On October 16 at 6 PM, Vilnius Town Hall will host an evening commemorating the 75th anniversary of Zita Kelmickaitė — ethnomusicologist, educator, promoter of folklore and public figure. The evening will feature the documentary film Zitai by director Vytautas V. Landsbergis, while the Vilnius University folklore ensemble Ratilio will bring guests together through song.
“There are people who, simply by being who they are, bring a nation together. Even when they are no longer with us. Zita Kelmickaitė is one of them,” says Ramunė Landsbergienė, Director of VšĮ “A Propos Studija”.
The documentary film Zitai is director Vytautas V. Landsbergis’s personal account of Zita Kelmickaitė and her generation. The film takes viewers back to Lithuania in the 1980s and 1990s — a time when the revival of folk song became not only an expression of cultural identity, but also an important part of the national revival and Lithuania’s path to independence.
Drawing on previously unseen archival material and Zita Kelmickaitė’s own voice, the film tells the story not only of an exceptional individual, but also of an entire generation that nurtured Lithuanian national identity. It is a story of a time when song could become a form of quiet resistance, bringing people together and strengthening a sense of community.
Zita Kelmickaitė’s name is inseparable from the revival of Lithuanian folklore. She played an active role in the folklore movement and was closely involved with the Skamba skamba kankliai festival and other initiatives that brought traditional culture out of the archives and into the living experience of communities. For her, folklore was not a relic of the past, but a living culture that helped people discover their roots and strengthen their sense of national identity.
Zita Kelmickaitė also shared a particularly close connection with the Vilnius University folklore ensemble Ratilio. For nearly six decades, the ensemble has been singing, dancing, playing instruments and preserving Lithuania’s dialects; for three decades, it was led by Zita Kelmickaitė.
“Zita’s love for rural communities and her passion for traditional culture continue to live on in new generations of the ensemble. On the occasion of our former leader’s birthday, the ‘Ratiliokai’ will lead everyone in well-known Lithuanian folk songs, so that we can come together in a strong sense of community,” says Vilius Marma, Artistic Director of Ratilio.
Zita Kelmickaitė’s legacy lives on not only in memories. The values she championed continue to be passed from generation to generation through song, music-making, dance, dialect and the simple act of being together.
Therefore, the evening of October 16 at Vilnius Town Hall will be more than a tribute to an outstanding personality. It will be an encounter with what Zita Kelmickaitė cherished and believed in throughout her life — living tradition, Lithuanian song and the sense of community that brings people together.
Admission is free, with invitations. Advance registration is required https://www.bilietai.lt/renginiai/TRYG5P2YKI/zitos-kelmickaites-75-metis
Organiser: Vilnius Town Hall
Partners: VšĮ “A Propos Studija”, Vilnius University folklore ensemble Ratilio, AKVILĖ mineral water
Information partner: DELFI