Dr. Marius Iršėnas
marius.irsenas[at]vda.lt
Art historian
Research interests: Prehistoric art in the Baltic region.
Born 1970, Panevėžys; lives and works in Vilnius. Since 2002 has been with VAA Institute of Art Research, since 2008 as a Senior Researcher. 1997 graduated from Vilnius Academy of Arts with MA in art criticism. 2003 defended his PhD thesis in art criticism “Anthropomorphic and Zoomorphic Images in Stone Age Baltic Region and European Russia: Quantitative and Qualitative Characteristics, Dissemination and Features” (supervisor Prof. Dr. Adomas Butrimas).
Since 1998 has lectured on Western art history and Baltic archaeology at VAA. Since 2008 is a director of Vilnius Academy of Arts publishing house, since 2014 Vice-Rector for Education at VAA.
Iršėnas is interests in visualizing cultural heritage, participates in cultural heritage promotion projects by publishing widely, making databases, curating museum expositions. Since 2003 a member of the Lithuanian Association of Art Historians.
RESEARCH PROJECTS
University of Helsinki international project “The Animals Make Identities: The Social Bioarchaeology of Late Mesolithic and Early Neolithic Cemeteries in North-East Europe (AMI)”. The project is funded by European Research Council, Consolidator Grant (864258) 2020–2025. https://www2.helsinki.fi/en/researchgroups/animals-make-identities/people
Project of Research Council of Lithuania “Stone Age osseous artefacts from Western Lithuania: Technology and Chronology” Nr. P-MIP-21-111, 2021–2024.
Project of Research Council of Lithuania “Prehistoric Art: Chronology, Context, Ritual and Symbolism”; paraiškos registracijos Nr. MIP-15556, 2015–2018.
ART AND CULTURE PROJECTS
Project of the Lithuanian Council for Culture “Nepalenkiamasis. Dailininkas Zenonas Varnauskas”, 2021 09 14, Nr. S/DAI-14(6.13)/2021. Budget 12000 Eur
Project of the Lithuanian Council for Culture “Raminta Jurėnaitė apie Lietuvos dailę ir fotografiją”, 2021 09 13, Nr. S/DAI-42(6.13)/ 2021. Budget 7000 Eur
Project of the Lithuanian Council for Culture “James Tait Architektūrinių idėjų knyga”, 2021 09 07, Nr. S/ARC-24 (6.11)/ 2021. Budget 5292 Eur
Project of the Lithuanian Council for Culture “Leopoldas Surgailis”, 2021 09 13, Nr. S/DAI-43(6.13)/ 2021. Budget 4900 Eur
POP-UP leporello books Lietuva, Didžioji Britanija 2017 03 15 iki 2018 07 22 Arts Council England Ambitions for Exellence.
CURATORIAL PROJECTS
2021 Permanent exhibition “Senoji žemaičių praeitis” [The ancient past of Samogitia], curated by M. Iršėnas. The Samogitian Art Museum, Plungė. Open from 2021 09 27
Curators: Adomas Butrimas, Marius Iršėnas, Valdemaras Šimėnas. Organizers of the exhibition: Žemaičių muziejus “Alka”, Vilniaus dailės akademija, Žemaičių dailės muziejus. https://www.zdm.lt/nuolatines-parodos/senoji-zemaiciu-praeitis/
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Scholarly peer-reviewed articles
Adomas Butrimas, Marius Iršėnas, Tomas Rimkus. “The Decorated Spindle-Shaped Bone Dagger From Šarnelė: The Earliest Example of Hunter-Gatherer Mobile Art in Lithuania”. Archaeologia Baltica 26, 2019, p. 50–63, ISSN: 2351-6534.
https://doi.org/10.15181/ab.v26i0.2022
Zagorska, J. Meadows, M. Iršėnas, “New dates from Zvejnieki burial ground graves with anthropomorphic and zoomorphic figurines”, in Archaeologia Baltica 25, 2018, p. 100–124, ISSN: 2351-6534.
https://doi.org/10.15181/ab.v25i0.1833
M. Iršėnas, A.Butrimas, T. Rimkus, G. Slah “The Elks of Šventoji: Taking another closer look”, in Archaeologia Baltica 25, 2018, p. 125-139, ISSN: 2351-6534.
