MO Museum

About

The MO Museum (Lithuanian: MO muziejus) is a modern art museum in Vilnius, Lithuania. As a private initiative of Lithuanian scientists and philanthropists Danguolė Butkienė and Viktoras Butkus, it functioned as an art museum without walls for about ten years. The collection of 6,000 modern and contemporary pieces contains major Lithuanian artworks from the 1950s to the present day. The museum was opened to the public on 18 October 2018 in the building designed by Studio Libeskind and Do Architects studio. Total building floor area: 3100 sq.m., height: 17 m. Architect Daniel Libeskind commented that although it is his smallest project, it is also one of his favorites, and he also noted that he used circular form in it for the first time (spiral staircase in the interior). Italian news agency ANSA included Mo Museum into Top 10 21st century museums to visit. The museum hosts numerous exhibitions, film screenings, educational workshops, concerts and other cultural events, which are intended for various age groups.

MO began its work in 2008, when the founders of the museum Viktoras and Danguolė Butkai started their own art collection. Art expert Raminta Jurėnaitė and other art critics agreed to assist with the collection of Lithuanian artworks dating from the 1960s to the present. The MO's collection is distinguished through its reflection of Lithuanian cultural modernization at the beginning of 1960s as well as the slow but continuing cultural liberation, which began after the end of the Stalin era.

The Modern Art Centre (MMC) was founded in 2009 with the intention to open a museum in the future. The active collection of artworks, organized by the MMC, received more attention from the public, which helped raise the interest of collectors and thus assisted in the creation of an art market and the recovery of the arts field in Lithuania.

MMC was orientated not only towards the collection of artworks but also towards education. For this reason, they started publishing art books with the intention to contribute to the Lithuanian education system. Many books on artists and art history by exceptional foreign writers were chosen and published for children. Published books also included translated books for youth and adults as well as albums of great Lithuanian paintings by modernists Arvydas Šaltenis and Kostas Dereškevičius. Later books in MO's collection as well as graphic artworks were published. By the time the MO Museum opened in 2018, the MMC had published over 30 art books for children and adults.

The construction of the MO Museum, which was funded by Viktoras and Danguolė Butkai, began in the location of the Lietuva Cinema in April 2017. It was the first cultural patronage project of such a large scale in the independent Lithuania as well as the only private museum of its size.

MO Museum's collection is one of the largest private collections in Lithuania, which was announced to be of national significance in 2011. The core of the collection are large sets of painting, graphic, photography and video artworks with additional sets of sculpture and interdisciplinary (performance, installation, etc.) artworks. This collection and its context is the base of Lithuanian modern and contemporary art development.

A part of MO's collection is art that was ideologically rejected during the Soviet times and received no attention from the museums in Lithuania because of the political views at that time. The collection introduces those artists who started creating after Lithuania had restored its independence as well.

A new project, History of Culture, was launched in 2011 in order to offer a better understanding of the context of MO's art collection. The main aim of the project is to educate and introduce the public to the Lithuanian cultural field. It also encourages new research as well as the publication of new, specialised art writings.

Eleven different forms of culture are thoroughly introduced in the online page of History of Culture: fine art, literature, theatre, applied arts, scenography, dance, design, architecture, photography, film and music.

MO began its work in 2008, when the founders of the museum Viktoras and Danguolė Butkai started their own art collection. Art expert Raminta Jurėnaitė and other art critics agreed to assist with the collection of Lithuanian artworks dating from the 1960s to the present. The MO's collection is distinguished through its reflection of Lithuanian cultural modernization at the beginning of 1960s as well as the slow but continuing cultural liberation, which began after the end of the Stalin era.

The Modern Art Centre (MMC) was founded in 2009 with the intention to open a museum in the future. The active collection of artworks, organized by the MMC, received more attention from the public, which helped raise the interest of collectors and thus assisted in the creation of an art market and the recovery of the arts field in Lithuania.

MMC was orientated not only towards the collection of artworks but also towards education. For this reason, they started publishing art books with the intention to contribute to the Lithuanian education system. Many books on artists and art history by exceptional foreign writers were chosen and published for children. Published books also included translated books for youth and adults as well as albums of great Lithuanian paintings by modernists Arvydas Šaltenis and Kostas Dereškevičius. Later books in MO's collection as well as graphic artworks were published. By the time the MO Museum opened in 2018, the MMC had published over 30 art books for children and adults.

The construction of the MO Museum, which was funded by Viktoras and Danguolė Butkai, began in the location of the Lietuva Cinema in April 2017. It was the first cultural patronage project of such a large scale in the independent Lithuania as well as the only private museum of its size.

MO Museum's collection is one of the largest private collections in Lithuania, which was announced to be of national significance in 2011. The core of the collection are large sets of painting, graphic, photography and video artworks with additional sets of sculpture and interdisciplinary (performance, installation, etc.) artworks. This collection and its context is the base of Lithuanian modern and contemporary art development.

A part of MO's collection is art that was ideologically rejected during the Soviet times and received no attention from the museums in Lithuania because of the political views at that time. The collection introduces those artists who started creating after Lithuania had restored its independence as well.

A new project, History of Culture, was launched in 2011 in order to offer a better understanding of the context of MO's art collection. The main aim of the project is to educate and introduce the public to the Lithuanian cultural field. It also encourages new research as well as the publication of new, specialised art writings.

Eleven different forms of culture are thoroughly introduced in the online page of History of Culture: fine art, literature, theatre, applied arts, scenography, dance, design, architecture, photography, film and music.

The building, which MO Museum is situated in, was designed by a well-known American architect Daniel Libeskind. The greatest works of his include: the Jewish Museum in Berlin, Denver Art Museum, Contemporary Jewish Museum in San Francisco, Museum of Military History in Dresden and others. D. Libeskind is also the head architect of the rebuilt One World Trade Center.

The design project of MO Museum building was implemented in partnership with “Studio Libeskind”, which is a renowned architecture studio, as well as Lithuanian architecture studio Do Architects. This project was the first one in collaboration with “Studio Libeskind” in the Baltic states.

The main aim of building MO Museum was to establish symbolic cultural gates that lead from the medieval Old Town to the modern New Town of 18th century. MO Museum also revived one of the culturally iconic spaces of Vilnius, in which Lietuva Cinema was situated.