Vilnius · LT

Užupio konstitucija

On a long wall along Paupio Street, in the bohemian Vilnius district of Užupis, the 41 articles of the Constitution of the Republic of Užupis are engraved on mirrored metal panels and reproduced in dozens of the world's languages. Part street-art installation, part tongue-in-cheek bill of rights, it is the manifesto of a self-declared micro-republic that insists everyone has the right to be happy, the right to be lazy, and that a dog has the right to be a dog. Written in just three hours in 1998 by two of Užupis's founding artists, Romas Lileikis and Tomas Čepaitis, the charter turns the neighbourhood's free-spirited ethos into a playful set of laws. It rewards the casual, reflective visit: reading the articles standing at the wall, then following them along the lane toward the Angel of Užupis, is the core experience.