Ethnic minorities to be represented by an Estonian-born person in the Council for Culture

The candidate for a new member of the Lithuanian Council for Culture is Ms. Pille Veljataga. She will replace Mr. Stanislav Widtmann who has been nominated for the position of the Energy attaché in Warsaw.

Ms. Veljataga was born in Talinn, Estonia, in 1951 and has lived in Lithuania since 1957. In Vilnius she studied history and theory of art. Since 1990 she has worked at the Institute for Cultural Research.

The candidacy of Ms. Veljataga is yet to be approved by the government. Currently, the members of the Council for Culture are a culture specialist, Ms. Daina Urbanavičienė, a composer, Mr. Vidmantas Bartulis, an art researcher, Ms. Rūta Janonienė, a theatre critic, Mr. Vaidotas Jauniškis, a librarian, Ms. Rima Maselytė, an architect, Mr. Kęstutis Pempė, an artist, Mr. Saulius Valius, a culture specialist, Mr. Remigijus Vilys, a photographer, Mr. Stanislovas Žvirgždas, and literature researcher, Ms. Gintautė Žemaitytė.

A membership in the council can only be granted to a person who has certain achievements in the domain of culture or art as well as minimum 5-year experience in cultural projects.

The Council for Culture is responsible for financing cultural and artistic projects and programmes, monitoring the projects, managing funds from the fund for cultural support, and conducting research on culture and art.