Renowned Architects to Present Proposals for New Museum in Vilnius

VILNIUS, Lithuania, March 31 /PRNewswire/ -- Three internationally
acclaimed architects, Daniel Libeskind, Zaha Hadid and Massimiliano Fuksas
will unveil their proposals for a new museum in Vilnius on April 8, 2008. A
jury chaired by Thomas Krens, the Director of the Solomon R. Guggenheim
Foundation in New York and panel members Dr. Mikhail Piotrovsky, the Director
of the State Hermitage Museum in Russia, Peter Schmal, the Director of the
Deutsches Architekturmuseum in Frankfurt, Lithuanian Prime Minister Gediminas
Kirkilas, Mayor of the City of Vilnius Juozas Imbrasas and Gintaras
Caikauskas, Vice Chairman of the Lithuanian Architects' Association will
determine the winning proposal.
The architectural competition is part of a Feasibility Study being
conducted by the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation in collaboration with the
State Hermitage Museum. The study is evaluating the feasibility, from an
architectural, economic and cultural perspective of establishing a new museum
in Vilnius. The Feasibility Study was commissioned by the recently
established Jonas Mekas Visual Arts Center in Vilnius and is expected to be
completed by mid-June 2008.
Vilnius will be assuming an esteemed position as the European Capital of
Culture in 2009. "The presence of a new museum would be a significant
initiative in transforming the city into a premier destination for
cutting-edge art, film and architecture. It would also markedly contribute to
the enhancement of Vilnius as an international center of the avant-garde,"
stated Arturas Zuokas, the Chairman of the Board of "Vilnius - European
Capital of Culture 2009."
All three architectural models will be on public display from April 10
through the end of June 2008 at the Jonas Mekas Visual Arts Center in a
Special Exhibition being organized by the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation
and the State Hermitage Museum entitled: "Imagining the Future: Design
Proposals for a New Museum in Vilnius."
For further information, please contact:

Rasa Razgaitis,
Project Manager,
Jonas Mekas Visual Arts Center,
14 Gyneju St.,
Vilnius, Lithuania 09601,
info@mekas.lt,
http://www.mekas.lt,
+370-612-18240 or +370-655-29299;

Eleanor R. Goldhar,
Deputy Director for External Affairs,
Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation,
345 Hudson Street,
12th floor,
New York, NY 10014,
egoldhar@guggenheim.org,
http://www.guggenheim.org,
+1-212-423-3528;

Elena Getmanskaya, Ph.D. (Press Manager),
State Hermitage Museum,
34, Dvortsovaya naberezhnaya,
St. Petersburg, Russia 190000,
getmansk@hermitage.ru,
http://www.hermitagemuseum.org,
+7-812-710-9502,
+7-812-312-1567 fax.

SOURCE Jonas Mekas Visual Arts Center

For further information, please contact: Rasa Razgaitis, Project Manager,
Jonas Mekas Visual Arts Center, 14 Gyneju St., Vilnius, Lithuania 09601,
info@mekas.lt, +370-612-18240 or +370-655-29299; Eleanor R. Goldhar, Deputy
Director for External Affairs, Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation, 345 Hudson
Street, 12th floor, New York, NY 10014, egoldhar@guggenheim.org,
+1-212-423-3528; Elena Getmanskaya, Ph.D. (Press Manager), State Hermitage
Museum, 34, Dvortsovaya naberezhnaya, St. Petersburg, Russia 190000,
getmansk@hermitage.ru, +7-812-710-9502, +7-812-312-1567 fax.