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Lithuanian Council for Culture (LCC) introduces its 2022 Report to the Public. The Report provides a comprehensive overview of the year — the organisation’s structure and the team’s achievements, investment in cultural and artistic projects, individual creators, and the steady cultural development across the country. The Report welcomes the value created by the LCC for Lithuanian culture, the successful implementation of the 1st phase of the project Design Wings, the initiative to support Ukraine, and shares the most important goals for this year. We hope the Report will help you learn more about the LCC, better understand our activities, and build trust in the cultural community.

Asta Pakarklytė, Chair of the Lithuanian Council for Culture, photo by Vytenis Budrys.

“2022 was a busy year for the Lithuanian Council for Culture, calling for rapid responses. The day Russia started the war in Ukraine, the slogan “Culture Protects. Culture Changes” (Lith. Kultūra saugo. Kultūra keičia) became more relevant than ever. It also provided a roadmap for the next three years and reflected the vision of the third Board meeting. At the end of the year, we celebrated our anniversary. We are happy to have been contributing to the development of the country’s culture for 10 years. We would like to thank the Board, experts, including those from the Regional Cultural Councils, numbering over nine hundred since the Council’s establishment, the staff, and the entire cultural community for the intense year that brought us closer,” said Asta Pakarklytė, the Chairwoman.

Brief overview of 2022

We distributed over €2.1 million by providing 786 individual grants to encourage artists and cultural professionals to pursue individual creative activities and professional development. The largest number of grants were given in the fields of music (172), fine arts (127), and theatre (98). In 2022, women submitted more applications for creative ideas and received more funding than men. Men submitted the most applications in the fields of architecture and music (as in 2021); however, in 2022 they also applied in the field of circus. Similarly to last year, women submitted applications in the fields of libraries, design, and museums.

To strengthen the multifaceted development of culture and art, education and accessibility for every member of society, €20.6 million were allocated to fund 1,655 projects in 2022 (€2 million more than last year). Compared to 2021, funding has increased the most for dance, music, and theatre, but decreased for libraries, photography, and museums. The funded projects were carried out in 122 Lithuanian cities and towns.

To ensure sustainable regional cultural development and promote the diversity of creative expressions, local cultural identity and mutual cooperation, a total of €3.3 million was allocated to projects in the Sustainable Regional Cultural Development Programme, which were implemented in 10 Lithuanian counties. Just like last year, the projects in Šiauliai County received the most funding, and the municipalities in this county also provided the largest additional contribution to the financing of cultural projects — over €412 thousand. Meanwhile, additional funding for regional projects in 2019-2022 increased the most in Marijampolė County — by as much as 181%. Music, ethnic culture, libraries, and cultural heritage initiatives dominated the counties.

Lithuanian Council for Culture, photo by Vytenis Budrys.

We expressed support for Ukraine and its cultural community and took concrete actions by financing grants for Ukrainian artists in Lithuania and encouraging cultural organisations in the country to submit funding competition proposals supporting Ukraine. We allocated €240,000 to 133 Ukrainian artists.

You can read the Lithuanian Council for Culture’s full Activity Report to the Public 2022 here. To read the Lithuanian Council for Culture’s detailed 2022 operational plan implementation report, click here.