The Unbuilt Soviet Metro System that Haunts Latvia's Capital: Struggle
“In total, these 172 letters were signed by 1,965 people. There were 1,964 votes against the construction of the metro."Continue Reading →
The Unbuilt Soviet Metro System that Haunts Latvia's Capital: Beginnings
Riga was down for a metro – a formally and conceptually adventurous system that would have been the most expensive ever built in the Soviet UnionContinue Reading →
"Someone Always Pays": Siberian Exile and Nazi Collaboration in a Single Family
An interview with the Lithuanian-Canadian author Julija Šukys, whose most recent book found her unearthing troubling secrets about her family's pastContinue Reading →
Welcome to Maskačka: Stig Stasig's Images of Latvia's Troubled '90s
In 1991, Danish photographer Stig Stasig moved to Riga, capital of newly free Latvia. His photos of inner-city life capture a unique moment in its historyContinue Reading →
The Silenced Muse: the Life of a Murdered Jewish Lithuanian Poet
Matilda Olkin's short life and her poems stand as a testament that the fragile beauty of the written word gives us strength even in humanity’s darkest hour.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 →
Stephan Collishaw: Turning Lithuania's Troubled Past into Fiction
British author Stephan Collishaw has been closely involved with Lithuania since moving there on a whim in the mid-'90s.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 →
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 →
"Kas ir Hipsteri?" – Changing Times in a Small Latvian City
Cēsis has changed rather a lot in the last few years, probably more than any other single town in Latvia, and the best place to get the measure of these…Continue Reading →
Discussing Identity and Minorities in an Estonian Border City, Pt. 2
Narva is a particularly interesting place to discuss minorities and identy, being more overwhelmingly minority-majority than any large city in the Baltics.Continue Reading →