Culture, EU – Baltic States, Forum, Latvia, Technology

“The Latvian Presidency public diplomacy and cultural programme is aimed at a wide international audience. This is one of the projects through which people can get to know about Latvia's cultural heritage. I am pleased with our work to date with the Google Cultural Institute and I hope that this cooperation will continue so that the world can have access to even more information about Latvian culture,” says Selga Laizāne, Head of the Latvian EU Council Presidency cultural programme.

Users of the web platform are able to view pictures from the My, Your, Our Riga 100 Years Ago exhibition that was on display at the NLL as part of the Riga 2014 European Capital of Culture programme. This digital exhibition transports visitors to the city of Riga through maps, documents, drawings and photographs from the 18th century until the early 20th century. The story concludes with an entry in the diary of a German schoolgirl stating: “20 July 1914. Germany has declared war on Russia”.

The Museum of the Occupation of Latvia provides extraordinary pictures of graffiti on the Berlin Wall that call for the independence of Latvia and the Baltic states. It offers a sneak peak at street art on the West Berlin side of the Wall directed against the Soviet regime, some of which was created by Latvians living in exile.

Meanwhile the LNMA offers digitalised versions of several exhibitions. Users are given access to a selection of works from the history of Latvian painting and to a separate online exhibition, An Insight into the Latvian Culture Canon. Visual Art. This features the most outstanding works by Latvian artists along with biographies of the authors and descriptions of how the paintings were created and the most striking artistic techniques used.

The Secret of Art is in the Details exhibition allows the spectator to look into the details of European 19th-century art in the Riga Bourse Art Museum collection. The Museum of Romans Suta and Aleksandra Beļcova offers an exceptional selection of paintings, graphics, book illustrations, scenography and costume sketches, tableware and interior design created by Romans Suta, providing an insight into Latvian modernist art. The Museum of Decorative Arts and Design has, for its part, prepared a collection of porcelain.

The Google Cultural Institute was created with the aim of giving Internet users an opportunity to enjoy cultural riches, to explore exhibitions dedicated to various historical events, and to enjoy virtual visits of museums and architectural monuments from the ancient and modern worlds. Putting historical material on the Internet not only opens up access to more people in the present, but also preserves these various works for future generations.