In the streets of the old town of Vilnius – a different world: jellyfish and tulips immerse you in the fantasy of a dream | Names

Landscape designer Julija Janus has been curating the street installation gallery “ARTerija” for the fifth year, which takes care of the implementation of the most unexpected creative ideas in certain spaces of the old town of Vilnius: Stiklių and Gaonos streets, Jonas Mekos cross street in Užupi.

Together with domestic and foreign artists, J. Janus looks for installation concepts, synergies with local cultural heritage, takes care of installing and disseminating installations. Every six months, the creative decorations change and eventually they find new homes in other cities of the country.

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In memory of the gardener

In the middle of spring, two new installations were installed: “Angels and tulips” by the Polish artist Jarek Koziara from Lublin is displayed on Stiklių street, and here are jellyfish floating on the bank of Jonas Mekos Skervėjas – the work “Winged” by Justė Kolevaitytė-Radzevičė.

The artist J. Koziara has shown his work to the people of Vilnius several times, and this time he dedicated the installation “Angels and tulips” to the memory of his compatriot – the famous gardener Juozaps Strumila who lived in Vilnius. The work is intended to commemorate the 250th anniversary of the birth of J. Strumila (Polish: Józef Strumiłło, December 14, 1774, Kurkliškės, Ukmergė district – July 18, 1847, Vilnius).

The gardens created by J. Strumila flourished outside the Rūdininkai gate. Tulips, many different trees and plants grew in them. He also raised bees, wrote the botanical book “Northern Gardens”. Czarist Russia persecuted J. Strumila for opposition to the government, patriotic activities, he was exiled from Lithuania several times.

Winged creatures

J.Kolevaitytė-Radzevičė, the author of the work “Winged”, graduated from the Vilnius Academy of Fine Arts, and immediately after that she founded the studio “PLEIADES lighting”. The heads of the textile department of VDA introduced J. Janus to Juste, when she was looking for a new installation creator, Jonas Mekos, to decorate Skersvėjui.

Presenting the installation “Winged”, J.Kolevaitytė-Radzevičė says that two different worlds meet here – one above, the other below, but both of them are wrapped in mysticism, greatness and myths: “The angel of Užupis is from the sky, the mermaid of Užupis is from the water, and the Winged jellyfish combine these two worlds and create another one that lives in fantasy and dreams.

Photo by Evaldo Činga/Street installations: Old Town of Vilnius

When John Mek’s draft blows, the water creatures rise into the air, become colorful and become Winged Creatures. Winged jellyfish are no ordinary jellyfish. From the world of fantasy, they came to life through the filter of values: sustainability, good emotions and experience.”

The flying jellyfish used as few new or non-recyclable materials as possible. The colored lampshades and smaller details were created from old factory lamps, and the textiles used for the decor were made from previous projects.