See Liepāja at Vilnius Municipality!

“Beautiful Liepāja – 400”, an interactive photo exhibition that lets visitors experience Latvia’s third largest city Liepāja using augmented reality, will be on display in Vilnius Municipality until 30 June 2025. Liepāja is celebrating this year the 400^th anniversary of its founding.

The opening of the exhibition on 5 June 2025 gathered diplomats, representatives from Vilnius Municipality, local Latvian diaspora as well as culture and tourism enthusiasts. Ambassador Solveiga Silkalna drew visitors’ attention to the fact that Liepāja was called Latvia’s capital for a while in 1919 during the Independence War and will be a European Capital of Culture in 2027.  Rūta Pilkytė, Adviser to the Mayor of Vilnius, expressed readiness to further strengthen the friendly ties between Vilnius and Liepāja. Deputy Head of Liepāja Culture Department Nauris Lazdāns presented the rich cultural offerings of Liepāja and invited all to visit the city this summer.  Kaspars Migla — who, along with Andris Ivanovs, created the books that the exhibition is based on — shared the backstory behind the project and introduced the audience with their current projects.

“Beautiful Liepāja — 400” features 56 images from the late 19th century to the end of the first period of independence. Visitors can use the “Old Libau” app to see how a particular place looks today, or watch a historical video. The exhibition is organised by the Embassy of Latvia in Lithuania and Association “Liepāja 400” with the support of Vilnius Municipality, and will be open for visitors during the opening hours of Vilnius Municipality (2^nd floor gallery, Konstitucijos pr. 3, Vilnius) Monday–Friday until 30 June 2025.

Photo by Embassy of Latvia in Lithuania