10-05-2024
Čiurlionis exhibition will be held in Japan in spring 2026
On 9 May, M.K. Čiurlionis National Museum of Art Director Daina Kamarauskienė and Japan’s National Museum of Western Art Director Masayuki Tanaka signed a letter of intent in Kaunas regarding an exhibition of the works of Mikalojus Konstantinas Čiurlionis, to be held in Tokyo in spring 2026.
The National Museum of Western Art, opened in Tokyo in 1959, is the most important state museum in Japan dedicated to Western art and the only such institution in all of Asia. The planned exhibition will be the second exhibition of the works of M.K. Čiurlionis to be held in Japan. In March–April 1992, the exhibition Čiurlionis: Fin-de-siècle Lietuvos fantastas ir mistikas at Tokyo’s Sezon Museum displayed 165 works, including paintings, ink graphics, fluorine etchings, drawings, postcards, letters, and music manuscripts. The exhibition attracted more than 35,000 visitors.
The delegation from the National Museum of Western Art, including Director Masayuki Tanaka, Chief Curator Shinsuke Watanabe and Researcher-Curator Aoi Yamamasu, in Lithuania for a study visit from 8–11 May, met with the interagency working group for the 2025 Year of Mikalojus Konstantinas Čiurlionis, led by Dr. Gabrielė Žaidytė, Advisor to the Prime Minister on Cultural Issues, and became acquainted with the programme for international commemoration that is currently being prepared. The delegation viewed the collections of the M.K. Čiurlionis National Museum of Art, took an interest in the history of exhibitions of the works of M.K. Čiurlionis outside Lithuania, and viewed the virtual reality film Angelų takais, created on the basis of the motifs of the works of the artist and composer.
The visit includes a visit to the Čiurlionis Home-Museum in Druskininkai, the Čiurlionis House in Vilnius, and meetings with the artist’s biographer and researcher Prof. Vytautas Landsbergis and the pianist and Čiurlionis House Director Prof. Rokas Zubovas.
The delegation will become more broadly acquainted with Lithuania’s history, culture, art and museum activity during its visit. The guests, accompanied by Lithuanian National Museum of Art Director General Dr. Arūnas Gelūnas and National Gallery of Art Director Dr. Lolita Jablonskienė, visited the National Gallery of Art, Radvila Palace Museum of Art, and Museum of Applied Arts and Design.
The visit to Lithuania of the delegation from the National Museum of Western Art was prepared by the Lithuanian Culture Institute in cooperation with Gabija Čepulionytė, cultural attaché at the Embassy of the Republic of Lithuania to Japan.
Photograph courtesy of Justė Mocevičiūtė
Last updated: 13-05-2024
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