Lithuanian Knitter Community Creates 900 Sweaters To Celebrate 150th Birthday of Beloved Artist
Knitting needles are clicking and yarn is weaving across Lithuania in honor of the country’s celebrated painter and composer, Mikalojus Konstantinas Čiurlionis. To mark his 150th birthday in 2025, a grassroots initiative “We Knit Čiurlionis” has united more than 400 knitters, who have already created 900 sweaters decorated with his image – with more still to come.
The initiative complements a wider cultural program of nearly 150 events, most centered in the country’s capital, Vilnius, that celebrate Čiurlionis through exhibitions, concerts, and performances.
Who was Mikalojus Konstantinas Čiurlionis?
Although he died at just 35, Lithuanian composer and painter Mikalojus Konstantinas Čiurlionis (1875 – 1911) became a national icon in his country. Abroad, his legacy is now being rediscovered, making the anniversary of his birth a rare moment to experience his genius and vision anew.
Čiurlionis was a polymath who created 400 musical works and 300 paintings in less than a decade. By composing canvases with the structures of fugues and sonatas, and writing music that conjured dreamlike landscapes infused with Symbolism and abstraction, he merged sound and image in a unique synthesis that places him among the pioneers of European modernism.
Lithuanians Knit Čiurlionis Into Life
The initiative “We Knit Čiurlionis” was launched in May 2025 by a Lithuanian knitting community that has been active for the past three years. Since then, nearly 400 knitters from across the country have joined the effort. Together, they continue to create, having already produced more than 900 sweaters bearing the artist’s likeness. To see their activities check this Instagram post.
The knitters stay connected through a Facebook group, “Knitting Čiurlionis Together,” where they access patterns in multiple sizes and colors, share progress, and exchange advice. Beginners find guidance from experienced knitters, while advanced participants personalize the designs.
“Čiurlionis created worlds that continue to inspire us today. In knitting his portrait, we not only honor this brilliant artist, but also bring people together – from beginners to experienced knitters, from different cities and backgrounds – in a shared act of creativity. Each row of stitches is both a tribute to him and a new bond within our community,” says Gintarė Murauskienė, one of the initiators of “We Knit Čiurlionis”.
The project will culminate on 22 September 2025, when knitters plan to gather, dressed in their finished creations, to celebrate Čiurlionis’s 150th birthday.
Anniversary Celebrations Continue in Vilnius
As knitters craft his portrait, Lithuania is honoring Čiurlionis with nearly 150 events. From October to December 2025, Vilnius will become the heart of the anniversary, hosting exhibitions, concerts, performances, and immersive virtual reality shows “Trail of Angels” and “Creation of Worlds” that invite visitors into his dreamlike universes.
The program includes the opera “Jūratė,” which expands Čiurlionis’s universe by bringing a Baltic sea goddess legend to the stage; the ballet “Čiurlionis,” which transforms the artist’s paintings and music into choreography; “Čiurlionis Visata,” a symphonic journey into his artistic cosmos; and “World Piano Stars Greeting Čiurlionis,” an international virtuosi tribute that underscores the borderless power of his music.
“The Year of Čiurlionis offers inspiration and renewal, bringing the light we so urgently need today. It invites audiences to immerse themselves in the infinity contained within the artist’s works. The program’s wide range of events and initiatives encourages new perspectives on Čiurlionis’s creativity. Participants are invited to experience his legacy in diverse forms, each discovering their own key to the boundless worlds envisioned by Čiurlionis,” says composer Matas Drukteinis, Acting Adviser to the Prime Minister on Cultural Affairs.