The Vidzeme Market in its present form was opened in 1902 to not only sell but also display, among other edible and inedible objects, carrots from all over Latvia, or at least Vidzeme. The two pavilions designed by Reinhold Schmeling were the first of their kind in Latvia. Whatever has happened to them up to now – and a great deal has happened – they are now almost empty and are being prepared to display some extraordinary objects once again.
"Like a stage or an oversized shelf on which something can be stored, the Vidzeme market has, over time, accumulated an infrastructure that seems to derive from and refer to itself. Mid-twentieth-century lamps imitate early twentieth-century ceiling structures, while the white shelves of the 2000s and the tiled floor endlessly imitate themselves. Faced with new kinds of objects and the questions they raise, after a brief moment of reflection, one of the market pavilions is ready for change. It just needs a little help."
Stefans Pavlovskis
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Photos by Reinis Hofmanis