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 →
Fiction: Nora Ikstena – Soviet Milk
"I don’t remember 15 October 1969. There are people who swear they remember their birth. I don’t."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 →
Previews of Baltic Screen Week in London
This week in London, Baltic View is putting on a series of films from Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. Previews and trailers here.Continue Reading →
Photographic Notes on Latvia's Capital – Ģirts Raģelis
Ģirts Raģelis's project Pilsētas piezīmes [City Notes] gives a fascinating insight into the many contrasting sides of the largest city in the Baltic states.Continue 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 →
Putting the Forgotten District of Lastādija Back on the Map of Riga
Lastādija or Lastadie is the forgotten name of the neighbourhood bounded by the Central Market, the railway, Lāčplēša Street and the Daugava river.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 →
DB Under the Radar: Ķemeri, Latvia
"Its medicinal water attracted thousands of tourists from all over the Russian Empire, thereby warranting the town a direct train line to Moscow"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 →