Kupiškis District Municipality
Aukštaitija
self-taught homestead museum with folk art
Muziejaus g. 3A, Uoginiai, Kupiškis District
55.78000, 25.40000
30-45 minutes
year-round; arrange the visit in advance
Uoginiai Museum, Adomas Petrauskas Homestead Museum
Adomas Petrauskas Museum: one person's vision
The Adomas Petrauskas Museum stands in Uoginiai village, Kupiškis District, and is one of the region's most distinctive museums. It was founded in 1969 by local self-taught collector Adomas Petrauskas (1914-2004), who assembled and arranged the display himself from ethnographic household objects and archaeological finds.
This is not a standard museum so much as the living world of one determined person. Petrauskas collected anything he considered valuable: old objects, his own carvings, unusually shaped natural forms, and stones. Today the museum operates as a branch of Kupiškis Museum.
Collection and homestead
The museum stores more than seven thousand exhibits reflecting local archaeology, ethnography, and folk art. They include Adomas Petrauskas's own wood carvings and stones gathered over decades from village fields, now arranged around the homestead.
The homestead consists of several buildings: the dwelling house, two granaries, and a singular wooden tower. Its base rests on huge stones that are not dug into the ground and recalls an old wagon wheel, a clear sign of the creator's inventiveness and wish to do things his own way.
Folk art and crafts
The museum is most interesting as a monument to sincere, naive folk art and local-history collecting. It shows how an ordinary rural person could become a guardian and maker of regional memory by joining archaeology, ethnography, and personal creativity.
In 2015 the Uoginiai Crafts Centre was also set up on the homestead grounds, hosting traditional-craft education, exhibitions, and events. The site is therefore not only a display of the past but a living place for craft and community activity.
How to visit
Because this is a small rural branch museum, it is best to arrange a visit in advance so the exhibition is open and accompanied by a story. Usually 30-45 minutes is enough for the homestead and tower.
During research, visits were listed for weekdays and Saturday, but hours may change. Check the Kupiškis Museum website before travelling. The museum combines well with other Kupiškis-region sights.
