIVO in Vilnius, its extremely fruitful pre-war period in Vilnius, and its influence on the Jewish community worldwide. These documents form the basis of the exhibition “YIVO Centennial: Origins, Journey, Legacy”.

On the occasion of YIVO’s centenary, the National Library, in cooperation with many partners from Lithuania and abroad, is implementing a rich program that includes the publication of books on the history of YIVO, an international academic forum, public lectures and educational events, and the main part of the program – the exhibition “YIVO Centennial: Origins, Journey, Legacy”.

Guided tours and educational activities are planned during the exhibition.

The exhibition will open on September 4 at 5 p.m. in the Exhibition Hall (3rd floor) of the National Library.

Opening program:

Part I in the Exhibition Hall (3rd floor)
• Welcome speeches
• Musical program by Duo Kotra

Part II in the 5th floor atrium
• Presentation and tasting of Litvak cuisine with Ashkenazi culinary heritage researcher Dr. Magdalena Maślak, master chef Alessia Di Donato, and Lithuanian gastronomy history expert Prof. Rimvydas Laužikas.

Part III Exhibition Hall (3rd floor)
• Tour of the exhibition with curator Dr. Lara Lempertiene.

The opening event of the exhibition "YIVO Centennial: Origins, Journey, Legacy" is sponsored by the Polish Institute in Vilnius.

The exhibition “YIVO Centennial: Origins, Journey, Legacy” was prepared by

curator: Dr. Lara Lempertienė
designer: Akvilė Paukštytė
architect: Dainius Sadauskas
translator into English and Lithuanian: dr. Dalia Cidzikaitė
project manager: Dr. Jolanta Budriūnienė
acknowledgments: Milda Dainovskytė, Algirdas Jakas, Aistė Puidokaitė, Rasa Stakauskaitė, Sigutė Urbonavičienė

Exhibition partners:
YIVO Institute for Jewish Research
Fundación IWO
Lithuanian National Radio and Television
Vilnius City Municipality

The project is funded by the Lithuanian Council for Culture.

Briefly about the exhibition

Date

exhibition opening – September 4
exhibition dates – September 4–December 31

Time

exhibition opening – 17:00
the exhibition can be visited during library opening hours

Place

Exhibition Hall, 3rd floor

Attendance

free

Organiser

Judaica Research Centre of the National Library

Partners and supporters

YIVO Institute for Jewish Research
Fundación IWO
Lithuanian National Radio and Television
Vilnius City Municipality

Important

the event may be photographed and/or filmed

More information

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