2024 05 12 – 10 31 Open-air photo exhibition “President Antanas Smetona: between Authority and Authoritarian”

In 2024, when we are commemorating the anniversary of 150 years since the birth of Antanas Smetona, President of the Republic of Lithuania, it is to him that the Historical Presidential Palace in Kaunas is dedicating its 18^th open-air picture exhibition. The new exhibition of archival pictures reveals the transition of Antanas Smetona as a personality and as a politician. It demonstrates how a member of Lithuanian national fellowships denoted by his democratic world outlook who served as the chairman of the Council of Lithuania, the man who was systematically seeking unity and looking for compromise in the course of declaring the Independence of Lithuania with the Act of February 16, 1918, ended up in the President’s position after the coup of 1926, and turned into an authoritarian leader who was being acknowledged as the Leader of the Nation. Why was his ambition to rule so powerful that it was necessary to eliminate from the position of power not only Augustinas Voldemaras – his former close ally turning into a political competitor – but also the entire Parliament, the Seimas? Why was it necessary to impose ban on all the political parties in the country, except for the Lithuanian Nationalist Union? The picture exhibition covers not only the rule of the country spanning over nearly 15 years, but also the transformation of the personality of President Antanas Smetona. Symbolically, the stand introducing this exhibition features two portraits of Antanas Smetona. On the one side, in a picture taken in 1920, a democratic leader of the country is sitting on a bench, whereas the other picture, shot in 1928, visualizes the leader of the nation pursuing authoritarian rule and sitting in a luxurious chair. Archival pictures are waiting for visitors in the front garden of the Historical Presidential Palace starting with May 12. The exhibition President Antanas Smetona: between Authority and Authoritarian is open to visits daily from 08:00 to 22:00. The garden exhibition is on display until October 31, 2024.