- Place
- Vilnius City Municipality
- Region
- Vilnius
- Type
- visual arts centre
- Address
- Malūnų g. 8, Vilnius
- Coordinates
- 54.68270, 25.29700
- Visit duration
- 45 minutes-1.5 hours
- Best time
- before a planned exhibition, allowing for the centre’s current opening hours
The Jonas Mekas Visual Arts Center in Užupis
The Jonas Mekas Visual Arts Center works in Užupis on Malūnų Street, bringing together histories of cinema, video, and contemporary art. Its name honours Jonas Mekas, while its exhibition field also connects with Jurgis Mačiūnas, a central figure in the history of Fluxus.
This is not simply a memorial room devoted to one biography. The programme lets visitors see how avant-garde ideas move through film, photography, video, computer art, and mixed forms, so the character of a visit depends partly on the exhibition on view.
The memory of Jonas Mekas and Fluxus
Jonas Mekas is widely associated with avant-garde cinema, while Jurgis Mačiūnas is one of the key names in Fluxus. The centre’s cultural field brings them together not just chronologically but through a broader question: how art can grow from everyday life, process, moving images, and an unexpected action.
There is no need to search for one definitive narrative while visiting. Fluxus and avant-garde work often operates through association, short forms, and juxtapositions across media, making the sequence of works and the exhibition text as meaningful as any single object.
Exhibitions and contemporary media
The centre’s description includes exhibitions that encourage contemporary artists working in cinema, video, computer-based creation, and interdisciplinary practice. Check the current exhibition theme before travelling, especially if you are expecting only material from Jonas Mekas’s archive.
A variety of media changes the pace of a visit. One work may need to be watched on a screen, another read as a document, and a third understood through sound and space, so 45 minutes is more rewarding when you leave time for pauses rather than rushing around the rooms.
The centre on Malūnų Street
The address at Malūnų g. 8 places the centre on one of Užupis’s most distinctive walking axes. You can explore nearby streets before or after an exhibition, but remember that the neighbourhood’s public spaces are not part of the centre’s display and do not follow its opening timetable.
The building and neighbourhood add atmosphere without replacing the exhibition itself. Decide in advance whether you want only the centre or a wider route including the Užupis Art Incubator and other cultural stops, because that choice affects the time you should leave between visits.
Visiting the Jonas Mekas Center at Malūnų g. 8
The published visitor schedule is limited and may change with exhibitions or events. Check the centre’s own website before travelling, particularly for Mondays, Sundays, public holidays, or a specific exhibition, because times copied into third-party catalogues can lag behind.
Allow 45 minutes to 1.5 hours for a normal visit and plan to approach on foot. Photography, filming, children’s visits, and group arrangements can depend on the exhibition, so follow staff instructions and leave room for the works and other visitors.
