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Daily reports of plans to abolish national cultural institutions filter down to us through the media as a part of the economic crisis. Amongst these, a 15 year-long process has culminated with the opening of a new museum, the Riga Art Nouveau Museum (under the jurisdiction of the Riga Art Nouveau Centre of the Riga Culture Agency). The Director of the museum, Agrita Tipāne, emphasises that the push for the opening of the museum was initially given by Norwegian funding – the Alesund city project – and the interest of mayor Jānis Birks. “If you have announced Art Nouveau as your brand, then why do you work with it so minimally?” a colleague from Estonia justifiably posed the rhetorical question as a member of the Jury of the annual design award of the Latvian Association of Designers last year. From this perspective the new museum is a significant cog in a system that should operate the whole tractor: the participation of the Riga Art Nouveau Centre in European Art Nouveau projects (Reseau Art Nouveau Network and others) is one of the ways to gain international recognition.
The timing of the opening of the museum was influenced by the search for an appropriate location. The current location seemed to be the best option –the building designed by Konstantīns Pēkšēns built in 1903 at 12 Alberta Street already boasts the Jānis Rozentāls and Rūdolfs Blaumanis museum. Its opulent stairway, possibly painted according to a design by Jānis Rozentāls, is pictured in practically every guide to Riga. The museum occupies the former Pēkšēns apartment on the first floor, and is being leased by the city from its owner, who is an architect of German origin. The building is being reconstructed according to the design by the owner of the building in collaboration with the architecture studio Arhiidea.
The first part of the Riga Jugenstil museum is currently open – the entry vestibule, lounge and fireplace room. In the future there are plans to convert the museum to fully reflect the style of the era: this affected the initial decisions regarding the status of the new museum. Up until the recent past, the basis for any serious museum was its collection, even in the late last century the museums sought to please the public. The Art Nouveau museum does not regard this principle as a priority. Although the museum does not intend to avoid creating a collection (there are currently around 500 objects in the collection, with a focus on items made and used in Latvia), its basic tenet is to exhibit its entire collection. The author of the interior is Liesma Markova, and the rooms that can be viewed in the first stage of opening, have been restored under the guidance of conservator Gunita Čakare. During the work process, excellent examples of decorative finishes were revealed.
The intention is to produce an authentic Art Nouveau apartment, down to the very last hinge (this is why the museum workers are calling for offers of original plumbing details that are still missing – taps, a toilet bowl and others), without a mournful memorial spirit, with various cunning details – a live fire in the grate, jars of jam in the pantry – in an attempt to provide the apartment with an air of life.
As colleagues from neighbouring museums noted at the opening – everyone likes to poke their nose into someone else’s home, and each of Latvia’s historical eras should have a living space from its era on display, including a typical Soviet apartment in a hruščovka. It is not enough for a contemporary museum to boast only a restored interior, and thus the next stage of museum development envisages a short-term exhibition space and seminar room, as well as a cafe (with authentic early 20th century food items on the menu) and a shop in the half-basement. All there is left to do is to wait for the unfulfilled niche for quality souvenirs to finally gain a professional addition of Art Nouveau forms. Perhaps the museum will enter a souvenir competition? Broader plans include a digital exhibition, which will present information divided into various themes –stories about Pēkšēns’ work, the history of the building (an equally notable Latvian architect, Aleksandrs Vanags, also lived here for some time), society at the time and decorative art. Jānis Mitrēvics’ Dd studio is currently working on the virtual project – therefore there is a reason to expect a result worthy of attention. But the museum’s current concern is a search for balance between real and virtual space, so that new and seductive technologies do not “swallow” the live spirit of the museum.
(1) Do you know Alberta Street? Pure Art Nouveau (Russian.)