“I am very pleased that, from today, this mark of remembrance will be visited by the residents of Marki, the residents of Wołomin County, and will certainly also become a point of reference for many people and tourists who come to Poland. It will be a symbol of what we wish to say to the world: that in Poland, in Lithuania, in Central Europe and Eastern Europe, there resides a beautiful idea of a great culture that, in essence, enriches the entire world,” said the President of the Republic of Poland, Karol Nawrocki, during the official unveiling of the memorial to the Lithuanian artist in Marki.
This evening, the Chancellery of the President announced that the unveiling of the memorial to Mikalojus Čiurlionis in Marki (Mazowieckie Voivodeship) concluded the official commemorations of the 163rd anniversary of the outbreak of the January Uprising, in which the President of Lithuania, together with his spouse, took part during his working visit to Warsaw.
The monument, erected at the cemetery in Marki, consists of two traditional wooden chapels characteristic of Lithuania. A koplytstulpis is a type of roadside shrine, while a stogastulpis is a form of pillar shrine. This is a reference to Čiurlionis’s work, as similar shrines frequently appeared as motifs in his paintings.
The ceremonial unveiling of the monument
“From today, Poland will have another site dedicated to the memory of this artist, in a country where he spent more than ten years of his life. It was here that Čiurlionis matured as a person; here he completed his musical and artistic education, combining his Lithuanian identity and worldview with the canon of European culture,”
said the President of Lithuania, Gitanas Nausėda, during the ceremony.
Karol Nawrocki, the head of the Polish state, added:
“Čiurlionis embodies what was and remains so important to us today – a certain closeness, a shared cultural heritage, and the identity of Poland and Lithuania. In the life story of this man, who united our two nations in his artistic sensibility and sensitivity and brought Lithuania renown throughout the world, lies the truth about Polish–Lithuanian relations.”