Mysterious Amber world

An abundantly illustrated cognitive book “Mysterious amber world. Geheimnisvolle Bernsteinwelt“ is written in two languages: English and German. It is like an ode to amber. This book was published by the owners of Amber gallery and museum Virginija and Kazimieras Mizgiris. The purpose was to give a meaning to fifteen years of the Mizigiris work with amber.

Virginija and Kazimieras Mizgiris are like "amber ambassadors" family, whose goal is to liberate "Lithuanian gold" from the kitsch souvenir image and highlight the artistic, aesthetic and historic value of amber.

This book is the result of information which has been collected over 15 years. It is aimed for people, who want to get acquainted with Baltic amber history and look at amber from a different perspective. Baltic amber is a miracle of nature, which keeps millions of years old secrets. This is not a school textbook, which sets out the arid scientific information. Artistic photographs of Kazimieras Mizgiris, archival images of amber from various sources visually and creatively present history of Baltic amber, natural shapes, inclusions, amber colours. Photos are like windows back to the past, opportunities to see how things were 50 million years ago, when there was subtropical - tropical climate, and dinosaurs were shaking the Earth. Looking at the incarcerated forever centipede, lizard, which couldn‘t get out from the sticky resin, a foot of a grasshopper (result of the fight with sticky resin), we imperceptibly come back to those times. Beauty of natural amber pieces and also a broad colour spectrum with its combination of paintings, which were "painted" at that time by nature is enchanting. Information about the Amber Road in Europe and the archaeological amber artifacts in Lithuania is illustrated with impressive carefully chosen photographs from Mizgiris‘s family amber museum collection.

However, the book can not be refered to as a photo album as the basic facts are provided in addition to visual and creative materials; the "prisoners" of the fossil resin identified with a help of scientists. Methodical material for this book was prepared with professor Wolfgang Weitschat‘s, who works at the University of Hamburg, Geology-Paleontology Institute help.

You can also access amber, fossil resin, kopals from worldwide locations. In the chapter "Contemporary Lithuanian Artists" the most famous works of Lithuanian artists, which gained recognition in various international exhibitions are presented, e.g. S. Virpilaitis necklace "Gold and amber" got Grand prix in the International Amber Competition in German Amber Museum (Ribnitz Damgarten). Rings of the co-authors J. Balčiūnas and V. Vidugirytė received a bronze medal. Galleries and their activities are introduced in the chapter "The Mizgiris amber galleries - a glimse behind the scene“ maintaining the thematic structure of the book.