A conversation with curators of the exhibition “From Amber to Stars”, Greta Katkevičiūtė, Vaiva Laukaitienė, and Kathleen Soriano, by Justė Litinskaitė of the M. K. Čiurlionis National Museum of Art.
A conversation with curators of the exhibition “From Amber to Stars”, Greta Katkevičiūtė, Vaiva Laukaitienė, and Kathleen Soriano, by Justė Litinskaitė of the M. K. Čiurlionis National Museum of Art.
This year, as Lithuania celebrates the 150th anniversary of the birth of Mikalojus Konstantinas Čiurlionis, the M. K. Čiurlionis National Museum of Art will host the exhibition “From Amber to the Stars. Together with M. K. Čiurlionis: Now and Then”.
The exhibition, which brings together many international artists and art institutions, will present M. K. Čiurlionis in interesting and unexpected dialogues with the work of Lithuanian and foreign artists.
The curators of the exhibition, Greta Katkevičienė (Lithuania), Vaiva Laukaitienė (Lithuania), and Kathleen Soriano (United Kingdom), share their insights on the making of the exhibition and the complex nature of Čiurlionis’s personality and work, which serve as inspiration for the show.
How did the idea for the exhibition “From Amber to the Stars. Together with M. K. Čiurlionis: Now and Then” come about?
Greta Katkevičienė (GK): We often view M. K. Čiurlionis primarily from an artistic perspective, but he was much more than just an artist. During his lifetime, he was keenly interested in science and history and was actively engaged in historical art events. He participated in the founding meeting of the Lithuanian Art Society, was elected to its board, and managed the representation of Lithuanian art while organizing exhibitions. In 1906, M. K. Čiurlionis, along with sculptor Petras Rimša and painter Antanas Zmuidzinavičius, organized the first exhibition of Lithuanian art, where he also showcased his own paintings.
For the exhibition “From Amber to the Stars”, we aimed to explore M. K. Čiurlionis from a different angle by incorporating scientific themes and objects he might have encountered during his time. The initial idea centred around the relationship between M. K. Čiurlionis and science, leading us to the cosmos theme. M. K. Čiurlionis had a significant interest in astronomy and was influenced by astronomers like Camille Flammarion; he read various articles on the subject.
We also wanted to consider how we perceive our surroundings and the sciences in our everyday lives. As we delved deeper into the cosmic aspect, we realized that one cannot look toward the future without acknowledging the past. This reflection inspired the sea concept, which holds great significance for M. K. Čiurlionis. It symbolizes his roots, the Baltic amber, and the walks he took by the sea. It also represents how M. K. Čiurlionis identified himself as Lithuanian and how we, as Lithuanians, perceive our own identity. This connection led us to the beautiful idea of amber, which many of us collected after storms as children.
The cosmos theme resonates with M. K. Čiurlionis’ innovations, the unique styles he developed, and the philosophies he communicated to the world. More broadly, it symbolizes how we, as Lithuanians, embrace modernity, including our technological advancements and IT companies. While this exhibition mainly focuses on M. K. Čiurlionis, it also celebrates our broader Lithuanian identity.
Kathleen, a couple of years ago, you curated the first major UK exhibition of work by M. K. Čiurlionis, “M.K. Čiurlionis: Between Worlds” (2022-2023), in Dulwich Picture Gallery. Tell me, how did the collaboration between you and the M. K. Čiurlionis Museum begin?
Kathleen Soriano (KS): How do I start? I have always been interested in making exhibitions of people who deserve to be better known than they are. I have worked at some big organizations in the UK and internationally. We tend to replicate the Western cannon all the time, sort of the big names everybody knows. So, I’ve always liked to do a little bit around the edges, as well, for there are very deserving artists. I recently mounted an exhibition on the Norwegian symbolist artist Harold Sohlberg for Dulwich Picture Gallery, and they asked me what I would like to do next.
I became aware of M. K. Čiurlionis’ work partly through a wonderful cultural attaché based in London, Justė Kostikovaitė, who I think is now curating herself. The more I learned, the more fascinated I became. And then, I visited the M. K. Čiurlionis Museum in Kaunas, and I was welcomed wonderfully by the team there. They were all very generous and open, allowing me to make something for the British audience, which became a revelation. It was a very popular exhibition and certainly brought his work to much wider attention.
One of the things I was going to pick up on what Greta has said was that in formulating the exhibition in Kaunas, I think it was also really important to re-contextualize and reintroduce M. K. Čiurlionis to those audiences that think they know him already and to put him in that much bigger context not just with science and inventors but also with artists, to show he was deeply rooted in the same concerns that artist had before him, during his time, but also right up to the present day. So, it was partly to do with getting people to look at him again through the new eyes.
Indeed, alongside works by M. K. Čiurlionis and his contemporaries, the exhibition will feature artworks by contemporary artists. What is the common thread connecting the artworks? How were the artworks selected?
