The exhibition “Queen, Kingdom and Feelings” will commemorate and update the 500th anniversary of the birth of two queens – Barbora Radvilaitė and Catherine Jogailaitė. These contemporaries were destined to become queens. One of them reigned for only five months, the other for almost fifteen years. How and why did they become queens? What were their origins? What was the reign of the queens and the creation of their historical myth and their influence on fine and modern art?

The exhibition will seek to shed light on the personalities of Barbora Radvilaitė and Catherine Jogailaitė, their importance and influence on the history, geopolitics, culture, art, and social history of the changing role of women’s leadership in the four countries of Poland, Lithuania, Finland and Sweden over a 500-year period. Using archaeological artefacts, cultural and artistic treasures preserved in Lithuanian and European museums, we will present the living environment, upbringing, hobbies, personalities and experiences of the two heroines, and we will try to recreate the personalities of Barbara and Catherine as realistically as possible, and to portray them as women innovators who could live and create in today’s world.

The exhibition will present the historical context, the political situation in the region, the main ruling families, the upbringing of the girls, the environment, marriages, secret love and power, coronations, and deepen the emotional connection with the main heroines of the exhibition. The narrative will cover the death and burial of the queens, the final division of the Republic of the Two Nations, the Romantic era in culture and the emergence of Barbora Radvilaitė and Catherine Jagiellonian as romantic archetypes of the former state. The exhibition will focus on the Romantic era and the development of art and design in history. It will include reflections of contemporary art and the work of Lithuanian, Polish, Swedish and Finnish artists inspired by the personalities of Barbara and Catherine.

The exhibition will be preceded, followed and followed by scholarly discussions on the history of the reign of queens, the phenomenon of influencers in contemporary society, presentations by scholars, creators and artists from various fields, interactive presentations of art history research, presentations of new books, the exhibition’s publication, and films.

The creative process of this exhibition will involve Lithuanian, Swedish, Polish and Finnish museum professionals and researchers, and strengthen international cooperation. The curators of the exhibition are interdisciplinary artist and designer Julija Janulaitytė-Janus, historian of the National Museum of Lithuania Dr. Milda Kvizikevičiūtė and art historian Dr. Vaida Ragėnaitė. The exhibition will be opened at the History House of the Lithuanian National Museum.