Bernardinų park yard

During the Vilnius Pink Soup Fest, the events taking place around Tymo Market and the special offers at local restaurants will be accompanied by unexpected forms of artistic expression that are sure to amaze and delight. One of them will be Eglė Žvirblytė’s unique artwork, which will liven up familiar places as well as the entire urban landscape.

“Šaltibarščiai is a world-famous Lithuanian national dish that stands out from other similar dishes for its appearance and ingredients, but that – because we eat it so much – we often underrate. After consulting with the festival organisers, I decided to convey this dish and its ingredients on walls that Vilnius locals know well. I think that this type of painting is the best fit for this festival, since viewing it doesn’t require any additional intermediaries, like a gallery or a museum. I want these pieces to invite you to look at šaltibarščiai in a different light,” says Eglė Žvirblytė.

In the pieces painted in Žvirblytė’s unique style, šaltibarščiai and its ingredients will unfold in new colours. We will discover characters created from the foods we are used to, who will tell their own story. According to the artist, residents and guests of Vilnius will also notice various pop art-inspired details.

“I came up with the idea of having egg and beetroot as the main characters in my paintings. When I paint, I really enjoy creating archetypes of characters, along with their history and narrative, and giving them a certain concept. So this time too, well-known ingredients will tell us about how they ended up in šaltibarščiai, which I call ‘Love Soup’ in the piece. In one of my paintings, I even use an allusion to Andy Warhol’s famous soup can. I was working and thought – why couldn’t it be a can of šaltibarščiai?”, says the artist about the work she did for the Pink Soup Fest, which – in her signature style – includes many witty motifs.

Žvirblytė says that humour is a very important element for her, and no piece is complete without it: “I always try to leave viewers with a certain motive that will make them laugh. This will also be reflected in these works – I am trying to encode a message in a play on words that will make viewers smile when they get it.”

You can see the piece at: Bernardinų Kiemas, Maironio g. 12.