For her exceptional and long-standing contribution to the field of ethnic culture, as well as for the revival, preservation, and international recognition of the tradition of straw garden making (šiaudiniai sodai), the 2024 National Jonas Basanavičius Prize has been awarded to folk artist Marytė (Marija) Liugienė.

Marytė (Marija) Liugienė is a well-known folk artist who has dedicated most of her ethnocultural work to nurturing, researching, and promoting the tradition of crafting straw gardens. As a master straw garden maker herself, she actively participates in national and international exhibitions, organizes solo shows, and has been awarded the National Heritage Product Certificate for her straw creations. Examples of her traditionally bound straw gardens are preserved in the collection of the National Museum of Lithuania.

One of her most outstanding contributions to promoting this craft is the wide range of projects, presentations, and publications she has prepared and implemented on the traditions and customs of straw gardens. Drawing on her accumulated knowledge, the folk artist creatively passes on this heritage through educational workshops, seminars, and internationally recognized conferences and camps. She has also developed publications and artistic documentary films highlighting the symbolism and crafting processes of traditional Lithuanian straw gardens. Having fostered a large community of straw garden makers, she founded the association Dangaus sodai (“Heavenly Gardens”)—a testament to the vitality of this tradition throughout Lithuania.

Liugienė’s contribution was also crucial in preparing the application for the inclusion of straw garden making in the Inventory of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Lithuania (2017). Furthermore, she was the leading initiator and head of the project “Preparation of the Nomination ‘The Tradition of Straw Gardens’ for the UNESCO Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity” (2021).

As cultural activities coordinator at the Vilnius Ethnic Culture Centre, Marytė (Marija) Liugienė, together with the National Museum of Lithuania, organized the first national exhibition of traditional Lithuanian straw gardens, Sesė sodų sodina (“Sister Plants the Gardens”), in 2013. The exhibition showcased straw gardens created by masters from across Lithuania. Many of the participants donated their works to the National Museum of Lithuania, significantly enriching and expanding its Straw Craft Collection.