In collaboration with the Latvian Centre for Contemporary Art and the Malmö Art Museum in Sweden, from 14 December 2024 to 23 February 2025, an exhibition titled The Latvian Collection will take place in the Cupola Hall and 4th Floor Exhibition Halls of the Latvian National Museum of Art (Janis Rozentals Laukums 1, Riga). The exhibition will feature works by Latvian artists from the early 20th century, from the collection of the Malmö Art Museum, alongside new, complementary pieces by contemporary artists.
In 1939, the Malmö Art Museum received the Latvian Art Collection, offering a unique snapshot of Latvian art between the two world wars. This collection includes landscapes, portraits, still lifes, and scenography sketches, capturing the transition from the modernist experiments of the 1920s to the realism that defined European art in the 1930s. Thematically focusing on Latvian nature and glorifying ideas of national culture, the works reflect the cultural policy of Kārlis Ulmanis’s authoritarian regime.
After acquisition, the Latvian Art Collection was displayed at the Malmö Art Museum, but was then removed from permanent exhibition and remained unseen for decades. To further explore and contextualize the entire ensemble of 47 works, the collection was re-exhibited in its entirety at the Malmö Art Museum in 2022, in collaboration with the Latvian Centre for Contemporary Art. Now, 85 years after the collection was first assembled, some of these artworks are returning to Latvia this winter for the period of the exhibition.
The Latvian Collection in Riga is complemented by the vision of today’s artists through eight new contemporary artworks, which highlight overlooked narratives in the Latvian Art Collection and comment on broader issues related to nationalism and the birth of a nation state. These works by contemporary artists have been included in Malmö Art Museum’s collection, offering a contemporary interpretation and extension.
“The Latvian Art Collection in Malmö not only highlights the activities of the artists of that time and the political situation in Latvia, but also invites us to think about where, how, and whether works of Latvian art are available in foreign museum collections, and their stories – to international viewers,” Inga Lāce, one of the three curators of the exhibition, emphasizes.
By researching and adding works to the Latvian Art Collection, the Latvian Centre for Contemporary Art, the Malmö Art Museum, and the Latvian National Art Museum are building new bridges of communication. The participating artists – from Latvia, Sweden, Ukraine, Estonia, Denmark, Norway and Lithuania – are stimulating a wider discussion about freedom of speech and its fragility, as well as the role of art in politics and the social ecosystem, the creation of museum collections, and the participation of artists in formulating national narratives, cultural diplomacy, and national politics.
Exhibition The Latvian Collection will be accompanied by a diverse public program, including a meeting with the project curators, a discussion on the fate of Latvian artworks during World War II, an international symposium on the role and responsibilities of museums in 21st-century society, and a creative workshop for children and parents led by artist Ieva Kraule-Kūna. In February, the program will feature a performance-conversation show Carnival by the artist Makda Embaie, inspired by Jānis Tīdemanis dynamic painting Carnival, as well as a closing concert in collaboration with composer Henrijs Poikāns.
Participating artists:
Makda Embaie, Ieva Epnere, Ieva Kraule-Kūna, Santiago Mostyn and Susanna Marcus Jablonski, Lada Nakonechna, Jaanus Samma, Asbjørn Skou, and Anastasia Sosunova
Artists featured in the Latvian Art Collection at the Malmö Art Museum:
Jānis Aižens, Augusts Annuss, Arturs Apinis, Jēkabs Apinis, Kārlis Baltgailis, Jānis Cielavs, Jānis Cīrulis, Elza Druja, Erna Dzelme-Bērziņa, Eduards Dzenis, Otomija Freiberga, Jāzeps Grosvalds, Arvīds Gusārs, Eduards Kalniņš, Kārlis Krauze, Voldemārs Krastiņš, Jānis Kuga, Ludolfs Liberts, Milda Liepiņa, Jānis Liepiņš, Jūlijs Madernieks, Marija Induse-Muceniece, Oskars Norītis, Jānis Plēpis, Janis Rozentāls, Pēteris Rožlapa, Arijs Skride, Oto Skulme, Uga Skulme, Janis Šternbergs, Arvīds Štrauss, Niklāvs Strunke, Erasts Šveics, Leo Svemps, Zelma Tālberga, Jānis Tīdemanis, Valdemārs Tone, Konrāds Ubāns, Johans Valters (Johann Walter), Vilis Vasariņš, Ernests Veilands, Sigismunds Vidbergs, Vilhelms Purvītis, Kārlis Zāle, Teodors Zaļkalns, Rihards Zariņš.
Organisers:
The exhibition is organised by the Latvian Centre for Contemporary Art in collaboration with the Latvian National Museum of Art, Malmö Art Museum.
Supporters:
The exhibition is supported by the State Culture Capital Foundation, Riga City Council, Novum Riga Charitable Foundation, Embassy of Sweden, Danish Arts Foundation, Vivacolor.
