People find themselves outside their homeland for a variety of reasons, but their experiences are similar. In order to gain a deeper understanding and knowledge of migration experiences, Lithuanian National Museum is organizing the story festival "My migration story" for the second time, the program of which includes a culinary tour of the Calvary market, discussions, stories and stories, accompanied by hot Eskedar Tilahun soup.
In the House of Stories on November 26. taking place event will also enrich people who have never emigrated, because, as the organizers note, the experiences of migrants are common, recognizable to everyone: searching for a home, friendships, building a family, career.
"Having lived on this topic for the second year, I have no doubt that these stories are not only about migration, about departure or arrival. They are about common human experiences and are not without shades of love, fear, sadness and longing. At the same time, we want to reduce the difference between those who migrate and those who have never emigrated, which exists in society whether they like it or not," says Milda Varnauskaitė, one of the organizers of the festival, who tells stories.
The festival will begin with a culinary excursion in the area of the Calvarii market, where participants will be invited to experience different cultures through their culinary heritage: flavors from Syria, South Korea, Sakartvel, Italy will await, and with them the history of our new neighbors in Vilnius. From 14 p.m. the event will move to the House of Stories, where there will be a place and time to tell and listen.
"We will welcome everyone who is willing and able to tell their story - we will be ready to record it." If you bring an item that remembers the history of migration, our volunteers will also record it for the future. There will be a conversation with people who collect migration stories, we will ask them if it is easy to collect people's personal experiences and experiences, and in the evening the microphone will be open to everyone - a storytelling evening "Soup and History". It will be conducted by Milda Varnauskaitė, and soup will be served by Eskedar Tilahun", invites one of the organizers of the festival, museum historian Ina Ėmužienė.
Everyone is welcome at the festival: while the adults listen to other stories and tell their own, the little guests will engage in activities tailored to them together with the Story House educators. The organizers emphasize that the festival will be held in both Lithuanian and English languages.
The festival is a prelude to the museum's most important exhibition next year
The Story Festival is just one of the many activities we organize in preparation for next year's most important exhibition of the National Museum of Lithuania.
"Recently, the cycle of radio programs dedicated to the history and present of our migration has ended, and there is a continuous process of collecting and recording stories, looking for exhibits. This is how we aim to collect and record for the future as many and as diverse as possible of all our migration stories, which would complement the historical part of the exhibition and at the same time reveal the portrait of a person migrating from or to Lithuania", says Giedrė Milerytė-Japertienė, museum historian, curator of the future exhibition.
At the event, the curator of the future exhibition will also share fresh impressions from a month-and-a-half-long expedition in North and South America, where she went in order to capture the stories of local Lithuanian communities, make connections, and collect exhibits.
You can submit your migration story to the exhibition or invite friends and acquaintances to do so virtually: the museum has created a publicly available database. The event, which is sponsored by the Lithuanian Cultural Council and the Lithuanian Catholic Religious Aid, is free of charge. Registration is required for the excursion. The event will take place on November 26. In the house of stories, T. Kosciuškos st. 3, in Vilnius.
