Monthly Archives: May 2022

Einstein, strange birds, and some teddy bears

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Three murals in Vilnius

below: Einstein by ettoja (aka Artur Širin) titled “It’s Never too Late”. A tattooed Einstein has his bling and his backpack and looks ready to hit the road (now that Covid seems to be waning?).

large mural on the end of a building, painted by ettoja, Einstein with e=mc2 tattoo, gold necklace, a couple of bracelets, and with a backpack on his back.

On Kauno (just around the corner from Einstein) is this large mural.  It is a collaboration between Polish artist SEPE (aka Michal Wrega) and Lithuanian artist CHAZME (aka Daniel Kalinskiego).

large mural on the side of a building, shades of blue and purple mostly, some abstract geometric shapes, 2 figures that are part person and part bird, especially with beaks. painted by two artists, sepe and chazme

bottom bird-like figure large mural on the side of a building, shades of blue and purple mostly, some abstract geometric shapes, 2 figures that are part person and part bird, especially with beaks. painted by two artists, sepe and chazme

more sepe and chaze mural

Walking slightly farther west brings you to another mural.  The words in the umbrella say Už Saugią Lietuvą which is the name of a campaign to fight domestic violence, “For a Safe Lithuania”

mural of a child standing on a mountain of stuffed animals as she tries to write words on a wall

Writing on the mural is: “Do vanos? Za islai? O gal seima? Isileisi mane.” which loosely translates to: Do you have? Toys? Or maybe the family? Let me out.

part of a mural, young girl is painting words on a wall in lithuanian

Helevius map of the heavens

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at Helevius Square, near old town, Gdansk

“Hocce Hemisphaerium Firmamenti Sobiescrium Boreale” = Star chart of the Northern Hemisphere.

Helevius Square was named after Johannes Hevelius (1611-1687). He was a beer brewer in Danzig/Gdansk. He was also interested in astronomy and built a telescope on the roof of his house. His contributions to the study of the constellations are many including the descriptions of ten new ones. Ursa Major and Ursa Minor are depicted above – that’s the big and little dipper. So are Cassiopeia, Aquarius, Cancer (Cancri), and Andromeda. Some of the others you might find are Hercules, Draco, Serpenterius, Cerebrus, and Camelopardalus. Three of the constellations described by Helevius are no longer in use!

30 years of the V4

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This mural was painted last year to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the V4 alliance. V4 is shorthand for the Visegrad Group, a group of four countries, Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia. and Hungary,

mural painted in Warsaw to celebrate 30th anniversary of Visegrad Group

A similar mural was painted in the three other capitals as well – Prague, Bratislava, and Budapest.

closer up picture of top part of mural

The mural was created by Magda Miszczak (and of course…. in collaboration with the National Centre for Culture and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, with the support of the Ministry of Culture, National Heritage and Sport, and the participation of the Polish Institutes in Bratislava, Budapest and Prague).

Photos taken May 2022