Creative generation
Lithuanian culture is increasingly recognised worldwide for its bold experimentation and authentic perspective. The opera-performance Sun & Sea winning the Golden Lion at the 2019 Venice Biennale is the standout, but the achievements run from film directors to classical musicians – like Asmik Grigorian, one of the world’s most sought-after sopranos, and Saulė Bliuvaitė, whose feature debut Toxic won top honours at the Locarno Film Festival.
Emerging talent
A generation of Lithuanian talents, with bold creative visions and the technical skills to turn them into compelling art, are making waves across the globe. Take Pakui Hardware, an artist duo comprising Neringa Černiauskaitė and Ugnius Gelguda, whose vivid explorations of technology and materiality have featured at Performa, New York’s premier performance art biennial, and the Venice Biennale. Among many international successes, Vilnius-based fashion and costume designer Morta Nakaitė was selected as one of the world’s best up-and-coming fashion talents for the 2019 International Fashion Showcase in London. As a result, her intuitive work, much inspired by the spirit of Vilnius, was showcased during London Fashion Week.
Director Andrius Blaževičius’s Directing Award in the World Cinema Dramatic Competition at the Sundance Film Festival is just the latest in a string of high-profile Lithuanian successes on the big screen. At the 2024 Locarno Film Festival, Lithuania emerged as the most awarded country. Saulė Bliuvaitė won the Golden Leopard for her debut feature, Akiplėša (Toxic), while Laurynas Bareiša’s Sesės (Drowning Dry) picked up both Best Direction and Best Performance. These are just some of the global successes from a nation of bold creators.
Breaking through onto the global stage
Leading the charge in making Lithuania’s name internationally is a singular group of female performers, conductors and composers. Opera stages the world over have been graced with the power and presence of Asmik Grigorian, who was named Female Singer of the Year at the 2019 International Opera Awards. She has gone on to become one of the most in-demand singers internationally, with roles ranging from Desdemona in Otello in Madrid to Tatiana in Eugene Onegin at the Metropolitan Opera and the Vienna State Opera. Her portrayal of Salome in London in 2025 was widely acclaimed, reaffirming her place among opera’s leading stars. Meanwhile, conductor Mirga Gražinytė-Tyla broke new ground as the first woman to conduct a subscription concert of the Vienna Philharmonic. She recently served as Music Director of the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra and is Principal Guest Conductor of the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France for the 2026–27 season.
New voices. New sounds.
It’s not only performers who are making waves. Three female composers from a single generation, Justė Janulytė, Žibuoklė Martinaitytė and Egidija Medekšaitė, have all enjoyed global success in recent years with a musical palette that is, in its slow, textural transformations, very Lithuanian in sensibility. Justė Janulytė has had her ‘cloud of sound’ compositions performed by the WDR Symphony Orchestra, the BBC National Orchestra of Wales and at the Venice Biennale. Žibuoklė Martinaitytė, now based in New York, holds a Guggenheim Fellowship and has had her works recorded by multiple labels.
Lastly, Egidija Medekšaitė has had her music championed by Quatuor Bozzini and the London-based contemporary and experimental music ensemble Apartment House, and has won the UK’s George Butterworth Award. Moreover, both Medekšaitė and Martinaitytė have received Global Music Awards gold medals.