Gintaras Karosas (born 25 June 1968 in Kryziokai, Vilnius district) is an artist who founded Europos Parkas and designed its landscape.
Karosas organized several exhibitions of his graphic works as a secondary school student. After graduating from the Vilnius Academy of Fine Arts with a degree in sculpting, he studied at museums in Japan and the United States.
His work on Europas Parkas began when he was nineteen - he located a wooded site outside of Vilnius that he felt would be suitable for a sculpture park and began clearing its overgrowth. He placed its first sculpture, Symbol of Europos Parkas, in 1991. Five other Karosas sculptures have since been placed in the park: Monument of the Centre of Europe, For Your Convenience, LNK Infotree, The Place, and Foundations / Window. He also designed its educational center, which features a grass roof.
In 1995 The Wall Street Journal included Karosas in its list of twenty young people who had brought about important changes in Eastern and Central Europe. He received a Saint Christopher statuette from the City of Vilnius in 2001 and a National Cultural Award of Advancement in 2006.
In 2017 Karosas suggested introducing a stronger form of lithuanisation of Poles (which he calls polonised Lithuanians) inhabiting the Vilnius region and claiming the Polish city of Suwałki for the Republic of Lithuania.[1]
References
- ↑ Litewski polityk domaga się przyłączenia Suwałk do Litwy, magnapolonia.org, 04/09/2017.