KS: As always, when you make an exhibition, you start with a big list, and then slowly, slowly, you refine it. All of us were constantly bringing ideas and possible artists to the table. But when once they’re sitting there on a table, you have to interrogate the work, and you’re interrogating it partly to ensure that it sits comfortably with M. K. Čiurlionis because if it’s just another painting of the sea or another painting of cosmos, it doesn’t make any sense. It’s got to sit well with the works, and it needs to be of the quality or have an aesthetic impact within the rhythm and pace of the exhibition so that you know that that particular work is going to work really hard for you in the exhibition with the audience. You have a big space, but you can’t throw space away; you need to know that every object, every painting, is doing the job that it needs to do. Sometimes, at the beginning of making exhibitions, you always come to the table with lots of jokes and suggestions, and slowly, over time, you refine it. And still, things pop up. But that’s the beauty of the thematic exhibition: you can make it many times over but with a different set of artists.
Will any artwork be specifically created for this exhibition?
Vaiva Laukaitienė (VL): Tania Kovats, an artist based in Devon, England, created a new body of work composed of individual ink and watercolor drawings of each of the 12 full moons that would have been risen in M. K. Čiurlionis’ birth year, 1875. A Lithuanian artist, Emilija Škarnulytė, is working on a film dedicated to M. K. Čiurlionis to celebrate the exhibition.
What other artifacts will we find in the exhibition besides artworks?
GK: There will be some contextual objects in the exhibition. We plan to display amber items and astronomical and navigational tools like telescopes and compasses. Interestingly, we have telescopes similar to those used during M. K. Čiurlionis’ time. It is quite possible that he looked through similar lenses while studying in Warsaw or Leipzig, as his lectures extended beyond just music. Many of these objects are from periods when people would decorate them, making them not only scientific instruments but also works of art in their own right.
We will also exhibit books by Camille Flammarion, Imanuel Kant, marquise Simon-Pierre de Laplas and Charles Darwin that inspired M. K. Čiurlionis. He was profoundly impressed by Flammarion’s writings. We will show these books alongside M. K. Čiurlionis’ paintings to illustrate how his imagination was shaped by his curiosity and desire to understand the world around him. After all, he sought knowledge through reading those books and studying history, mathematics, astronomy, and many other subjects.
Did you personally discover anything about M. K. Čiurlionis while working on the exhibition?
GK: I found how time could have influenced M. K. Čiurlionis fascinating. Today, we view M. K. Čiurlionis as a great artist and talented composer. However, I’ve discovered that he approached life with immense curiosity and was eager to share his ideas. I examined his meticulously drawn sketches and saw how they transformed into paintings. While working on the exhibition, I read a book about scientific discoveries related to Mars. Today, Mars is seen as a dead planet, but during M. K. Čiurlionis’s time, there was still debate about whether life, such as Martians or flora, existed there. The idea of not being alone in the universe offers a different philosophy towards life. These contextual discoveries have allowed me to see M. K. Čiurlionis in a new light, not just as an artist but as a deeply curious individual whose time shaped his philosophies. This exhibition is not just about M. K. Čiurlionis; it’s also about understanding the context of his life.
KS: I think you’re right, Greta. The problem with M. K. Čiurlionis is that he often sits in the composer’s pocket. And he only painted for 6 years. But I think when you look at this exhibition and the other artists and their work, you realize that the link between them is that curiosity. M. K. Čiurlionis was endlessly curious. He tried things out through paintings, etchings on glass, and photographs all the time. For me, it rebalanced him a little bit with the music and the painting because that sort of element of curiosity is so strong in artists today.
VL: Lithuanians always see M. K. Čiurlionis as some extraordinary, self-taught lone genius without formal training. However, in this exhibition, we know he was not alone in his ideas. We see that his contemporaries and our contemporaries were and continue to be thinking about the same things. They all express themselves through different media but share the same ideas.
Many prominent art institutions from Lithuania and abroad will borrow their artworks for the exhibition. What would be the highlights? It may be the first time the M. K. Čiurlionis Museum will exhibit some of the artists in Lithuania.
KS: We are borrowing artworks from the Pompidou and the Orsay in Paris, the Tate and the British Museum in London, amongst others. There will likely be quite a few artworks or artists that have never been shown in Lithuania, like William Blake and Miguel Rothschild.
VL: It is also essential that the exhibition visitors will be able to see more of M. K. Čiurlionis’ works than usual. Our collection includes 228 paintings by M. K. Čiurlionis, but only about 100 are displayed in our permanent exhibition. We will showcase nearly all we have in our collection for the upcoming exhibition – in the exhibition itself and in the permanent Čiurlionis galleries.
The exhibition "From Amber to the Stars. Together with M. K. Čiurlionis: Now and Then" will be held at the M. K. Čiurlionis National Museum of Art, Putvinskio Street 55, Kaunas. It will be open from March 21 to October 12 this year. The exhibition is held under the patronage of the President of the Republic of Lithuania and is funded by the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Lithuania.
"https://www.lrt.lt/en/news-in-english/19/2505573/from-amber-to-the-stars-exploring-the-legacy-of-m-k-ciurlionis-interview">Justė Litinskaitė,Online Editor