If I were to compile a list of reasons to move to Kaunas, one of the first points would undoubtedly be the opportunity to meet Mikalojus Konstantinas Čiurlionis and his paintings whenever you want (with a footnote that such wish must occur during the museum’s opening hours). To pause at the Fairy Tale of the Kings, find one’s own sign in the Zodiac series, and contemplate eternity or transience while looking at the Samogitian Wayside Cosses. The scent of albums found and browsed at my grandmother’s house remains in my childhood memories, where the sacred, silent, and magical world of the artist was revealed even in the low-quality reproductions.
Such memories came to mind before the meeting with Egidijus Stancikas, Chairman of the M. K. Čiurlionis Society of Kaunas and Head of the National Kaunas Drama Theatre. We talked to him about the activities of the Čiurlionis Society and, of course, about Mikalojus Konstantinas Čiurlionis himself.
I asked my interviewee if he also remembered his first encounter with this artist. Stancikas’ memories also wandered back to childhood. “My mother’s brother was a priest and hid interwar magazines. I found them in the attic and would secretly browse through them. That’s how I traveled through worlds of art – mysterious and captivating,” Egidijus recounted. Later, his acquaintance with Čiurlionis’ work continued at school in Tauragė and during weekend trips to Kaunas, where he had his first face to face encounter with Čiurlionis’ paintings. The chairman recalls that after being in Čiurlionis’ world, he did not want to leave. “This encounter then merged with the poetry of Milašius, the childhood mists, the mirages that are born from the trees, the silhouettes of fog, and the rays of sunlight coming through the haze.”
Egidijus Stancikas has been leading the Čiurlionis Society for two years. Since his student days, he had known the society’s first chairman, now honorary chairman, Vytautas Landsbergis, and had close ties with the Čiurlionis family as well as longtime chairman Petras Bingelis. As he puts it, he was naturally drawn into the society’s activities and educational programs with students and was essentially a member without official membership. “It was actress Rūta Staliliūnaitė who introduced me to the Čiurlionis Society, inviting me to participate in her literary readings. After P. Bingelis’ passing, the society searched for a new chairman and eventually convinced me to take on the role. That’s how this new chapter of work and responsibilities began.”
The Society was founded in 1987, initiated by Professor Vytautas Landsbergis. The establishment was not smooth due to the political situation at the time: the Society was not legally founded and only with the help of Česlovas Kudaba was it registered as one of the departments of the Cultural Foundation at the time. V. Landsbergis was confirmed as chairman, M. Mildažytė-Kulikauskienė as deputy chairman, R. Bukaveckienė as secretary and L. Jacinavičiūtė as treasurer. The Society’s areas of activity were defined as research, popularization, publishing, dissemination of Čiurlionis’ work, and the preservation and care of memorial sites. Interestingly, one of the first goals was to preserve the physical premises of the M. K. Čiurlionis Museum, as the War Museum, which was located in a part of the same building at the time, was seeking to expand into the premises of the Čiurlionis Museum. The issue was resolved only after both museums received the status of an Architectural and Historical Monument, ensuring their inviolability.
The Society’s activities expanded, and the establishment of the M. K. Čiurlionis Society in Kaunas became a stimulus for other cities as well: societies appeared in Vilnius, Senoji Varėna, Druskininkai, and Plungė. In 1995, the Čiurlionis House was established in Vilnius, which became the new center of the Society, and the Kaunas branch became its department. Eventually, however, the Kaunas branch, which had the largest number of members, broke away and became an independently operating society, which has retained its status to this day. Even today, the name of Čiurlionis unites a large group of active people – the Kaunas Society lists about forty members, of which about twenty are active. The members of the Society meet once a month in the Osvaldas Daugelis Library of the M. K. Čiurlionis National Museum of Art to discuss strategic and current affairs. “We bring our own ideas; we look for people to cooperate with. The members of the Society change quite naturally, as if passing on the baton to the next generation,” E. Stancikas notes.
