Birutė VALEČKAITĖ

Junior researcher
E-mail: birute.valeckaite@gmail.com

Studied Cultural History and Anthropology in Vilnius Universty, Faculty of History, in 2009–2013, and Religion Studies in the Centre for Religious Studies and Research of Vilnius University in 2013–2015. Student of History and Theory of Arts Doctoral Studies in Vilnius Academy of Arts since 2019 (PhD thesis Iconography of St Dominic and St Francis in the 16th–18th Century Art in Franciscan and Dominican Convents in Vilnius: the Importance of Expressing Personality and Holiness for the Formation and Dispertion of Iconographic Types, supervisor dr. Tojana Račiūnaitė). Has been working in the Church Heritage Museum of the Vilnius Archdiocese since 2014, and in the Lithuanian Culture Research Institute, Department of Art History and Visual Culture, since 2022.

Fields of scholarly interests: religious art in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania in the 16th–18th centuries, iconography of saints, problem of expressing sanctity in visual arts.

Edited publications

1. Šv. Dominykas ir šv. Hiacintas Lietuvoje: Aštuoni atminties šimtmečiai [St Dominic and St Hyacinth in Lithuania: Eight Centuries of Memory], editor Birutė Valečkaitė, Vilnius: Church Heritage Museum, 2022. ISBN 978-609-8151-24-4.

Scholarly publications

1. Birutė Valečkaitė, „Vizijos ir sapnai šv. Dominyko ikonografijoje. XVI–XVIII a. Vilniaus dominikonų ir pranciškonų dailės atvejai“ [Visions and Dreams in the Iconography of St Dominic. Cases of the 16th–18th c. Dominican and Franciscan Art in Vilnius], Acta Academiae Artium Vilnensis 106: Sapnai ir vizijos Lietuvos mene [Dreams and Visions in the Lithuanian Art], Vilnius: Vilniaus dailės akademijos leidykla, 2022, p. 167–201. ISSN 1392-0316; eISSN 2783-6843. https://leidykla.vda.lt/lt/leidinys/1293521618/acta-academiae-artium-vilnensis-106

2. Birutė Valečkaitė, „Šventojo Dominyko ikonografija: asmuo, atvaizdas ir šventumo perteikimo problema“ [The Iconography of Saint Dominic: The Person, the Image, and the Problem of Expressing Holiness], Religija ir kultūra [Religion and Culture], Nr. 16-17(2015), Vilnius: Vilniaus universiteto leidykla, 2018, p. 18–38. DOI:  10.15388/Relig.2015.2. https://www.journals.vu.lt/religija-ir-kultura/article/view/12305

3. Birutė Valečkaitė, „The Church Heritage Museum in Vilnius“, Muzea kościelne wobec nowych wyzwań, pod redakcją naukową s. Natanaeli Wiesławy Błażejczyk, Piotra Majewskiego, Warszawa: Narodowy Instytut Muzealnictwa i Ochrony Zbiorów, 2019, p. 97–104. https://nimoz.pl/files/publications/61/Muzea%2520ko%25C5%259Bcielne%2520internet.pdf

4. Sigita Maslauskaitė-Mažylienė, Birutė Valečkaitė, „Il Museo di Arte Sacra a Vilnius“, Dio non abita più qui? Dismissione di luoghi di culto e gestione integrata dei beni culturali ecclesiastici / Doesn’t God dwell here anymore? Decommissioning places of worship and integrated management of ecclesiastical cultural heritage, Rome: Artemide, 2019, p. 195–202. ISBN 978-88-7575-328-3.

5. Birutė Valečkaitė, „Vilniaus erdvės vaizdinys lietuviškuose 1939–1940 m. tekstuose“ [The Image of Vilnius’ Space in the Lithuanian Texts in 1939–1940], Naujasis Židinys-Aidai, Nr. 4 (2014), p. 17–24. https://nzidinys.lt/project/2014-nr-4/

Other publications

1. Texts for the catalogue Vibrant Old World Profiles. 16th–19th Century Western European Painting From the Lithuanian National Museum of Art Collection (accepted for publishing):

Birutė Valečkaitė, „Francesco Solimena (1657–1747). Our Lady of the Rosary“, in: Vibrant Old World Profiles. 16th–19th Century Western European Painting From the Lithuanian National Museum of Art Collection, edited by Tojana Račiūnaitė ir Joana Vitkutė, Vilnius: Lithuanian National Museum of Art, 2023.

