Baltic | Escaping with Čiurlionis Symposium

Kristupas Bubnelis is a Lithuanian composer based in New York, interested in microtonality, timbral and temporal hybridity, and the poetics of decay. Noted for "decisive clarity and captivating harmonic brilliance" (Bernhard Uske, Frankfurter Rundschau), Bubnelis’ works are often inspired by urban and natural environments as well as literature and visual art forms. Working in concert halls and beyond, his music contains both composed and unmanipulated sonic structures, creating “a sense of fragile beauty, and unerring professionalism.” (Anna Veismane, ISCM) Bubnelis has worked in a variety of genres, including symphony and chamber orchestras, ensembles, solo instruments, as well as electronics. Growing international acclaim in recent years has brought his works to countries such as Germany, Austria, Denmark, France, Indonesia, the UK, the US, Canada, and Switzerland. A nominee of the Prince Pierre Foundation de Monaco Musical Springboard Award 2025, he also won the Second International Eduardas Balsys Young Composers’ Competition in 2021. His collaborations include performances with renowned collectives such as Ensemble Modern (Germany), Wet Ink Ensemble (US), Caput Ensemble (Iceland), and Quasar Saxophone Quartet (Canada), among others. Currently, he is a doctoral candidate at Columbia University, studying with Georg Friedrich Haas and Marcos Balter. He holds a master’s degree from the Royal Academy of Music in London, where he studied with Rubens Askenar and Edmund Finnis, graduating with distinction and receiving the DipRAM Award for an outstanding portfolio. He also earned his bachelor’s degree from the same institution under the tutelage of Christopher Austin, where he received the G. V. Turner Cooke Composition Award. Bubnelis has participated in masterclasses and seminars with Hans Abrahamsen, Oscar Bianchi, Harrison Birtwistle, Unsuk Chin, Oliver Knussen, and Claus Steffen Mahnkopf. His works have been featured at major international festivals, including the International Rostrum of Composers (2022), the Lucerne Festival Academy (2023), California Festival (2023), ISCM World New Music Days (2024), and the International Young Composers Academy Ticino (2025). Other achievements include the Lithuanian Composers' Union Prize (2024) for the best works in chamber orchestra and ensemble categories, as well as the Young Composers’ Prize and Best Chamber Composition Award (2022). Recent highlights include premieres at the Lithuanian National Philharmonic Hall in October 2025, following the release of his debut album, produced by the Lithuanian Music Information Centre (LMIC). In 2026, Bubnelis will collaborate with the Lithuanian National Symphony Orchestra and the International Contemporary Ensemble (US).

Philip Ross Bullock is Professor of Russian Literature and Music at the University of Oxford. He has published widely on aspects of Russophone literature and culture from the late eighteenth century onwards, with a particular interest in word music relations in both opera and song. He also has a strong interest in the Western European reception of Russian culture around the turn of the twentieth century, as well as in questions of translation, transnationalism and cultural exchange more generally. His most recent publications include Pyotr Tchaikovsky (London, 2016) and as editor Rachmaninoff and His World (Chicago, 2022). His research has been supported by the British Academy, the Leverhulme Trust and the UK Arts and Humanities Research Council, and he has held visiting fellowships at Grenoble, Paris and Princeton.

Naglis Kardelis is Professor at the Faculty of Philosophy, Vilnius University. He is the author of The Insight of Unity in Plato’s Philosophy (2007) and To Know or To Understand? The Horizons of Humanities and the Natural Sciences (2008), both published in Lithuanian. He has also published numerous articles on topics in ancient philosophy, contemporary continental philosophy, and Lithuanian philosophy, and is the translator into Lithuanian of five Platonic dialogues and a number of texts from Christian classics. His current work is focused on the reception and actualization of Classical Greek philosophy in contemporary philosophy and on the legacy of Mikalojus Konstantinas Čiurlionis, Arvydas Šliogeris, and Marija Gimbutas.

Abstract: Čiurlionis as a Philosopher:

Thinking in the Medium of Color and Sound

Mikalojus Konstantinas Čiurlionis is usually regarded as the most talented of all Lithuanian artists and the only true Lithuanian genius. We think of him as a creator whose musical talent is perfectly matched by his talent in the sphere of visual arts. Yet, even now, after much research, Čiurlionis still remains an enigmatic and underappreciated creator. One of the unappreciated sides to his genius is his philosophical thought.

Four philosophical aspects of Čiurlionis’s art will be discussed in this presentation. The first is his unique ability to communicate certain hidden messages or show an invisible mental landscape behind concrete imagery of his paintings. The second philosophical aspect is related to the “fractal” dialectic of parts and wholes. In both Čiurlionis’s paintings and musical compositions there are spatial and temporal parts that reveal themselves as not only parts, but also as wholes, and vice versa. The dialectic of parts and wholes also communicates the idea that our knowledge is both partial and complete and both absolute and relative. The third philosophical aspect is related to Čiurlionis’s ability to integrate, in any single piece of artistic work, various perspectives, perceptual and intellectual sources of information, levels of experience, existential moods, and different modes of artistic expression. The fourth philosophical aspect is related to Čiurlionis’s ability to create in his paintings and musical compositions alternative imaginary worlds. He reveals himself as a true – even prophetic – visionary.