Becoming a member is seemingly simple – just join the meetings and pay a nominal membership fee. However, the chairman adds that the selection criterion, albeit intended to self, does exist, and it involves an interest in the person and work of Čiurlionis, as well as a willingness to grow in this environment by taking responsibility for one’s ideas.
And what are the main aims of the Society? “Our main concern is that every Lithuanian should know Čiurlionis, just as they know and understand the importance of March 11, and just as we are responsible for today, and the future, so we should value Čiurlionis. “By discovering him, you also discover many other luminaries – Vaižgantas, Baranauskas, Valančius, Kymantaitė, and others – who were born and raised in difficult conditions but driven by idealism and creativity, left us symbols of light. They can help us cultivate the radiance of our spirit, our unique world, with respect for others, inviting unity rather than isolation, envy, anger, or war. More than ever, we need such a respectful turning toward the person beside us – any artist can inspire this, but Čiurlionis is perhaps our shortest bridge to it,” my interviewee mused.
M. K. Čiurlionis Society in Kaunas strives to achieve this goal through various activities: educational work with schoolchildren and students in the section of Jauniejie čiurlioniečiai, artistic programs, educational trips, excursions along the Čiurlionis trails, collection of scientific material, and research activities. The Society started this jubilee year with a literary-musical composition M. K. Čiurlionis – a symbol of Lithuanian identity organized at the M. K. Čiurlionis Museum. Stancikas added that this literary composition, created and implemented by Violeta and Antanas Bakutis, consistently revealed the layers of meaning of Čiurlionis, the artist’s uniqueness and relevance. The Society, in cooperation with the Kaunas branch of the Lithuanian Artists’ Association intends to build a bench of M. K. Čiurlionis and Sofija Kymantaitė in Aleksotas, and Stancikas dreams of an event where Čiurlionis’ written works would be read out loud and encourages the involvement of all generations, “Just as in Čiurlionis’ fairy tale a young man sitting on a bench receives an invitation from an old man to go on a quest, so do we want to involve the younger generation. At the moment, the Jaunieji čiurlioniečiai are working in parallel, but not together, and we would like to have all generations sitting at the same table, like a nice big family, to create continuity and to pass on the values. We maintain a close relationship with the Čiurlionis Museum, members of the Čiurlionis family, and the Čiurlionis societies in Vilnius and other cities,” the chairman concludes.
I remembered a survey organized by the museum, during which people shared their thoughts on what Čiurlionis means to them. And what is the first thing you see when you hear his name? Perhaps a forest, angels, the sea, the sounds of symphonies, a portrait of Čiurlionis, or a photograph of his wife Sofija resting her head on his shoulder? His personality is as multi-layered as his work. The chairman of the society recalls how, after one event, members and guests feasted on Čiurlionis pancakes cooked for this occasion. It turns out that when Mikalojus Konstantinas returned to Druskininkai, he used to teach his brothers how to make pancakes, and when he was frying them, he used to flip them not with tools but by flipping them in the air. The composer had another hobby, so if you find yourself in Druskininkai at a fencing tournament named after Čiurlionis, don’t be surprised – he taught himself and others how to fence. “Perhaps it would be worthwhile to organize a fencing class or a pancake-flipping championship? We want to show that Čiurlionis is not a niche artist, only for professionals; he has his own heartbeats and playful habits and can inspire us to a more beautiful communication. Whoever has touched Čiurlionis will never forget him. Some of his work will remain a mystery, but the vibrations, the energy that emanates from his paintings, his music, his thoughts, his vision, and his written works, draws you into a very special world, invites you to a meeting with yourself. Čiurlionis will exist without us, but it would be much bleaker for us to exist without him,” the chairman of the society summarizes our conversation.
Even without visiting the museum, you can find signs of Čiurlionis in places you don’t expect. And so, it happened to me – in the middle of writing this text, I noticed a magnet with Čiurlionis’ image and the motif of Castle Fairy Tale stuck on my fridge. Where was it before? This time, I stared at it for a long time, climbing the tower of that castle in my mind. I will take it as a sign, echoing Egidijus Stancikas’ idea that by reaching towards Čiurlionis, you discover yourself.
