In Lithuania, special attention is paid to the art of books – this is evidenced by the annual Book Art Competition, which awards publications with exceptional design, typography, illustrations and modern printing solutions. Visitors will be able to get acquainted with the winners of this competition and the winners of the Most Beautiful Czech Books Competition at the Kazys Varnelis House-Museum of the National Museum of Lithuania on March 18 at 17:30 at the exhibition “Book Art: The Most Beautiful Books of Lithuania and the Czech Republic”.

In the Czech Republic, book creation is also considered an important part of national culture and has deep traditions. The Most Beautiful Czech Books Competition has been held since 1965 – it is the oldest and largest book design competition in the country, and celebrated its 60th anniversary last year. The publications exhibited at the exhibition – the winners of this competition – allow us to look at the development of Czech book art and modern design trends.

The Exhibition Presenting the Lithuanian Book Art Competition Features 21 Award-Winning Books

The exhibition features 21 books awarded in the Lithuanian Book Art Competition. According to the chairwoman of the commission, Dr. Jolita Liškevičienė, these books reveal the high level of the country’s publishing culture.

“These are books, each better than the last, divided into six categories, revealing the country’s printing capabilities, the level of printing and the originality of the artists who create books. The competition has been organized since 1993, and in 1996 the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Lithuania became its organizer. So this year the competition under the auspices of this institution celebrates 30 years of activity,” says Dr. J. Liškevičienė.

86 publications published in 2025 were submitted to the Book Art Competition this year. The publications are evaluated in two stages – first, their printing quality is assessed by a group of expert practitioners, and then the expert commission makes recommendations to the Minister of Culture on the awarding of prizes.

According to Rūta Kačkutė, Director General of the National Museum of Lithuania, the exhibition reveals the multi-layered nature of the book as an object of art and culture.

“A book is not just a text, but also a cultural object that combines content, design and publishing skills. This exhibition allows us to see how different countries – Lithuania and the Czech Republic – nurture the art of the book and what creative solutions shape the face of the modern book today,” says R. Kačkutė.

Czech Book Art Nurtured for Sixty Years

The annual Most Beautiful Czech Book Competition is organized by the Ministry of Culture of the Czech Republic and the Museum of Czech Literature. The 60th edition of the competition was attended by 309 publishers, graphic designers, students of publishing schools and books of art institutions published and printed in the Czech Republic in 2024.

Books are judged on the basis of graphic quality, design, printing, binding, illustrations and originality. The competition is divided into seven categories: scientific, fiction, children’s and young adult literature, textbooks, books about art, bibliophile and author’s books and student works. The three best books in each category are announced, and the first place winner is awarded a cash prize.

Linda Kudrnovská, chairwoman of the judging panel of the Most Beautiful Czech Book Competition, emphasizes that book design is understood today as a complex creative task.

“For today’s book designers, creating a book is not just a formal or aesthetic game. They perceive the graphic design of a book as a complex task that requires both excellent knowledge of traditions, cultural connections, and principles of typography, and the ability to question them, creatively break them, and experiment,” says L. Kudrnovská.

The 24 books of the Most Beautiful Czech Books Competition will be exhibited at the Kazys Varnelis House-Museum of the National Museum of Lithuania. Exhibitions of the Most Beautiful Czech Books in Lithuania have their own history – back in 2002, works by students of the Prague Academy of Arts (Vysoká škola umělekkoprůmyslová v Praze) were presented at the Vilnius Book Fair, and in subsequent years, these exhibitions at the Kazys Varnelis House-Museum were initiated and curated by book artist Sigutė Chlebinskaitė.

The exhibition “Book Art: The Most Beautiful Books of Lithuania and the Czech Republic” is being organized in cooperation with the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Lithuania, the Embassy of the Czech Republic in Vilnius and “Knygų šalis” (“Land of Books”). The exhibition at the Kazys Varnelis House-Museum will be open from 18 March to 27 September 2026.