Lina Navickaitė is Professor and Senior Researcher at the Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theatre. She holds a Ph.D. in Musicology from the University of Helsinki. A regular participant and invited speaker at international conferences and symposia, Navickaitė has been a member of national and international research and cultural development projects. She is author of the books A Suite of Conversations: 32 Interviews and Essays on the Art of Music Performance (2010) and Piano Performance in a Semiotic Key: Society, Musical Canon and Novel Discourses (2014) and co-author of the scholarly study Perception of Expression in Musical Performance: Cross-Cultural Aspects and the Lithuanian Case (2023). She is currently leading scholarly projects “Interpretations of the Lithuanian Piano Canon” and “Piano Recital and Beyond,” both financed by the Research Council of Lithuania (LMTLT). Her research deals with various phenomena within the art of music performance, with a specific focus on semiotic and sociological aspects as well as practice-led research.

Abstract: Čiurlionis in Performance: Lithuanian Piano Canon in a Broader Context

Although Mikalojus Konstantinas Čiurlionis’s musical legacy has been the subject of extensive scholarly attention, relatively little focus has been placed on the performance practices surrounding his piano compositions. As a pivotal figure in early twentieth-century Lithuanian art and music, Čiurlionis produced a body of piano works that weave together elements of Impressionism, National Romanticism, and other stylistic currents. This talk investigates how these works are interpreted by both Lithuanian pianists and their international peers. For the former, Čiurlionis represents a cultural icon and a symbol of national identity; for the latter, his music often remains an unfamiliar territory, typically encountered through the compulsory repertoire of the International Mikalojus Konstantinas Čiurlionis Piano Competition or other avenues.

For Lithuanian performers, Čiurlionis’s music is deeply intertwined with national heritage. Their interpretations tend to reflect a strong sense of cultural authenticity, drawing on historical context and emotional nuance. These performances often embody a lyrical, introspective character, resonating with widely held perceptions of the Lithuanian spirit and mentality.

By contrast, the interpretations offered by non-Lithuanian pianists are especially compelling in their diversity. Approaching the music without the framework of national identity, these performers bring a range of global stylistic influences and technical approaches. This detachment can foster a sense of interpretive freedom, resulting in innovative renditions that may challenge or expand traditional understandings of Čiurlionis’s works.

Through comparative performance analysis and an examination of critical reception, this talk highlights both the universal appeal of Čiurlionis’s music and the culturally specific dimensions of its interpretation. In doing so, it underscores the dual nature of his piano oeuvre as both a cornerstone of Lithuanian musical identity and a source of inspiration for pianists worldwide.

This talk presents preliminary findings of the project “Interpretations of the Lithuanian Piano Canon,” No. S-MIP-24-136, funded by the Research Council of Lithuania (LMTLT).

Goda Palekaitė is an artist, researcher and writer working in the intersection of contemporary art, performance, artistic research, literature, and anthropology. Her practice evolves around projects exploring the politics of historical narratives, the agency of dreams and fiction, and the alternative discourses of knowledge. Merging academic sources with fiction, poetry, artistic and cinematic elements, she proposes an intimate relationship with history and other forms of knowledge. Goda holds a BFA in fine arts, MA in social and cultural anthropology, Post-Master in artistic research and Ph.D. in visual and audiovisual arts. In the last years she presented installations, films and performances in solo and group exhibitions in various venues in Europe and beyond: Beursschouwburg, BOZAR and Kanal-Centre Pompidou in Brussels, Whitechapel Gallery and Delfina Foundation in London, Konstepidemin in Gothenburg, Tranzit in Bratislava, The Biennale Architettura in Venice, Contemporary Art Centre and National Gallery of Art in Vilnius, among others. Goda is the Curator of the Alternative Education Program at Rupert art centre in Vilnius, Lithuania. She is an author of two books (Schismatics and Conditions of Creativity) as well as various essays and experimental texts published in academic and artistic contexts. Goda lives and works between Vilnius and Brussels.

