The establishment of Domains of Culture was a local initiative. It was made possible by a decree that granted the republican Central Committees the right to found a public press publication. The First Secretary (LCP) Antanas Snie kus approved the publication with this warning: “There should not be any art for art’s sake, and issues of the village should be addressed; you see, vigilance is needed”. 95 The title of the magazine (Kult ros barai) recalled an interwar publication Domains of Music (Muzikos barai). 96 In this way, the title communicated a particular perspective from which “culture” was envisioned as an area to be worked, acted upon; various areas of life could also be acted upon with the aid of “culture”. The first issue of Domains was criticised for its lack of a “special profile” or an “ideological-thematic core” by the main Party newspaper Tiesa. The editors were advised to “occupy a more precise position in shaping a reader’s ideological-aesthetical principles by reflecting the process of enriching our socialist culture”. 97 Despite this cold reception at the start, the editorial board and authors sought to create an interesting, professional magazine, which would by-pass the Soviet ideological limitations as far as was possible under those conditions. In a way, it provided the highly placed Soviet officials with some “real” feedback about the population. As the LSSR Minister of Culture Lionginas Šepetys recalled, Domains was always on his desk. 98 Beginning in 1985, the magazine was at the forefront in welcoming and promoting the ideas of perestroika. Many of the intellectuals from its editorial circles were directly involved in founding S j dis, the national liberation movement. Domains of Culture survived the hard early days of post-Soviet transformation and maintained and developed its intellectual capital, and today it remains one of the most important popular intellectual magazines in Lithuania and is a member of Eurozine. Thus, to read Domains of Culture was to follow the development of an important Lithuanian cultural institution that, arguably, generated one of the widespread, core public discourses on culture. As an organ of the ministry, Domains of Culture was always engaged in daily policy issues. However, it should not be regarded as the ministry’s loudspeaker, which only reported its deeds and views. The magazine’s mission was broader than that, it aimed to question the important issues of the day. In its 100 pages, which also featured many illustrations, Domains of Culture resembled a “thick journal” (tolsty zhurnal), a famous Soviet type of cultural publication.99 95
Jakelaitis. The former editor recalled that the title was appreciated by the Minister Banaitis since he was the author of music textbooks. Jakelaitis, 204. 97 “Kauk yra. O veidas?” Tiesa, 17 February 1965, 2. 98 Lionginas Šepetys, Neprarastoji karta. Siluetai ir spalvos (Vilnius: Lietuvos rašytoj s jungos leidykla, 2005). 99 The “thick journal” was a book-resembling monthly that published polemics, interviews, reviews, but also original and translated academic and literary texts. Domains of Culture like Russian “thick journals” was initiated and cultivated by a circle of intellectuals, though the intellectual role of the chief editor was not as important as, for example, Aleksandr Tvardovsky’s at Novyi mir. For Russian “thick journals” see Brudny, 31-33. 96
41