Senovinės technikos muziejus Smalininkuose: 15 metų

ENThe Museum of Ancient Equipment, located in the town of Smalininkai, will turn fifteen in 2019. The creation of the museum began a few decades ago, and yet activities related to the execution of all the functions of the museum cover only such a period of time. The museum became famous and popular. A lot of people contributed to achieving this goal and considerable material resources were required to attain this target. Thus this book attempts to provide an overview of work accomplished: it looks at complete exhibitions and expositions that are based on them, mentions individuals of outstanding merit, who played an im portant role in establishing and expanding the museum, and also tries to take a glance at the future prospects of the museum activities. The m useum is located in a private homestead whose area was extended to set up a 0. 4 ha pond and to plant a large territory with various types of vegetation. Currently a total of eight buildings accommodate the museum whose expositions consist of 24,000 exhibits. The book initially presents a collection of articles on education, culture, history and museology where renowned Lithuanian scholars, such as Professor Libertas Klimka, an ethnologist, Kazimieras Ragulskis, an academician, and Professor Algimantas Bubulis, voice their opinions. In addition, it includes articles about museum studies, which were written by Vincas Kudirka and Regina Kliukenė, a present-day historian and local lore specialist. The thoughts of the scholars represent the scientific generalisation of the historical past, which helps you throw light on the present and discuss the future activities of the museum in a well-argued manner.The book enumerates the museum’s expositions or pavilions (the num ber of which amounts to 18) and discusses their content, explains how the work of the museum is organised and introduces the following monograph in more detail: The Heritage of Material Culture and Its Origins (Materialinės kultūros paveldas ir jo ištakos) written by J. Stonys and published in 2016. The activities of the museum have resonated with the public as can be seen from a num ber of articles published in the press and different publications. W hen the museum started to pursue its activities, it also began to collect printed material that contained articles casting light on the activities of the museum. More significant articles, 42 out of approximately 300, are cited in this book. Various events take place in the museum on a frequent basis. More special ones are referred to as festivities; they are described in more detail and are accompanied by photo illustrations, for example, Nights of Museums, scholarly conferences, anniversary celebrations and other events. In addition to individual visitors who take everyday excursions, a num ber of exceptional guests attend the museum on a constant basis, among whom the following persons can be mentioned: V. Pranckietis, the Speaker of the Seimas (Parliament) of the Republic of Lithuania, R. Juška and R. Karbauskis, the Members of the Seimas, L. Ruokytė-Jansson, the Minister of Culture, and other people. Our guests also include art team staff and senior management employees from surrounding municipalities. The book depicts a range of tours taken by our museologists and addresses issues related to the expansion tasks and future activities of the museum in a brief but very well-argued manner. The material included in this book sheds light on the past of our activities. The book indicates the creators of the museum and provides their biographies, and also refers to other helpers.These individuals will further continue their activities. The purpose of this book is to show what kind of work has been done in a very short period of time and at the same time to take a glance at the guidelines of future activities.