Writing the Art History of the City: From Nationalism to Multiculturalism
Writing the Art History of the City: From Nationalism to Multiculturalism

Summary/Abstract: This article is focused on the changes in Lithuanian art history during the first decade of the twenty-first century. Specifically, it deals with a new disciplinary discourse that is based on the transition from the national canon to a multinational history of art. The article presents a kind of sequel to the ideas raised by the author in her study Art in Vilnius, 1900–1915 (2008). The research is focused on the artistic life in Vilnius (exhibitions, collections, art societies, art schools, art ideologies, leaders, art criticism, etc.) and reveals a controversial and dynamic multinational art scene comprised of four main ethnic groups – Polish, Lithuanian, Jewish, and Russian. The narrative involves a reconstruction of pluralistic cultural diversity and shows the logic of the various national perspectives.

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