Note: This mural is no longer there. However, as we love unusual places and things, we’ll leave this up as a memory of what once existed.

Whenever I travel, I like to discover and experience the more unusual things about a destination, like checking out the Bruce Lee Statue in Mostar or having a beer bath in Prague. Bathing in a tub full of beer, while drinking beer, is way more fun than you think.

So years back while spending a weekend in Vilnius, I was delighted to find out about a weird and offbeat piece of street art showing President Vladimir Putin and President-Elect Donald Trump locked in a rather intimate embrace.

See This Putin & Trump Street Art in Vilnius Lithuania

This provocative two-meter-sized poster is currently displayed outside the popular barbecue restaurant, Keule Ruke along Pylimo Gatvė in Vilnius. Designed by Lithuanian street art and graphic designer Mindaugas Bonanu, the piece Make Everything Great Again depicts Putin and Trump exchanging what’s colloquially known as a “shotgun” — with Trump blowing a puff from his joint into Putin’s eagerly awaiting mouth.

Restaurant owner Dominykas Čečkauskas commissioned the work in May 2016 and from there, the piece swiftly gained international attention. Unfortunately, it was destroyed a couple of weeks after its unveiling, and what remains is this replacement Putin and Trump shotgun street art in Vilnius.  

The original work was slightly different, as it showed the two world leaders kissing, a modern satirical take on the famous mural that displays along the East Side Gallery in Berlin. The 1990 Berlin piece by Dmitri Vrubel, My God, Help Me To Survive This Deadly Love, portrays the former Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev exchanging a kiss with the East German leader Erich Honecker. At the time, this style of the kiss was actually considered a customary greeting between male socialist leaders.


Čečkauskas called the poster an “ironic view of what can be expected” and explained Make Everything Great Again in an interview with Agence France-Presse

We see many similarities between these two ‘heroes’ (Putin and Trump). They both have huge egos, and it’s amusing to see they are getting along well … it seems we have a new Cold War, and America may have a president who seeks friendship with Russia.=

In another statement, he said:

If Russia and the USA would ever make out, it would happen in the Baltic states … with tongues or with tanks.

Even now, the poster is a still popular attraction that brings locals and tourists around to snap photos and marvel at what’s now a very relevant and alarming political situation. 

What do you think about this Putin & Trump street art in Vilnius? Do you have other tips for what to see and do in the city? Leave our readers a comment down below.

Location

Keulė Rūkė
Pylimo g. 66, Vilnius 01136, Lithuania
https://www.facebook.com/keule.ruke/

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