Wednesday, February 11, 2009

Grūtas Park (The sculpture garden of Soviet-era statues)

Grūtas Park - lith. Grūto parkas - is a sculpture garden of Soviet-era statues and an exposition of other ideological relics, founded by the Lithuanian entrepreneur (and former wrestler) Viliumas Malinauskas, near Druskininkai, about 130 km southwest of Vilnius, Lithuania. It is unofficially called Stalin's World or Stalin World (by way of reference to theme parks such as Walt Disney World and SeaWorld).

After Lithuania regained its independence in 1990, these statues were all taken down and dumped in different places. Later Malinauskas requested the Lithuanian authorities to grant him possession of the sculptures, so that he could build a privately-financed museum.
This Soviet theme park was created in the wetlands of Dzūkija National Park. Many of its features are re-creations of Soviet Gulag prison camps: wooden paths, guard towers and fences. The park is rich in irony and is intended to amuse as much as to inform, but it awakens many painful memories; its establishment faced some fierce opposition, and its existence is still controversial. Some ideas originally meant to be a part of the park were never allowed. Examples include transporting the visitors with Gulag-style trains, and the restaurant only serving Gulag food.
The park also contains playgrounds, a mini-zoo and cafes, all containing relics of the Soviet era.

Source: wikipedia
Grūtas Park official website

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