Fortean Times visits the MK Ciurlionis Velniu Muziejus, aka the Devil Museum of Kaunas, Lithuania. The institution celebrates devil imagery in art and culture around the world. Visitors are invited to donate their own pieces to the collection too. The three floors of the Velniu Muziejus
The showcased devils are almost exclusively male, and appear in a variety of styles and aspects. Although most are purely works of art, others have been grafted onto everyday household objects: pipes, ashtrays, nutcrackers (one example seen here) and plates all feature in the exhibition. The statues are made from stone, pottery and wood, but devils are also painted on silk or canvas. Some of the beasties have horns, others pointy tails, while still others are hairy. Imposing black and red colour schemes are the norm, though a few more dignified looking Jack-in-the-Greentype works add variation to the collection.Contributions from countries as diverse as Mexico, Japan and Cuba are all on display alongside the Slavic artefacts, as is folk art from the indigenous peoples of Siberia. The stairways between each floor are decorated with macabre etchings, large-scale paintings or lively caricatures….
The museum harbours an extra treat in the basement: a well stocked bar, which manages to pull off diabolical decor with taste and style. Although it was empty during my visit, I imagine it would make a perfect venue for drunken carousing in honour of the Lord of Misrule.
The guide, Arunas Stankunas, explained that when the museum opened in 1966, it housed 260 statues. Their previous owner, the artist Antanas Zmuidzinavicius (1876-1966), was obsessed by the number 13, also known as the devil’s dozen. (There may be some significance to the fact that 13 multiplied by 20 equals 260) He had obsessively collected them in contravention of Soviet law, which prohibited any religious artefacts. A collection of so much Lithuanian folk art also carried a covert nationalist, and hence anticommunist, message.
Zmuidzinavicius faced exile to Siberia should his devils be discovered. Following Khrushchev’s thaw (after the death of Stalin in 1953), Zmuidzinavicius donated the entire collection to the state in 1966, anddied later the same year.