https://www.palekaite.space/

Rima Povilionienė holds Bachelor’s, Master’s, and a Ph.D. in Humanities/Musicology, and Bachelor’s and Master’s in Piano Performance. She is a member of the Lithuanian Research Council, Head of Musicologists’ Section at the Lithuanian Composers’ Union, a full-time professor at the Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theatre (LAMT), and Assistant Editor-in-Chief of the Lithuanian Musicology journal. Beginning October 1, 2025, she is a Fulbright Fellow at the Graduate Center, CUNY, New York. Professor Povilionienė has held a research position at the International Semiotics Institute (ISI) at Kaunas University of Technology and at the Centre for Science at the LAMT, and she served as a member of the Lithuanian National Commission for UNESCO. She has held internships at the Institute of Musicology at the Leipzig University, IRCAM (Paris), the Rochester University Eastman School of Music course in Paris, and the Manifeste Academie (IRCAM). Her monograph Musica Mathematica (2013) received the Professor Vytautas Landsbergis Foundation Prize and was published in English by Peter Lang in 2016. She is the editor of two Springer collections (2017, 2019) and co-author of recent monographs including Vox Humana Craftsmanship (Springer, 2022) and Sounding Utopias. Trajectories and Contexts in Lithuanian Music Modernization (2023, in Lithuanian), and the digital Čiurlionis’ Piano Works Complete. Critical Edition and Commentaries (2024, piano.ciurlionis.eu/en/monograph). Together with her husband, organ restorer Dr. Girėnas Povilionis, she has established an organ restoration workshop, a museum of musical instruments, and a concert hall near Vilnius.

Abstract: The presentation focuses on Čiurlionis’s creative use of secret scripts as structural elements. An examination of his paintings, sketches, and musical works provides an opportunity to view his music as a numerological, number-encoded creation. Although he rarely signed his paintings, Čiurlionis seemed to treat his signature more as a visual symbol. Thus, a numerological interpretation can help explain the origin of the signature MKČ as well as the use of his name in both his paintings and music. The incorporation of a secret alphabet and encoded signs also reflects a cryptographic approach in Čiurlionis’s creative process. In my presentation I discuss several of his works, including the sonata paintings, graphic miniatures with letter initials, vignettes and drawings, as well as the Fugue in B-flat and various piano sketches – all of which reveal the artistically encoded language of Čiurlionis.

Emilija Škarnulytė is a Lithuanian-born artist and filmmaker. Working between the realms of the documentary and the imaginary, Škarnulytė makes films and immersive installations exploring deep time and invisible structures. She works in realms that range from the cosmic and geological to the ecological and political.

She most recently presented works at MoMA PS1, Palais de Tokyo, Louisiana MoMA, Villa Medici, MORI Art Museum, Kiasma, Gwangju Biennale, Helsinki Biennale, Penumbra. Her work was presented in solo exhibitions at Kunsthall Trondheim (2024), Canal Projects, NYC (2024), Kunsthaus Göttingen (2024) Ferme-Asile, Sion (2023); Kunsthaus Pasquart, Biel/Bienne (2021); Den Frie, Copenhagen (2021); National Gallery of Vilnius (2021); Künstlerhaus Bethanien, Berlin (2017); Contemporary Art Centre CAC of Vilnius (2015). An upcoming show at Tate St Ives will open in October 2025.

Prizes awarded to her include the 2023 Ars Fennica Award and the 2019 Future Generation Art Prize. She represented Lithuania at the XXII Triennale di Milano and participated in the Baltic Pavilion at the 2018 Venice Architecture Biennale. She has films in the collections of the Centre Pompidou, Kadist Foundation, Kiasma, Fondazione in between Art and Film, IFA, HAM, FRAC Corsica, LNMA, MO Museum, and private collections. Her works have been screened at the Tate Modern and Serpentine Gallery in London, Centre Pompidou in Paris, Museum of Modern Art in New York, and numerous film festivals, including Oberhausen, Visions du Réel, Rotterdam, Busan, among many others.

She is a founder and currently co-directs Polar Film Lab, a collective for analogue film practice located in Tromsø, Norway and is a member of the artist duo New Mineral Collective.

Sandra Skurvida is an art historian and independent curator practicing in cross disciplinary, transnational, and ecosophical intersections of contemporary art. She recently authored a monograph, John Cage Composing, Computing, and Curating (Routledge, 2025), and contributed essays to ARTMargins and Mind/Mirror: Jasper Johns. She lives in New York City and Bremen, Germany, and teaches at FIT SUNY.

Abstract: Besides Western modernity aligned with power discourses and reflected in antimodernities of regimes opposed to the West, a third modality emerged at the intersections of these opposing forces, creating an ummodernity at the margins and shared among seekers of unconscious cognition beyond disciplinary boundaries, such as Mikalojus Konstantinas Čiurlionis of Lithuania, Yukhim Mikhailov of Ukraine, František Kupka of Bohemia, and Hilma af Klint of Sweden. This modality connects their alter-modernist heritages to the contemporary search for the localized differentiation of modernity’s power.

