ABOUT THE PRESENTATION

“Cultural Relations and/or Cultural Diplomacy: Lithuanian Case”

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The presentation is focused on the role of culture in the Lithuanian foreign policy. While the Ministry of Foreign Affairs since decades don’t assume the role of the developing of cultural diplomacy and the Lithuanian authorities stumble to decide for the arm’s length institution, the Ministry of Culture took the leading role in strengthening the international cultural relations. The presentation discussed some tensions between the cultural and diplomatic objectives, practitioners and diplomats, between artistic freedom and country image and gave examples of the foreign presentations of Lithuanian art and culture recently implemented by the Lithuanian Culture Institute.

ABOUT THE SPEAKER

Aušrinė Žilinskienė is at present the director of the Lithuanian Culture Institute (LCI). LCI organizes and coordinates Lithuanian cultural and art presentation programmes in Lithuania and abroad.

Born 1974, Žilinskienė studied German Linguistics at Klaipėda and Vilnius Universities. From 1998 to 2011, she worked for Books from Lithuania, a literary information centre and translation promoting fund. From 2011 to 2014, she served as project manager at the Lithuanian Association of Artists.

The most important promoting projects organized by Žilinskienė are the Lithuanian presentations as Guest of Honour at the Frankfurt book fair 2002, Leipzig book fair 2017 and the Baltic Market Focus at the London book fair 2018, Lithuanian cultural seasons and festivals in Krakow, Rome and Ukraine, among others.

In 2003, the President of Lithuania decorated Aušrinė Žilinskienė with the Knight’s Cross of the Order for Merits to Lithuania.