Adasa Skliutauskaitė: „Aš visada pati lipdžiau save“

This article presents an interview conducted by Violeta Davoliūtė with the late Lithuanian artist Adasa Skliutauskaitė (1931-2023). The interview, conducted in late 2022, is part of a series focusing on the generation that formed the post-WWII Lithuanian cultural elite in Vilnius, particularly women creators. This generation navigated a city dramatically reshaped by war, genocide, and migration. Skliutauskaitė reflects on her life, beginning with her childhood in Kaunas. She recalls her father, a Jewish doctor, facing antisemitism in the pre-war era. The family fled Kaunas on the first day of the German invasion in 1941, tragically losing her older brother. They spent the war years evacuated in Frunze (now Bishkek). Returning to Lithuania in 1946, they settled in Vilnius. Skliutauskaitė describes the challenging atmosphere of post-war Vilnius – marked by ruins, poverty, and the Stalinist-era constraints she experienced while studying art. Despite antisemitism persisting after the war, she established herself as a prolific illustrator, notably for children's books, working with numerous Lithuanian authors, including Jewish writers. She reflects on feeling a connection to Jewish themes in her work and emphasizes her lifelong process of self-formation, stating, "I always sculpted myself". Skliutauskaitė also recounts her firm decision to remain in Lithuania during the 1970s wave of emigration to Israel, despite significant pressure to leave. https://literaturairmenas.lt/atmintis/adasa-skliutauskaite-ias-visada-pati-lipdziau-savei