The farewell to Donatas Dubauskas is taking place in Vilnius, at the “Funeral Services Center” (Šv. Paco St. 4). Here gather the family members and friends of D. Dubauskas.
The farewell began on Saturday, August 15, at 4 p.m. You can also say “Goodbye” to D. Dubauskas on Sunday until 1:30 p.m.
“Then we will accompany him to his eternal rest at the Sudervė cemetery. Light winds to you, Donce, as you climb those stairs upwards, I hope a bike ride uphill is organized… if not, turn as always – we will carry it up…”, the funeral announcement stated.
After the funeral, friends are organizing a memorial in Užupis.
Close people to D. Dubauskas had an unusual request for his farewell: they invited to dress extravagantly – just as Donatas liked.
Photo gallery:
Farewell to Donatas Dubauskas
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Žmonės.lt reminds that the news of D. Dubauskas’s death, which appeared on Wednesday, shocked many. Messages and condolences to the artist’s relatives poured in on social networks.
“So suddenly, unexpectedly you left everything on earth. Light clouds,” one such message reads.
“Rest in peace, you were one of the most memorable people in Vilnius,” another post on D. Dubauskas’s Facebook profile states.
Artist Donatas Dubauskas
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Donatas Dubauskas was one of those distinctive personalities of Vilnius, whom it was hard to pass unnoticed in the city center. Many Vilnius residents knew or at least had seen the artist with an extravagant appearance, and because of his unique image, he was often simply called “the Indian.” However, this was a style from one period of his life; he liked to change his image but was always distinctive and chameleonic.
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Throughout his life, D. Dubauskas tried many different activities. He guarded strategic Lithuanian sites, created scenography details, worked as a puppet theater prop maker, sewed clothes, and later turned to business and opened unique bars in the capital. His environment reflected the North American Indian culture that fascinated him for many years, and later the “steam punk” aesthetic.
D. Dubauskas himself described Vilnius as a city of free people, where a person’s origin is not important, and anyone can become a Vilnius resident regardless of where they came from.
This idea also well reflected himself – a bright, hard-to-frame city person who gradually became a familiar part of Vilnius’s cultural landscape.
An inseparable part of D. Dubauskas’s image was his self-made high-wheeler (“penny farthing” style) bicycle, which he rode on the streets of Vilnius for almost a decade. The unique vehicle, like its owner, attracted the attention of passersby – D. Dubauskas not only built the bicycle himself but also constantly improved it, decorating it with leather, metal details, and other elements reminiscent of an antique style.
His creativity was not limited to aesthetics. D. Dubauskas has said that he liked to make many things himself, and he considered the reuse of old and broken items not only a form of creativity but also responsible consumption. “The more variety in life – the more fun. You cannot give up your individuality,” the artist said.
Vilnius was not only a place of residence for him but also a space where he could be himself. D. Dubauskas especially liked to ride his bicycle in the Old Town, especially in the evenings, as well as in Žvėrynas and Vingis Park. He said he was in no hurry anywhere and simply enjoyed the city and the movement while riding.
His attitude towards life was best described by his own words: “I rest with my bicycle and catch the pleasure of life. I am in no hurry, I don’t need to ride fast. I just enjoy the ride.”
D. Dubauskas had a penchant for creating and standing out since childhood. He learned to sew while still young – at that time, the desired clothes were not always available for purchase, so he altered them himself. He would tear old pants apart, narrow or widen them, and combine different materials. “Those were the punk times,” he has said about that period.
For many years, Vilnius residents recognized D. Dubauskas also because of his image related to his interest in North American Indian culture. However, the nickname “Lithuanian Indian” eventually became disliked by the artist himself. He has said that after several decades, such a description began to bother him, and people’s reactions sometimes became absurd – for example, they even asked him to “call the rain.”
Gradually, he became more interested in the “steam punk” aesthetic, and one of the most prominent areas of D. Dubauskas’s creativity became antique high-wheeler bicycles. Alongside them, he created clothes, leather goods, accessories, and interior details, but he has openly said that it became increasingly difficult to make a living from handmade creations.
D. Dubauskas tried to transfer his creative approach to the bar spaces of Vilnius. One of his ideas was the art bar “Steam Angel,” which aimed to combine a bar and a gallery and provide artists with a place to present their works for free. It was important to D. Dubauskas that creativity had space to unfold and that people were not afraid of their uniqueness.
He was a bright personality of Vilnius, about whom his friends said that the Old Town of Vilnius would be completely different without him. And now many say that his death has left a great void.
