Ministry of Culture (Lithuania) explained

Agency Name:Ministry of Culture
Type:Ministry
Nativename:Kultūros ministerija
Picture Width:250px
Jurisdiction:Government of Lithuania
Headquarters:J. Basanavičiaus 5, Naujamiestis,
01118 Vilnius
Employees:114 permanent employees
(January 2021)[1]
Budget:€234 million (2021)[2]
Minister1 Name:Simonas Kairys
Minister1 Pfo:16th Minister for Culture of Lithuania
Map:54.6802°N 25.2765°W

The Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Lithuania (Lithuanian: Lietuvos Respublikos kultūros ministerija) is a governmental body of the Republic of Lithuania. Its mission is to formulate and implement state cultural policies supporting professional and amateur art, theatre, music, fine arts, cinema, museums, libraries, and written publications, to guard copyright and copyright-related interests, and to protect cultural values.

History

The Ministry of Culture was formally established on 8 June 1994, following the government's decision in 1993 to split it off from the Ministry of Culture and Education.[3] Its first minister was Dainius Trinkūnas.

Activities

The ministry awards prizes including Lithuanian National Prize for Culture and Arts for achievements in the arts and culture, the Martynas Mažvydas Award for scholarly research, National Jonas Basanavičius Award for outstanding achievements related to ethnicity, also awards to young creators, librarians, translators, etc.

The Top Prize of the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Lithuania is the honorary badge “Nešk Savo Šviesą Ir Tikėk”. It is an acknowledgment of many years of work in the field of culture and arts, of creativity and its promotion.

Prizes of the Ministry of Culture for the most significant international awards in the field of culture were launched in 2019. Among the first laureates are the group of opera Sun & Sea (Marina) creators Rugilė Barzdžiukaitė, Vaiva Grainytė, and Lina Lapelytė together with curators Rasa Antanavičiūtė and Lucia Pietrouisti, as well as the group of the documentary Bridges of Time creators and operatic soprano Asmik Grigorian.

Departments

The Department of Cultural Heritage is the department of the ministry responsible for protecting and documenting cultural property and maintaining historical preservation.

Functions

The Ministry of Culture performs the following functions within the framework of Lithuanian legislation:

Ministers

Part of Ministry of Education and Culture from 17 January 1990 to 31 March 1993
Ministry of Culture
TermMinisterPartyCabinetOffice
Start dateEnd dateTime in office
1Dainius Trinkūnas
(1931-1996)
Democratic Labour PartyŠleževičius31 March 199315 November 1994
2Juozas Nekrošius
(1935-2020)
Democratic Labour Party15 November 199419 March 1996
3Juozas Nekrošius
(1935-2020)
Democratic Labour PartyStankevičius19 March 199610 December 1996
4Saulius Šaltenis
(born 1945)
Christian Democratic PartyVagnorius10 December 199610 June 1999
5Arūnas Bėkšta
(born 1955)
IndependentPaksas10 June 199911 November 1999
6Arūnas Bėkšta
(born 1955)
IndependentKubilius11 November 19999 November 2000
7Gintautas Kėvišas
(born 1954)
Liberal UnionPaksas9 November 200012 July 2001
8Roma Dovydėnienė
(born 1956)
Social Democratic PartyBrazauskas12 July 200114 December 2004
9Vladimiras Prudnikovas
(born 1949)
Labour PartyBrazauskas14 December 200418 July 2006
10Jonas Jučas
(born 1952)
Liberal and Centre UnionKirkilas18 July 20069 December 2008
11Remigijus Vilkaitis
(born 1950)
National Resurrection PartyKubilius9 December 20081 July 2010
12Arūnas Gelūnas
(born 1968)
Independent1 July 201013 December 2012
13Šarūnas Birutis
(born 1961)
Labour PartyButkevičius13 December 201213 December 2016
14Liana Ruokytė-Jonsson
(born 1966)
IndependentSkvernelis13 December 201621 December 2018
15Mindaugas Kvietkauskas
(born 1976)
Independent21 December 201811 December 2020
16Simonas Kairys
(born 1984)
Liberal MovementŠimonytė11 December 2020Incumbent

References

Notes and References

  1. https://rekvizitai.vz.lt/en/company/lietuvos_respublikos_kulturos_ministerija/number-of-employees/ Lietuvos Respublikos Kultūros ministerija employees (insured) on January 5th, 2021
  2. https://finmin.lrv.lt/uploads/finmin/documents/files/2021m_%20%C4%AEstatymas(1).pdf Lithuanian budget for 2021
  3. Web site: Dėl Lietuvos Respublikos Vyriausybės įstatymo įgyvendinimo. 9 July 2023. Parliament of Lithuania.