The 11th Congress of the Union of Artists, which took place on 13-14 November 1987, was a significant event not only for artists, but also for other groups among the Soviet Lithuanian intelligentsia, which started to raise more vociferously questions about the historical memory, greater modernism, the historical heritage, and others. During the congress, speakers spoke about the necessity for the National Gallery and the Directorate of Art Exhibitions to apply more flexibility in managing this sphere of culture, and they also spoke about the need to democratise the work of art critics, about the necessary avoidance of pitching Soviet art against modernism, the importance of the integration of contemporary art into the global context, and a broader dialogue with foreign countries. During the congress, all the old Board of the Union of Artists was changed for new people (such as Bronius Leonavičius and Arvydas Šaltenis), who a few months later became leaders of the Sąjūdis national movement. Arvydas Šaltenis, one of the leaders of contemporary artists, called this congress a 'revolutionary congress, which was noticed by a public audience' (see http://www.bernardinai.lt/straipsnis/2016-07-25-arvydas-saltenis-nereikia-meluoti-grazinti-pudruoti-tikroves/146626), and which had an impact on Sąjūdis.