In 2023-2025, the National Museum of Lithuania will implement Marta, a centralized program to develop the museum skills of professionals working in the country’s national and state museums.

The etymology of the word “Marta” (Lithuanian for Martha) stems from the words “leader, mistress”, but if we expand the context to the museum space, we could say it also refers to a “mentor” or “curator”. This is a space for development, growth and, most importantly, the sharing of knowledge.

The program is expected to run for at least three years. Skills development be organized through continuous training and seminars on various topics, conducted by lecturers versed in the necessary expertise and experience from Lithuania and abroad, and through internships at foreign museums.

The need for a comprehensive museum skills development program became clear as early as 2017, after an analysis of the needs of Lithuanian museum staff regarding their own qualification development. The study showed that only 10 percent of respondents felt they had sufficient knowledge and skills.

Last year, the Ministry of Culture decided to organize a museum skills development initiative as an ongoing, centralized program and entrusted this undertaking to the National Museum of Lithuania. The program will ensure the centralized and continuous development of museum skills. Initially, the skills development program will welcome specialists from Lithuanian national and state museums (17 institutions in total) and the Contemporary Art Centre. It is anticipated that the program will expand to include regional museums in the future.

Main program goals

• Create a unified museum skills development system to improve professional skills
• Organize study visits aboard and train potential lecturers to adopt best practices
• Begin training programs in Lithuania using Lithuanian and foreign experts
• Develop a network of museum skills lecturers

Program participants

National Museums
Lithuanian National Museum of Art
National Museum of Lithuania
National M. K. Čiurlionis Museum of Art
National Museum Palace of the Grand Dukes of Lithuania

State Museums
Kaunas 9th Fort Museum
Lithuanian Aviation Museum
Lithuanian Ethnocosmology Museum
Lithuanian Sea Museum
Lithuanian Folk Life Museum
Lithuanian Education History Museum
Lithuanian Theatre, Music and Cinema Museum
Maironis Lithuanian Literature Museum
Šiauliai Aušra Museum
Trakai History Museum
Vilna Gaon Museum of Jewish History
Alka Samogitian Museum

Other
Contemporary Art Centre

Detailed program presentation

A new Museum Skills Development Program: Learning from world-class museums (link)

Contacts

Program Director: Asta Ivanauskienė, Deputy Director General of the National Museum of Lithuania for Museum Activities, [email protected]; +37061637085

The program is being coordinated by Kotryna Bėčiūtė, National Museum of Lithuania Training Coordinator: [email protected]; +37061672380