Edvardas Šumila is a scholar, writer, and curator, currently a PhD candidate in philosophy at The New School for Social Research in New York and a lecturer at the Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theatre. His research focuses on critical theory, aesthetics and politics, artistic intersectionality, and political commitment, with a particular focus on the thought of Theodor W. Adorno. Recently, he has been working on the theories of Second Nature in relation to environmental theory, specifically the notion of ‘milieu’. He is a curator at the Contemporary Art Centre in Vilnius and also operates as a freelance curator. Šumila is one of the founders and curators of AHEAD, a festival for electronic sound practices. He has also curated and directed the music festivals Druskomanija, Raseiniai, and contributed to the programming of Jauna muzika.

Dr. Virginija Vitkienė has developed a multifaceted career as a lecturer, art critic, curator, writer, and chief manager of international cultural projects. In 2025 she was appointed Director General of the M. K. Čiurlionis National Museum of Art (www.ciurlionis.lt) in Kaunas, Lithuania.

Dr. Vitkienė was the initiator and head of Kaunas 2022 – European Capital of Culture (www.kaunas2022.eu), a transformative project that, in 2022 alone, hosted over 1,500 events implemented by 77 Lithuanian organizations in collaboration with 500 European partner institutions. As part of this initiative, she also curated William Kentridge’s exhibition That Which We Don’t Remember at the M. K. Čiurlionis National Museum of Art (January–November 2022), which attracted 95,000 visitors. From 2010 to 2018, she served as the Artistic Director of the Kaunas Biennial (www.biennial.lt), one of the leading contemporary art events in the Baltic region. She is also the conceptual designer and Artistic Director of Magic Carpets (2017–2024), a Creative Europe platform (www.magiccarpets.eu) that unites 15 European partners. The platform empowers emerging curators and artists to co-create collaborative artistic processes with local communities—primarily in public spaces.

In 2023, she was appointed General Commissioner of the Lithuanian Season in France 2024 (www.saisonlituanie.com), curating a program of over 200 cultural and artistic projects across France. This initiative has fostered long-term partnerships between more than 240 cultural institutions in France and Lithuania.

Abstract: “Beyond the Frame: Čiurlionis’s Temporal Imagination in Visual Cycles”

This lecture examines Mikalojus Konstantinas Čiurlionis’s painterly practice as an exploration of temporality, narrative rhythm, and visual seriality. Unlike most of his early twentieth-century contemporaries, Čiurlionis rarely created isolated images; instead, from his earliest student works he developed interconnected cycles—structured visual narratives unfolding across multiple canvases. These series, such as Funeral Symphony (1903), Rage (1904), and the visionary triptych Rex (1904–1905), reflect a proto-cinematic approach that grants pictorial space a temporal and emotional arc. At the center of this discussion is The Creation of the World (1905–1906), a 13-part cycle envisioned by Čiurlionis not as a finished sequence, but as an open-ended cosmogony extending toward a possible 100 images. This expansive intention reveals the artist’s self-conception not merely as a painter of worlds, but as an active creator within them—accompanying the genesis of something yet unseen and intuitively imagined. Rather than illustrating a biblical narrative, Čiurlionis sought to shape a universal, archetypal creation story unfolding across time, layers, and vision. In 1907 Čiurlionis turned explicitly to musical structures, composing visual sonatas whose internal progression and thematic intensification mirror the temporal logic of music. Allegro, andante, scherzo, and finale—these terms became conceptual tools for picturing time, transformation, and emotional crescendo in the painted image. The lecture argues that Čiurlionis’s cycles embody a unique artistic temporality, standing beyond the frame of both his medium and his era.

Bradley D. Woodworth is Program Manager of Baltic Studies at Yale University and Professor of History at the University of New Haven. His research interests include the modern history of the Baltic region – particularly the lands that comprise the Republic of Estonia – and also the history of the multiethnic Russian Empire in the tsarist period, including Finland. He is co-editor (with Karsten Brüggemann) of Russland an der Ostsee. Imperiale Strategien der Macht und kulturelle Wahrnehmungsmuster (16. bis 20. Jahrhundert / Russia on the Baltic: Imperial Strategies of Power and Cultural Patterns of Perception (16th-20th Centuries) (Cologne, 2012). His most recent articles include “Carl Gustaf Emil Mannerheim,” in Russia’s People of Empire: Life Stories from Eurasia, 1500 to the Present, edited by Stephen M. Norris and Willard Sunderland (Bloomington, 2012); “Music Associations and National Identity in Russia’s Baltic Provinces: The Case of Tallinn, 1850-1914,” in Vereinskultur und Zivilgesellschaft in Nordosteuropa. Regionale Spezifik und europäische Zusammenhänge, edited by Jörg Hackmann (Cologne, 2012); and “Multiethnicity and Estonian Tsarist State Officials in Estland Province, 1881-1914,” in Russian Bureaucracy and the State: Officialdom from Alexander III to Putin, edited by Donald K. Rowney and Eugene Huskey (Basingstoke, 2009).