The complexity of the relationship of the Jewish People with visual arts was settled, for millennia, by the Second Biblical Commandment, which today is known as You shall not use the name of the Lord your God in vain. Wednesday at 5.30 pm, 5 March 2025, Vilnius Picture Gallery of the LNMA opens an exhibition You Shall Not Make an Image. Commandments, Everyday Life and Change. The exhibition attempts to trace the changing relationship of the Jewish People with images and the visual over the period of the 18th through the 1st half of the 20th centuries.
The event curated by Dr Aistė Bimbirytė, Gabijos Kasparavičiūtė-Kaminskienė and Dr Jurgita Verbickienė, is also a celebration of the centennial anniversary of the inception of the YIVO Institute for Jewish Research in Vilnius. The exhibition is accompanied by open lectures, curated tours, creative workshops for different age groups, and film screenings.
Image as an idol?
The exhibition You Shall Not Make an Image. Commandments, Everyday Life and Change is symbolically underpinned by the Second Biblical Commandment and its reading in the Jewish tradition – in Judaism and in Christian Western civilization. With time, an erroneous perception that Jewish visual art simply does not exist has taken root, supported also by the belief that the Jewish people are the people of the Book, who prioritize reading, discussion or music over visual creativity.
The stereotype of the “non-visual” has been significantly shattered by early-20th-century- archaeological excavations in Dura-Europos (modern Syria) and the discovery of the world’s most ancient synagogue with the walls decorated in frescoes of figural images. The latest stage of the synagogue construction is dated by the 2nd century CE. It is true that the ancient Hebrew manuscripts did not follow the restriction to feature human figures, while the interiors of the synagogues, ritual articles, vessels and books were decorated in animalistic and vegetative ornaments. In the context of post-industrial revolution and the challenges of ever-modernized world, the perception of the Jewish art has been changing with the flourishing of sculpture, painting, graphic arts and photography. The exhibition co-curator, Gabija Kasparavičiūtė-Kaminskienė claims that, “despite of the fact that the Jewish themselves interpreted the Second Commandment differently during different stages of history, the foundational principle always remained the aim to avoid mistaking an image for an object of worship, that is, an idol.”
Józef Budko (1888–1940). ‘Jewish Boy’. 1927. Oil on canvas. The Lithuanian Art Centre TARTLE
The exhibition You Shall Not Make an Image. Commandments, Everyday Life and Change features sacral and secular, monumental and applied Jewish artwork produced from the 18th through the 1st half of the 20th centuries, lent by the Lithuanian memory institutions and the art collection of the YIVO Institute Archives. The curators have divided the entirety of the exhibits into five parts: The Commandments introduces the Second Commandment and the problem of the visual imagery arising therefrom. The Everyday Rituals embrace the instances of such imagery in connection with everyday items; The Trajectories of Glance traces how the Jewish portrayed their own people and those of other nations, as well as how they were perceived by the artists of different beliefs. The Shifting section introduces new artistic directions, and finally, The Changes presents the heritage of the Jewish People and its historical memory, the lion’s share in this section goes to the history and mission of the YIVO Institute.
From Vilnius to New York City – a rich history of the YIVO Institute
A hundred of years ago, the Yidisher visnshaftlekher institut – YIVO Institute for Jewish Research – was founded in Vilnius. It was not just a local phenomenon – the Institute linked Vilnius globally to all the Jews who treasured the Yiddish language and culture. Such celebrated scholars as Albert Einstein, Sigmund Freud and Edward Sapiras were members of its honour presidium.
During WWII, the YIVO Institute was forced to relocate from Vilnius and found way into the USA; since 1940, the Institute operates in New York City. The turmoil and troubles did not break the members of the Institute who managed to rescue its massive Archives – thousands of documents, photographs, manuscripts and other artefacts, of immeasurable value for fostering the memory of the Jewish People and struggling for the history of the people who faced the danger of destruction.
A memorial plaque marking the house on Vivulskio St 18, a witness to the history of YIVO in Vilnius, indicates that one of the leading 20th century linguists, a cofounder and organizer of the YIVO Institute, its long-term leader, Max Weinreich, lived and worked here. The exhibition will facilitate a temporary homecoming to Vilnius of the artefacts of historic and cultural value together with archival materials, kindly lent for the occasion by the New York Institute.
Inclusive activities and visitor lectures
The exhibition is combined with a broad programme of events for different age groups intended to facilitate a deeper acquaintance with the Jewish culture and history. A lecture on Jewish dress and its exclusive visual otherness, by the exhibition curator Dr Verbickienė, is scheduled at 5.30 pm on 12 March. In April, Dr Lara Lempertienė will share her insights on the modernization of Jewish culture in art; in May, Dr Rūta Ostrovskaja and Dr Dainius Junevičius will walk their listeners through traditions of synagogue décor and Jewish photography. A meeting with Eugenijus Bunka as well as Dr Giedrė Mickūnaitė’s presentation on Vilnius’ Jewish heritage are pre-planned for autumn.
On 16 April and 10 September, Institut Français de Lituanie (Didžioji St 1, Vilnius) will host free screenings of Loïc Salfati’s 2023 documentary The Secrets of the Great Synagogue in Vilnius.
The programme of activities will be expanded by free tours given by the exhibition curators and museum guides, offering an opportunity to delve deeper into the meaning of the imagery in the exhibition. Participants will learn how the exhibits travelled all the way from New York City, and the breath-taking history of the YIVO Institute. Families, groups of school pupils and adults will be able to participate in educational events enlightening on the Jewish holidays, their reading traditions and the place of YIVO on the world map.
‘Rimon’ (English: ‘Pomegranate’) Magazine. Berlin. 1922. Martynas Mažvydas National Library of Lithuania
The exhibition You Shall Not Make an Image. Commandments, Everyday Life and Change is a great opportunity to get versed in the history of Jewish culture and art , it also brings to mind the consequential contribution by the YIVO Institute to the preservation of the culture of East European Jewry.
The exhibition opens at 5.30 pm Wednesday 5 March at Vilnius Picture Gallery of the LNMA (Didžioji 4, Vilnius) and will be on through 14 September.
Organisers: Vilnius Picture Gallery of the LNDM, YIVO Institute
Curators: Aistė Bimbirytė, Gabija Kasparavičiutė-Kaminskienė, Jurgita Verbickienė
Designer Miglė Datkūnaitė
Architect Austė Kuliešiūtė-Šemetė
Project financed by the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Lithuania
In partnership with: Marc Chagall Association, BTA Insurance, Samogitian Museum Alka, Panevėžys Diocese, M. K. Čiurlionis National Museum of Art, Lithuanian State Historical Archives, Lithuanian Art Centre TARTLE, Martynas Mažvydas National Library of Lithuania, Vilnius University Library, Lithuanian National Museum, Vilnia Gaon Museum of Jewish History, Pakruojis Land Museum, Municipality of Pakruojis Region, KR Art Services, Trakai History Museum, Biržai Land Museum Sėla, Žiežmariai Cultural Centre, Customs of the Republic of Lithuania, Institut Français de Lituanie, AD Rem Transport, Church Heritage Museum, Eugenijus Bunka, Dr Jaunius Gumbis, Loic Salfati, Eglė Ridikaitė, Daumantas Todesas
Information partners: LRT, JCDecaux Lietuva
