In connection with the war started by Russia in Ukraine, the work of the artist Diana Dimza-Dimme can be seen in the Cupola Hall of the Latvian National Museum of Art

History is what is happening right now. It applies not only to major global events, but also each and every person, since all of us carry historical memory within us. Our faces are mosaics put together from the features of those who lived before us. It is possible that the soul also consists of fragments of our ancestors' souls, and, undoubtedly, our homes are more than a sum of objects because they preserve the memories of all those who lived in this place.

Yet, in order to discover history within ourselves, we cannot do without the help of writers and artists who are able to perceive more sharply and distil their experiences into a work of art.

In her work, artist and LNMA pedagogue Diāna Dimza-Dimme often uses the history of her own family as a point of reference, but, in speaking about herself, Diāna always reaches a universal level – the artist's story turns into a mirror in which everyone can see a small part of themselves.

The home is one of the central images of Diāna's works and is related not only to the place of the family hearth, but also with each individual who carry a unique world in themselves like a separate home.

The work “Home of Souls” was shown in the exhibition Home in Žanis Lipke Memorial in 2020. At the time, the artist talked about the phenomenon of the home not only in the context of the tragedy of World War II, when pits and shelters could become home, but also attempted to intuitively point to the changes undergone by the concept of 'home' during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Today Diāna's works have acquired a new context – the war in Ukraine. The artist's mother, little Mirjama, who was hidden from the Nazis by fishermen in Mangaļsala, now seems to be looking at us from countless bunkers in many Ukrainian cities. Once more homes are turning from castles and hearths into monuments in a graveyard. Frighteningly prophetic are the words written by the artist in the introductory text of her exhibition, reminding us of another distant and hence normally ignored perspective: "Home can turn out to be transient for all of us.”

Text: Eduards Dorofejevs, art historian, Curator of Education, Latvian National Museum of Art