“We started collecting signatures that the monument should be in the capital. We are looking for volunteers all over Lithuania (to collect signatures – BNS), this kind of process is new here, so far we have maybe 20 volunteers. (…) We just want to give a solid reason why that monument is needed”, said V. Jankauskaitė-Milčiuvienė.
According to her, poetry readings and cultural events might take place in this garden.
After receiving permission from the municipality to install the monument, members of the public intend to announce a competition.
“Then we will wait for the suggestions of sculptors and architects and maybe even allow the public to vote and choose,” said V. Jankauskaitė-Milčiuvienė.
As Kamilė Šeraitė-Gogelienė, the chairperson of the Historical Memory Commission of the Vilnius municipality told BNS, BNS said that the commission would consider such an appeal.
“If the Vilnius Historical Memory Commission receives a request to perpetuate the memory of J. Marcinkevičius in one or another format, we would, of course, consider the request, as well as all requests for perpetuation initiatives. “Perhaps in the commission we should also assess how many and what kind of memorials to J. Marcinkevičius already exist in the city of Vilnius and whether there is still a need for new forms of perpetuating the poet’s memory,” said the politician.
The initiative to build a monument to J. Marcinkevičius in Vilnius was also taken by the Union of Lithuanian Writers, which wanted to erect a monument in the square of the writer’s name near its headquarters in the old town of Vilnius.
The competition announced by her was won by the “Trilogy” project of “Architektūros lijina”, but then the discussion regarding J. Marcinkevičius’s personality was renewed in the society, bringing up the aspect of his adaptation to the Soviet system.
The mayor of Vilnius, Valdas Benkunskas, then claimed that the municipality would wait for the public’s consensus before giving the green light to such a commemoration of the artist. The municipal council must decide on the permit, but this issue was not considered.
As Birutė Jonuskaitė-Augustinienė, the chairwoman of the Writers’ Union, told BNS, the permission to build the monument is still stuck in the municipality.
“We sent all the letters to the municipality last year, but that’s how it is, we haven’t received any response yet. We don’t have permission,” she said.
The mayor of the capital told BNS that his position regarding the need for a monument to J. Marcinkevičius does not change.
“The public discussions showed a rather large division of the society, which in principle does not allow for an unequivocal assessment of the need for a monument, so further evaluations will be carried out by the Historical Memory Commission of the Vilnius City Municipality,” said V. Benkunskas.
For its part, the Seimas this week started considering the proposal to declare 2030 as the year of J. Marcinkevičius. Then the 100th anniversary of the writer’s birth will be celebrated.
Poet, playwright, translator, academic and public figure J. Marcinkevičius (1930-2011) published regarding 50 poems, children’s poetry, dramaturgy, essays, publicist books during his creative years, among his most famous works are the dramatic trilogy “Mindaugas”, “Mažvydas” , “Cathedral”.
The writer was active in the restoration of Lithuania’s independence, participated in the activities of Sąjūdis, but some literary experts and historians have ambiguous assessments of his role and some of his works in the Soviet era.
In 1957 and 1969, he won the State Prize of the SSR, in 2001 – the Lithuanian National Prize for Culture and Art.
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2024-04-01 15:46:35