https://doi.org/10.15181/ab.v25i0.1834
A. Butrimas, M. Iršėnas, R. Ulozaitė. “Amber discs with cross decoration”, in Archaeologia Baltica 25, 2018, p. 140–160, ISSN: 2351-6534.
https://doi.org/10.15181/ab.v25i0.1835
Compiled and prepared publications
Žemaitija – Samogitia. Edited by Adomas Butrimas, Marius Iršėnas, Vilnius: Vilniaus dailės akademijos leidykla, 2020. 488 p. ISBN 978-609-447-344-9.
A. Butrimas, M. Iršėnas, V. Šimėnas. Senoji Žemaitijos praeitis. Archeologinės ekspozicijos po Žemaičių “Alkos” muziejų vadovas, Vilnius: Vilniaus dailės akademijos leidykla, 2015. P. 79. ISBN 978-609-447-153-7.
M. Iršėnas [Editor]. The Lithuanian Millennium: History, Art and Culture. Vilnius: Vilniaus dailės akademijos leidykla , 2015. P. 692. ISBN 978-609-447-097-4.
Marius Iršėnas. Panemunės pilis: įdomusis paveldas. Vilnius: Vilniaus dailės akademijos leidykla, 2017. ISBN 978-609-447-232-9.
Conference Papers
STAFFS WITH ELK HEADS – BETWEEN ARCHAEOLOGY AND ART (with Adomas Butrimas). 28th Annual Meeting of the European Association of Archaeologists (EAA) “[RE]Integration”, Hungary, 2022 08 31 – 09 03.
IMPROVED AMS 14C-BASED CHRONOLOGY OF THE EARLY AND LATE HOLOCENE OSSEOUS IMPLEMENTS FROM BIRŽULIS LAKE AREA, WESTERN LITHUANIA (with Adomas Butrimas, Tomas Rimkus). 28th Annual Meeting of the European Association of Archaeologists (EAA) “[RE]Integration”, Hungary, 2022 08 31 – 09 03.
Timeless design – bird shape ladles from the stone age to souvenir shops. 27th Annual Meeting of the European Association of Archaeologists (EAA) “Widening Horizons. Session Visible to the eye? Transmission of ideas through everyday visual culture”, Germany, 2021 09 07–11.
Stone-Age in the environs of lake Biržulis. New data (with Adomas Butrimas, Kristiina Mannermaa, John Meadows, Tomas Rimkus, Gvidas Slah). International Open Workshop “Socio-environmental dynamics over the last 15,000 years: the creation of landscapes”, Germany, 2019 03 11–16.
Biržulis Lake area (West Lithuania): mixture of culture or parallel coexistence between 3000-1000 cal BC (with Adomas Butrimas, Tomas Rimkus). Konferencja na 100-lecie archeologii w Instytucie Archeologii Uniwersytetu Warszawskiego “The Past Has a Future!” [Conference to Mark the Centenary of Archaeology at the Institute of Archaeology, University of Warsaw 'The Past Has a Future!'], Poland, 2019 12 09–13.
The examples of mobile art on hunter-gatherers’ (10 500 – 4 200 cal BC) bone and antler tools in Lithuania (with Adomas Butrimas, Tomas Rimkus). International & Interdisciplinary Conference “Mesolithic Art – Abstraction, Decoration, Messages”, Germany, 2019 09 19–21.
Art Representations As Grave Goods From Zvejnieki Burial Ground, Latvia (with John Meadows, Ilga Zagorska). 24th Annual Meeting of the European Association of Archaeologists (EAA) „Reflecting Futures“, Spain, 2018 09 05–08.
Decorated Late Palaeolithic spindle shaped dagger from Šarnelė, Western Lithuania: archaeological and use-wear analysis (with Adomas Butrimas, John Meadows, Tomas Rimkus). XVIII Congrès Union Internationale des Sciences Préhistoriques et Protohistoriques (UISPP) [18th International Union of Prehistoric and Protohistoric Sciences (UISPP) World Congress], France, 2018 06 04–09.
