On September 18, the National Museum of Lithuania opened an international exhibition project titled «Kyivan Rus. Origins,» held under the patronage of the President of the Republic of Lithuania, Gitanas Nausėda. Approximately 350 artifacts from the collection of the National Museum of the History of Ukraine play a significant role in the exhibition. Among these are Volodymyr’s zlatnyk (golden coin) and a plinth featuring his trident, jewelry from the Hlodos hoard, and a diadem from the Sakhnivka hoard.

The exhibition was inaugurated by Rūta Kačkutė, Director General of the National Museum of Lithuania, Simonas Kairis, Minister of Culture of the Republic of Lithuania, and Fedir Androshchuk, Director of the National Museum of the History of Ukraine. During the ceremony, a greeting from the President of Lithuania, Gitanas Nausėda, was also read aloud.

This exhibition is a scholarly reinterpretation of the high-profile international project «Rus – Vikings in the East,» which was held at the Moesgaard Museum (Aarhus, Denmark) in 2021–2022 under the patronage of Her Majesty Queen Margrethe II. That project involved 15 museums and institutions from Poland, Latvia, Lithuania, Germany, Sweden, Finland, Norway, Denmark, and Ukraine. It was visited by over 200,000 people.

The success of that project inspired our Lithuanian colleagues to create their own exhibition, focusing on the history of Rus in the 9th–11th centuries, particularly its interactions with the peoples of the Baltic States, Northern Europe, and the Byzantine Empire. The project addresses issues that challenge the traditional understanding of the region’s history. Topics include the influence of external (Scandinavian, Baltic, Finnish) and internal (Slavic) forces on the formation of Rus, connections with Scandinavia and present-day Baltic territories, the fall of Rus, and the echoes of its traditions in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. The project also seeks to answer the question of who founded the Rus state and who continued its traditions after its decline.

This exhibition is an important step in the effort to understand the early history of Eastern Europe, which is little known in Lithuania and Europe as a whole. The project’s authors emphasize that in the 18th century, the Russian Empire began to forge the history of Rus. Such manipulations were used, and continue to be used, to support Moscow’s claims to the heritage of Rus. Thus, fabricating history becomes a dangerous weapon for legitimizing military actions against Ukraine.

«Our attempts to learn and understand more about history, based on reliable sources, can help prevent this. It can also help debunk the false narrative that Ukraine is not part of Western civilization,» emphasizes the National Museum of Lithuania. Therefore, this exhibition is yet another demonstration of the Lithuanian people’s and political establishment’s steadfast and consistent support for Ukraine.

The «Kyivan Rus. Origins» project has brought together over 20 partners from Poland, the Baltic States, and Scandinavia. From Ukraine, in addition to the NMHU, the Archaeological Museum of the Institute of Archaeology of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, the Zaporizhzhia Regional Museum of Local Lore, and the Lviv Historical Museum are participating.

The exhibition will run until March 30, 2025, at the National Museum of Lithuania (Vilnius, 3 Kościuszko Street, House of History).

For more information about the project, visit: https://lnm.lt/renginiai/tarptautine-paroda-kijevo-rusia-pradzia/

Photos by Silvestras Samsonas, National Museum of Lithuania