EUROPOS PARKAS CELEBRATES ITS 20TH ANNIVERSARY

This year open-air museum Europos Parkas celebrates its 20th anniversary.

The creation of Europos Parkas began back in 1987 when a nineteen-year-old artist Gintaras Karosas, having read in an inter-war geography textbook that the centre of Europe was near Vilnius, started creating a world art museum in wild woodland. In the summer of 1991 he built the first sculpture and on the 5th of October introduced the first exhibit of Europos Parkas to his friends from Vilnius Academy of Arts.

The history of Europos Parkas is closely related to the creation of independent Lithuania. The main driving force behind the foundation of Europos Parkas was a dream and a desire to have an exceptional ensemble of art and nature that would represent Lithuania.

The development of Europos Parkas established in people’s mind the perception of Lithuania as the country that is in the geographical centre of Europe.

The museum has held 12 international sculpture symposiums, several symposiums for young artists from Eastern and Central Europe, initiated and participated in numerous international projects.

The environment of Europos Parkas has been constantly transforming, shaping and developing, thus creating a new quality over and over again. Now, the open-air museum covering the area of 55 hectares is home for more than a hundred artworks created by artists from all over the world. Europos Parkas has become one of the identifiers of the contemporary Lithuanian culture. Every year it is visited by many guests from Lithuania and abroad. Art experts from Great Britain have placed Europos Parkas at the 30th place in the Top 50 best sites of visual arts in Europe, next to such museums as the Pompidou Centre, the Picasso Museum, the Hermitage, the Tretyakov Gallery, the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao, etc.

In the recent years, museum activities of Public Institution Europos Parkas have expanded – Liubavas Museum situated in the neighbourhood of Europos Parkas has opened its doors for visitors.

“Public Institution Europos Parkas is one of the first non-governmental non-profit organisations in Lithuania. In democratic countries the non-governmental sector is an important guarantee of democracy. I do not know any other museum of this kind that is able to survive without the state support. Unfortunately, during almost 20 years of its existence Europos Parkas has not received a single Litas from the state. All funds for museum activities come only from tickets and services. Over the years, mere enthusiasm and dedication to a cultural mission have become not enough for a museum of this size and with this range of activities. As Europos Parkas is celebrating its 20th anniversary, we would like to draw the State’s attention to the necessity to support it so that it becomes more accessible to the public, which is highly important. We are creating Europos Parkas for Lithuania as our legacy for next generations,” says sculptor Gintaras Karosas, the founder of Europos Parkas.

Events in commemoration of the 20th anniversary of Europos Parkas:

On 29 September 2011 a cultural evening “From Europos Parkas to Liubavas Manor” was held in the Palace of the Grand Dukes of Lithuania.

On 4 October 2011 Lietuvos Paštas (Lithuanian Post) introduced a commemorative envelope with a postage stamp and date stamp for Europos Parkas.

On 9 October 2011 (at 14:00) the 20th anniversary will be commemorated at Europos Parkas, Joneikiškės Village, Vilnius District. The Museum of Liubavas Manor Mill will also be visited during the event.

On 13 October 2011 (at 17:00) the 20th anniversary of Europos Parkas and the Museum of Liubavas Manor will be commemorated in a cultural evening, during which Gintaras Karosas will present his photo album of Europos Parkas and his book Liubavas.