Certified regional Lithuanian cultural path – “Five Creators Path”

On March 20, the certified regional cultural road – “Five Creators’ Road” – connecting avant-garde filmmakers and poets brothers Jonas and Adolfos Mekas, theater director Juozas Miltinis and “Naujosios Romuvas” editor, journalist, public figure Juozas Keliuotis and his brother poet, the memorial places of the teacher Alfonso Keliuotis, the signs giving meaning to their memory, the whole of the places commemorating his life and work. Winding through three municipalities – Biržai, Panevėžys and Rokiškis – the Culture Road connects objects according to the era they lived in and according to aspects of creativity. The application was evaluated by the expert commission for determining the level of cultural roads in Lithuania and the evaluation of applications for certification.

According to the organizers of the Culture Road, the theme of the Culture Road was dictated by the three centers for the study of the legacy of famous personalities in the Panevėžys region – the Jonas and Adolfos Mekai Legacy Study Center (belongs to the Jurgis Bielinis Public Library of the Biržai District Municipality), the Juoz Miltinis Memorial Apartment (belongs to Gabrielės Petkevičaitė-Bitės of Panevėžys County public library) and Juoz and Alfonso Keliuotis Legacy Study Center (located in the Juoz Keliuotis Public Library of Rokiškis District Municipality). This is a unique case in Lithuania, when three heritage centers are located in nearby municipalities, the activities of which are connected through personalities. The entire Culture Road is a unity of understanding the creative legacy of the era (including the year of birth of the oldest J. Keliuotis and the death dates of the last hero of the Culture Road, J. Mekos 1902-2019).

The road route consists of 18 attractions. You can travel both alone and with guides. As the creators of the Culture Road point out, the “Five Creators Road” may not be attractive to mass tourism due to its uniqueness, more emotional than recreational travel, but it will certainly find a circle of people interested in these personalities and cultural-cognitive travel. This path is aimed at a more intelligent visitor who already has some knowledge about the presented personalities. The “Five Creators Path” has great potential by presenting personalities of an international level, whose links lead not only to Kaunas or Vilnius, but also to France, the USA, is important for regional tourism, local people, and youth.

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Angelė Mikelinskaitė, Chief Librarian of the Cultural Heritage Research and Digitization Department of the Gabrielės Petkevičaitė-Bites Public Library of Panevėžys County: “The testamentary legacy of one of the most prominent figures of Panevėžys and Lithuanian theater – Juoz Miltinios – was presented to the Gabrielės Petkevičaitės Bitės Public Library of Panevėžys County and opened to the public in the director’s authentic home environment back in 1996 In September of the year 1990 – in his last place of residence, in an apartment on Algirdas street, where the J. Miltinis legacy study center was established (now the J. Miltinis memorial apartment). We suggest starting your trip from this facility. A personal library, a collection of works of art, manuscripts – a legacy of personal and creative activity – provide opportunities to get to know and explore an interesting and unique heritage. It should be mentioned that the manuscript heritage of J. Miltinis is entered in the national register of the UNESCO program “Memory of the World”. J. Miltinis and his theater are undoubtedly part of Panevėžys identity. The actors he trained have become legends. In addition, he had and maintained close relations with the creative intellectuals of Europe and the world – this is also confirmed by his connections with other personalities of our cultural path.

While working and researching the legacy of Mr. Miltinis, more and more connections with other notable personalities emerged. J. Miltinis maintained close relations with painters, writers and playwrights. His communication with Keliuotis and Mekas, especially Juozus Keliuotais and Jonas Mekas, is exceptional and worth mentioning. Subsequently, those links have already been discussed in research and conferences, discussion events, forums and meetings. After the establishment of the non-governmental organization Juoz and Alfonso Keliuakis Legacy Study Center in the Juoz Keliuotis Public Library of the Rokiškis District Municipality, and later the Jonas and Adolfos Mekai Legacy Study Center in the Jurgis Bielinis Public Library of the Biržai District Municipality, more and more links of life, creativity and fate were discovered through cooperation, which resulted in the duty and the need to make sense even more vividly. A rich, historically meaningful memory was the link of the cultural path that we actualized with the “Five Creators Path”.

Alicija Matiukienė, chairwoman of the Juozos and Allfons Kelieuaki Heritage Studies Center: “It all started with an observation, an obvious fact, that there are three heritage study centers operating in the region, actualizing the lives and works of prominent cultural figures in their activities. The contexts of mutual relations and communication between these personalities were not new to us, who work in heritage study centers. About the life and activities of Juoz and Alfonso Keliőių, Juoz Miltiniis, Jonos and Adolfos Mekais, we prepared reports for anniversary conference programs, we have prepared many articles testifying to the relationships between these personalities, which we published in the cultural magazine of the Rokiškis region “Prie Nemunėlio”. The travelers are significant not only for the Rokiškis region: their work in the legendary pre-war culture magazine “Naujoji Romuva” created the conditions for the spread of creators from the world of theater, literature, and cinema. The same goes for the personalities of our cultural path. At joint events, we felt that unique cultural connection that developed and grew together with the research of these people’s self-documentaries, manuscripts, and archival material. In our conversations, examples of sincere communication between people of this culture often arose, the paths leading to the same schools and universities, cities that shaped these personalities and influenced their most vivid life works were revealed. We really wanted to share, publish and draw the public’s attention to that knowledge, accumulated archival documents. We have noticed that education and cultural tourism can serve this well. Cultural objects are connected on the culture road, which connect the living or creative spaces of all five creators, historical events, common acquaintances. On our path, there is a lot of room for human sincerity, mutual help between personalities, and the search for the values ​​of life. Travelers will find a lot of memorable and unique cultural information.”

Indra Drevinskaite, chief librarian of the Jonas and Adolfos Mekai Legacy Study Center of Jurgis Bielinis public library of the Biržai district municipality: “My interest in these personalities started from my love for my hometown Birži. Since 2016 I delve into the personalities of Jonas and Adolfos Mekai, and the collegial partnership with the libraries of the Panevėžys region is ongoing. One day a few years ago, the realization came that the three heritage study centers operate side by side, are an integral part of the libraries, and the personalities are extraordinary. When I found out about Culture Roads, I was happy, I really liked this kind of cultural dissemination. After consulting, we decided to try. And we ourselves were surprised at how many different cultural connections there are near us. On this road, the name of Jonos Mekos sounds most clearly, and Juozos Miltiniis – as well. We want the brothers Keliuočiai, who worked in the fields of culture, journalism, and pedagogy, to be discovered more. Adolfas Mekas, as the younger brother of Jonas Mekas, is also little known in Lithuania. in 2025 we will celebrate the 100th anniversary of his birth, so all the anniversaries make the “Five Creators’ Path” even more meaningful.”

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According to the organizers of the road, the presented Culture Road expands geographical boundaries for the target audience: if until now the visitor in a specific heritage study center only received information about the connections of an artist with other artists, then the Culture Road already presents a specific certified road with visited objects in three municipalities.

The certificate of the cultural road proves that the route has been prepared in accordance with the criteria for determining the levels of cultural roads in Lithuania approved by the Ministry of Culture, and in the future they will be able to apply for funding to expand their activities. In general, this is already the third certified cultural path of Lithuania: two national-level cultural paths were previously certified – MK Čiurlionis cultural path (2022) and Vėtrungiau cultural path (2023).

The “Five Creators’ Path” can be found here:

https://kulturoskelias.lt/