Sonia Gaskell

Commemorating Sonia Gaskell: A New Sculptural Composition in Vilkaviškis

Preserving Vilkaviškis' Cultural Heritage – 2024 Initiative

The cultural heritage of Vilkaviskis district is particularly rich in famous personalities. According to the data of the Vilkaviskis Library, there are more than 1350 of them. Some of them have made a significant contribution not only to Lithuania, but also to other countries and the whole of Europe. Unfortunately, many of them are rarely remembered or forgotten entirely, and their memory is not commemorated in any way in the public spaces of the city. One such personality is Sonia Gaskell (born in Vilkaviskis in 1904, originally, Sara Gaskelytė), a choreographer born in Vilkaviskis, pioneer of Dutch ballet, founder of the Dutch National Ballet, and a major contributor to the treasure trove of ballet art across Europe. After leaving Vilkaviškis, she honed her skills in Paris and danced with the most famous European dancers of the time. After marrying a Dutchman, she went to Amsterdam and founded a ballet school there. The Vilkaviškis Town Clock Support Foundation aims to preserve and cherish the historical memory of the Vilkaviškis region and to showcase personalities important to Lithuanian and European culture in the public spaces of Vilkaviškis by creating a new artistic object to adorn the town. Therefore, the project “PRESERVING AND CELEBRATING THE HISTORICAL MEMORY OF VILKAVIŠKAS –24” was implemented.

As part of the project, a sculptural composition of the ballerina Sonia Gaskell was created and placed in the public space in front of the Vilkaviškis Children and Youth Centre. Due to the lack of detailed information on this personality in public spaces and on the Internet, a subpage dedicated to her was created on the website of the Tourist Information Centre. The project also helps to continue and supports the project “Blossoms - for our city!”, funded by the Vilkaviškis District Municipality's NGO Support Programme and members of the Vilkaviškis Lions Club, which together with the volunteers of the Youth Centre planted a daffodil meadow, which will now be the perfect backdrop to the sculptural composition. The project is partly funded by the Vilkaviskis District Municipality Culture and Art Projects under Priority 1.2 for 2024 - for activities that promote cooperation in several fields of art, creative innovations, highlighting the history of the region, traditions, famous people, and historical dates. The project has created a new aesthetic accent for the town of Vilkaviskis - a sculptural composition of a ballerina, which not only commemorates a personality important for the culture of the whole of Europe - the ballerina Sonia Gaskell, but also creates a new work of art that decorates the town and is an attraction for the citizens of Vilkaviskis and their town.

Project manager - Vitas Girdauskas

On 27 September, a sculpture of ballerina Sonia Gaskell was unveiled in front of the Vilkaviskis Children and Youth Centre. This initiative was implemented by the Vilkaviškis Town Clock Support Foundation together with the Vilkaviškis Tourism and Business Information Centre to honor the world-famous ballerina, teacher, choreographer and pioneer of Netherlands ballet.

The Mayor of Vilkaviskis District Municipality Algirdas Neiberka, Vice-Mayors Daiva Riklienė and Joris Juškauskas, Director of Administration Vitas Gavėnas, Kaunas Trade, Aloyzas Beržanskis, Head of the Vilkaviškis Representative Office of the Vilkaviškis Chamber of Industry and Crafts, Arūnas Simutis, Head of the Vilkaviškis Town Clock Support Foundation, Algirdas Butkevičius, Member of the Seimas, Faina Kukliansky, Chairperson of the Lithuanian Jewish (Litvak) Community and other honoured guests.

Thank you to the students of the Nijus Juška Ballet School, who decorated the event with their dance.

The sculpture was created by sculptor Lukas Šiupšinskas