Explore Riga from a different angle

RIGA - Through the centuries Riga has been a destination for trade, culture and science. Writing as a skill has indicated the city’s ability to record its history. Today we can all explore this heritage from a new side – Riga’s Central Library, in collaboration with Rigas Balvas Biedriba (Riga’s Prize Society), and Riga Latvian Society House invites everyone to the exhibition “Riga in books from the olden times to today.”

The exhibition opens with the collection, owned by the Central Library, on the books about the city of Riga through the ages and visitors are welcome to appraise its offering. The ‘exhibits’ cover different periods of time, such as the Soviet era or the first Latvian Republic, and also diverse book types, which gather both fiction, research and genres, which unify both entertainment and information in one place. If this is not enough, there is a possibility for everyone to assess different topics. Themes include history, education, culture, politics, social life and more.

This event serves as a messenger for the role of the capital of culture, which Riga will embody in 2014. From these books, of which some are more discolored than others, come a true legacy of the city’s history. They are evidence of Latvia’s bitter struggle, ruled by many foreign forces over the centuries, but also governed by independent Latvian institutions. Though bitterness is not the only inherited feature from the past, Riga is probably amongst those cities which have continued to develop. One can see art nouveau and wooden, Middle Ages, and Soviet Union architecture in Riga. Moreover, the city holds a historically global touch – it is hard to find a Russian, German, Swedish and Latvian impact elsewhere. This is what has let Riga to become the capital of culture. Books surely do not portray the history in full, although they certainly outline the role of the city now and then.

Riga is still some sort of an undiscovered place. The Latvian legend says that this city “does not have to be finished, ever,” reflecting its necessity to develop all the time, otherwise the city “will drown in the Daugava river as soon as someone claims it is finished.” Maybe this is the reason why Riga is constantly in the building process. And the exhibition gives credit to the architectural monuments – books contain thorough information on the Blackheads’ House, churches and the University of Latvia. This list, of course, is not complete. And, supposedly, it never will be!

Despite the fact that books take the main stage of the exhibition, there is another cultural value which relates to writing. And that’s painting. Visitors are also invited to look at the paintings drawn by Latvian artists. An additional advantage for information and pictures can be on the books’ pages, giving an emotional lift to realize the meaning of this city’s past, present and future.
Still, there is a feeling that the exhibition is somehow made up just for the local audience. No matter that books, written in German and Russian, are also presented; it is tough to imagine that people who do not have an emotional connection to this city would attend this exhibition. These books are a great tool to speak more widely about written evidence about Latvia’s history. Sometimes it is said that there are no valuable books about different subjects, such as Latvia’s economic, cultural or social life in the past due to the countless military battles in the city, which led to the loss of many informative documents.

This exhibition proves them wrong on a big scale. These books represent a certain period of time, and there is no price for this. Even more, with the help of this exhibition the city itself appears in a completely different light, one which is filled with respect. And this is where the pride of being an inhabitant of Riga breaks out.

The exhibition is open till April 10 at Riga Latvian Society House (Merkela St. 13). Donations accepted at entrance.