Vilnius Talking Statues
Have you ever wondered how many different stories there are behind the sculpture “Quay’s Arch”, more commonly known and quickly nicknamed “the pipe” by Vilnius residents? And what could it tell if it spoke itself? And what would “The Cat” guarding Jurga Ivanauskaite’s Square tell you?
We invite you to hear what these and many more talking sculptures in Vilnius city centre have to say. There are already 24 of them!
MO Museum has made the sculptures speak, embodying important Lithuanian historical figures, representatives of other nations, reflecting Vilnius as a multicultural city, and fictional characters as part of the narrative of the city of Vilnius. During the call, listeners can get to know the personalities or characters immortalised in the sculptures. Also, they can learn about the cultural, historical and architectural heritage of Vilnius, and recall the city’s history.
The different characters of the sculptures have been created by famous Lithuanian writers and playwrights. The monologues have been read by Lithuanian actors, singers and public figures.
Look for the plaques next to the sculptures, scan the QR code with your phone’s camera and your phone will ring! And there you have the legendary US musician Frank Zappa, Grand Duke Gediminas of Lithuania, and Romain Gary speaking in a French accent.
For a walk of discovery and unexpected conversations, download the Vilnius Talking Statues map:
Discover and create your own route!
Counting the sculptures that have spoken
Since the launch of the “Vilnius Talking Statues“ project in 2015, Vilnius has become the fourth city in the world to have talking sculptures in public spaces. In the same year, the project was named the most innovative tourism project!
By the time MO museum opened in 2018, we had 16 sculptures to be talking. In 2019, two more sculptures were commissioned: one of the singing poetry player, musician Vytautas Kernagis and the other of the composer and conductor Stanislovas Moniuska.
In 2020, we opened three more talking sculptures. One of them is probably the most commented sculpture in Vilnius, Vladas Urbanavicius’s “Quay’s Arch“, nicknamed by Vilnius residents and also known as “the pipe”. Last year, we also invited you to get to know Ksenija Jarosevaitė’s sculpture “Sitting“, which is cosily located in the MO Sculpture Garden, and the Literatu Street‘s wall, which is loved by many tourists and visitors.
And in summer 2021 – two more! These are “The Cat” guarding Jurga Ivanauskaite’s Square on Aguonu Street and the light-bearing “Electricity” on the tower of the Museum of Energy and Technology.
So, we invite you to make the sculptures speak!
A companion version of Talking Statues is also available in Copenhagen. Produced by True Stories Aps, it broke new ground when it launched in September 2013 by using augmented reality to bring new life to old statues.
See what our Danish partners are up to by visiting their website: www.talkingstatues.com