Birutė Valečkaitė, „Solimena Francesco (1657–1747)“, Vibrant Old World Profiles. 16th–19th Century Western European Painting From the Lithuanian National Museum of Art Collection, edited by Tojana Račiūnaitė ir Joana Vitkutė, Vilnius: Lithuanian National Museum of Art, 2023.

2. Birutė Valečkaitė, „Knyga Šv. Dominyko, Pamokslininkų ordino įkūrėjo, gyvenimas“ [The Book The Life of St Dominic, Founder of the Order of Preachers], Tarp knygų [Among Books], Nr. 11 (2021), p. 16. https://issuu.com/tarpknygu/docs/2021_11

3. Birutė Valečkaitė, „Juan de Castillo Šventoji Šeima. Nazareto dirbtuvės (apie 1634–1636 m.)“ [Juan de Castillo The Holy Family. Workshop of Nazareth (circa 1634–1636)], Magnificat, Nr. 5 (2021), p. 2–6.

4. Birutė Valečkaitė, „Treasures of the Archdiocese of Vilnius“, Lithuanian Heritage, Volume 8, S5, September / October (2020), p. 19–23.

5. Violeta Indriūnienė, Birutė Valečkaitė, „Didžioji (Goštautų) monstrancija“ [The Great (Goštautas Family) Monstrance], Iliustruotoji istorija [Illustrated History], Nr. 11 (2016), p. 24–25.

Curated exhibitions

1. St Dominic and St Hyacinth in Lithuania: Eight Centuries of Memory, Church Heritage Museum of the Vilnius Archdiocese, 17th August 2021 – 29th January 2022. https://bpmuziejus.lt/news/754/112/St-Dominic-and-St-Hyacinth-in-Lithuania-Eight-Centuries-of-Memory.html

2. The Ways Contemporary Art Reaches Churches: 1990–2019, Church Heritage Museum of the Vilnius Archdiocese, 7th December 2019 – 12th September 2020. https://bpmuziejus.lt/news/597/112/The-Ways-Contemporary-Art-Reaches-Churches-1990-2019.html

Traineeships and conferences

1. Participation in the international conference for doctoral students „Paths to Idea. Inspiration – Realization – Interpretation“, organized by the Catholic Theological Faculty of Charles University in Prague (Univerzita Karlova) on the 28th April 2022. Theme of presentation: „The Three Arrows in Atypically Typical Images: 16th and 18th Century Versions of St Dominic‘s Vision“. https://www.ktf.cuni.cz/KTFENG-213.html

2. EU „Erasmus+“ traineeship in the University of Bologna, Department of History, Cultures, and Civilisations (Dipartimento di Storia Culture Civiltà, DISCI), 1st September 2021 – 2nd November 2021. Help in preparing international conference „Dominic and Bologna. Genesis and Development of the Order of Preachers“ („Domenico e Bologna. Genesi e sviluppo dell’Ordine dei Predicatori“). https://disci.unibo.it/it/eventi/domenico-e-bologna-genesi-e-sviluppo-dell-ordine-dei-predicatori

3. International conference „Christian Art in a Secular World“, organized on the 8–10th November 2018 in the Church Heritage Museum, in collaboration with the Catholic University of Paris, Institute of Theology of Arts (Institut Supérieur de Théologie des Arts, ISTA), Vilnius University, Department for Continental Philosophy and Religious Studies, Vilnius Academy of Arts, and the Dominican Monastery of Sts. Philip and Jacob in Vilnius.

4. Presentation of the Church Heritage Museum of the Vilnius Archdiocese in the international conference „Church Museums and New Challenges“ organized in Mszczonów, Poland, by the Polish Episcopal Conference and the Polish National Institute of Museums and Public Collections (NIMOZ) on the 18–20th October 2017.