The National M. K. Čiurlionis Art Museum in Kaunas will present a new scholarly book on the stage designer Liudas Truikys, "Liudas Truikys. Menas yra auka Kosmoso lygsvarai" (Art Is an Offering to the Balance of the Cosmos), on Thursday, October 15, 2026, at 4:30 p.m. The launch takes place in the Music Hall of the museum's building on V. Putvinskio Street and is free to attend.
The book's editor, Dr. Radvilė Racėnaitė, will be joined by three of its authors, Dr. Miglė Lebednykaitė, Dr. Tadas Rutkauskas and Dr. Indrė Šurkutė, in a conversation moderated by Rasa Ruibienė.
According to the museum, the volume's six scholarly essays approach Truikys, whom it calls one of Lithuania's most prominent scenographers, from angles that have so far received little or no study. Drawing on art history, theatre studies and cultural history, the authors look at his personality, his stage designs and other work, his library, his personal notes, and his collection of Eastern and Lithuanian folk art. These subjects are set against Egyptomania, Japonisme and Chinese aesthetics, Christian art and the Lithuanian national style.
The book reproduces key set and costume designs for operas that trace Truikys's artistic path, among them "Three Talismans," "Eglė," "Gražina," "Othello," "Madama Butterfly," "Aida" and "Don Carlos," some published for the first time. Documentary photographs and comparative material from other countries and artists are also included, along with a catalogue list of the items shown in an exhibition at the Čiurlionis museum. The book was peer-reviewed by the orientalist Professor Audrius Beinorius and the theatre scholar Professor Helmutas Šabasevičius.
