“The Waters Must Break” – Pauls Bankovskis
"I discovered masturbation at almost the same time that I discovered the map of Latvia..."Continue Reading →
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A Dream in the Latvian Countryside: Remaking the National Painter’s House
In 1998, Dutch museologist Margriet Lestraden bought the remote birth house of "the father of Latvian art", a man she then knew nothing about.Continue Reading →
A Hive of Activity: Discovering Riga’s Underground Music Scene
Richard Thompson gives an introduction to the underground scene of Latvia's capital, a city where every week brings something intriguing and boundary--pushingContinue Reading →
Photographic Pioneers in Soviet-Era Latvia: the Story of Riga Photo Club
Founded in 1962, Riga Photo Club revolutionised photography in Soviet-era Latvia, putting on the first-ever exhibition in the Antarctic along the way.Continue Reading →
The Peace Is Deceptive: the History of Riga’s Hippest Street
The history of Miera iela is proof of the legend that Riga will never be complete.Continue Reading →
Higher Education in a Post-War Refugee Camp: The Baltic University
"He was truly amazed, if not perhaps shocked, that people, refugees, were not only thinking of creating a university, but were actually organising it."Continue Reading →
How the Children of Baltic Refugees to Britain are Rediscovering their Roots
"When my grandfather died, my father stopped speaking Latvian... he had no-one to speak to"Continue Reading →
Gatis Krūmiņš: Debunking Myths of Soviet Investment in the Baltics
Krūmiņš's calculations appear to show that, actually, Latvia – in common with all of the Baltic states – was a net contributor to the Soviet budgetContinue Reading →
Creators of Independent States: Latvia, Lithuania and Jelgava Gymnasium
The story of how a remarkable school in the southern Latvian city of Jelgava, became a place of disproportionate importance for two Baltic nations – not only Latvia, but also…Continue Reading →
Frontnieki: the Formation of the Latvian National Communists Who Challenged Moscow
Who exactly were these national communists and how did they form a faction that presented the greatest challenge to Soviet Centre-periphery relations in the post-war era?Continue Reading →
How Baltic Refugees Returned from North American Exile to Lead their Countries
“My parents fled terror in Estonia in World War Two, which is why I have this accent.”Continue Reading →
Digging Up Old Wars: On the Road with Latvia’s Explosive Ordnance Soldiers
While the Latvian Land Forces are busy training for future confrontations, Pūce and his techs are busy “rendering safe” explosives left behind from the Soviet occupation.Continue Reading →