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Museum Square The Latvian National Museum of Art and its Offer to Tourists The Mainbuilding of the Latvian National Museum of Art 10a K.Valdemāra Street The Latvian National Museum of Art, which is located at 10a K.Valdemāra Street in Riga, holds the largest collection of national art in Latvia. The museum plays a key role in Latvian cultural heritage, offering a wealth of information about the development of professional art in Latvia. The museum is located in Riga’s so-called Ring of Boulevards, and its building attracts attention with its monumental architecture and with the treasures of Latvian art that are inside its walls. We offer guided tours to our foreign guests, with information about the most outstanding examples of Latvia art from the period up to and including the first half of the 20th century. Visitors may also be interested in tours focusing on Russian art and Baltic art, covering the period from the late 18th century until the first half of the 20th century. After any of the tours of the museum’s permanent exhibitions, visitors are warmly encouraged to take part in our Icon workshop. The Icon Workshop During the season of Easter, we are offering our guests a unique opportunity to take part in a creative workshop where they can create their own, personal icons. Inspiration can be drawn from the icons that are in the museum’s collection, and guests will paint their icons on small wooden boards. The programme lasts for two hours (one hour to tour the collection and one hour to work in the workshop). No more than 15 people can take part, but the workshop is offered in Latvian, Russian and English. The cost is LVL 5 per participant, and clients will be able to take their icons with them as a souvenir of their visit to the Latvian National Museum of Art. The Museum of Decorative Art and Design The Museum of Decorative Art and Design is housed in the oldest stone house of worship in Riga – the Church of St. George, which dates back to 1207 AD. The collection focuses on professional Latvian decorative art and design from the late 19th century to the present day. The visit starts with a set of construction canon elements which make it clear that the building is linked to the traditions of sacral architecture in Northern Germany and Gotland in the early 13th century – building materials, planning and décor were determined by master builders from neighbouring countries. The building also has interesting wooden constructions between its floors. In the late 17th and early 18th century, the massive structures of pinewood completely changed the church’s appearance, and the building was turned in to a warehouse instead – the Warehouse of the Pigeons of the Holy Spirit, to be precise. Riga was a well known member city of the Hanseatic League at that time, and the busy trade Mecca made good use of the new warehouse. Interest in the Church of St. George is enhanced by where it is located – virtually at the geographic centre of the historical Old Riga. The Church of St. George was home to the Order of the Brethren of the Sword, which was established on the basis of the Knights Templar. Over the course of the centuries, it has served various goals. What we still see today is that Medieval houses of worship inevitably had various decorations and collections of objects of everyday use. Workshops In order to offer an interactive look at the history of the decorative arts and traditions of Latvia, the museum offers a variety of workshops: * A textile printing workshop, * A wood seal workshop, * A felt workshop, * A decoupage workshop, * A coloured sand workshop, * A jewellery-making workshop. The programme lasts for 60 minutes, is offered in Latvian, Russian and English to groups of no more than 15 people, and costs LVL 5 per person. Tours of the museum’s permanent exhibition are also available in Latvian, Russian and English, with a cost of LVL 10 per group. The Romans Suta and Aleksandra Beļcova Museum Creative Bohemia Any larger city in Europe features cafés which have gone down into history where bohemians – artists and representatives of the creative intelligentsia – once gathered. In Paris, these were the Carrefour Vavin cafés at Montparnasse and Montmartre, while in Berlin, bohemians gathered at the Romanisches Café and others. In Riga, artists, writers, journalists, theatrical people and other avant-garde bohemians in the 1920s gathered at a food shop, Sukubs (Succubus), which was owned by the mother of the artist Romans Suta. The walls were painted in Cubist style, and Mrs. Suta prepared delicious dishes. The men and women who gathered at Sukubs talked about new principles for Latvian art, discussed modern art, planned the first provocative exhibition of the Riga Group of Artists, engaged in fierce political discussions in preparation for the first Latvian parliamentary election, published a satirical arts journal called Ho-Ho, and worked together on various literary projects. No fewer than 13 Bohemians worked on a novel called “The Baker’s Dozen, or a Novel About a Person”. The “Creative Bohemia” programme allows visitors to the Romans Suta and Aleksandra Beļcova Museum to get a sense of the environment of the 1920s. The museum is in the memorial apartment of the two artists, with furniture from the legendary café. Visitors can have a cup of tea or coffee while listening to exciting stories about the Bohemian nature of artists in Riga in the 1920s, the appearance of Sukubs, which was unusual for its time, and the crazy things that went on at the café. The programme runs for 60 – 90 minutes and is offered in Latvian, Russian and English for groups of no more than 15 people. The price is LVL 5 per individual. The Latvian National Museum’s Museum Square offer (the mainbuilding of the Latvian National Museum of Art, the Museum of Decorative Art and Design, and the Romans Suta and Aleksandra Beļcova Museum) allows you to visit all three museums for a day full of excitement, or choose one or two museums (the length of each programme is shown alongside its description).
Price (three museums): LVL 15 |
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For tourists
The Latvian National Museum of Art,
K.Valdemāra iela 10a, Rīga LV-1010, Latvija