Lithuanian divers open underwater picture gallery

Dive enthusiasts in Lithuania have opened the country's first underwater picture gallery, saying the waters of a lake in the west of the Baltic state unveil the beauty of art like nowhere on land.

Twenty large format photographs by local artists were put on display in lake Plateliai, western Lithuania, at the weekend.

Organisers say they plan to expand the project in the future to include stained-glass, water colour paintings as well as sculptures.

"Art is experienced totally differently in the water," Andrius Albrikas, head of local diving academy, told AFP on Monday.

Bored with diving the same locations over and over again, local divers came up with the idea for the underwater gallery after a couple from a local diving club put their wedding picture underwater to enjoy it every time they dive, Albrikas said.

"I believe creators of stained glass, water colour paintings and sculptures will also start displaying their works. There could be mobile galleries to move from one lake to another and to other countries," Albrikas said.

"Of course, this is not the Red Sea, but now you can't complain there is nothing to be seen in local lakes," he joked.