During the conference ‘Development Possibilities of Culture Tourism’ (26 November 2009), there was an active discussion after Bertold Flik’s talk, in which he, as a representative of the Live Riga campaign, sharply criticized the methods of delivery of a number of permanent exhibitions in museums. While contradictory opinions prevail concerning Live Riga itself, its methods and aims, this year museum activities are becoming more noticeable and active with regard to popularising the treasures of the collections. Using the potential of designers, a comparatively new product is being developed for the Latvian market – the museum souvenir, which will have to establish its own place in the diverse niche of the tourist market.
One could be led to believe that the streets of Riga have become emptier and quieter this spring because many people are meeting in discussion evenings or comfortably sitting in sewing clubs. “Most people have felt dismay when looking into their wardrobe and seeing the familiar and dull view. That’s why we want to share our skills to make anyone feel like a designer and refresh their boring t-shirt or dress with prints of their choice” – the exhibition space Tasty invites participants to their linocut workshop. They also invite visitors to try their hand at jewellery making, participate in soap making classes or toy making workshops, and learn to pour candles or make brooches.
It appears that possibilities to creatively express oneself are endless, and it turns out that handmade trinkets are also attractive to others – they can be bought in small markets, boutiques and internet shops. For example, in the gallery Istaba, next to mugs, badges or notebooks designed by the owner Linda Lūse, one can also see other creations, including Kuskus fabric boots and Aita underpants. Graphic design has now been discovered as a useful form of expression, not just a decorative element. The tactless comments or sharp announcements of politicians have been paraphrased cleverly, and these phrases, printed on T shirts, seem to have stopped a moment in time, allowing it to remain in the attention of the wearer and viewer for a long period of time. The image of Latvia is not the stiff white collar worn by civil servants, chosen well to match their suits. The “alternative” portraits of political party leaders have even become popular on condom packaging, made by Condoms.lv. Accidentally or intentionally, the provocative question about Riga as a sex tourism city has also been addressed, by introducing its characteristic symbols on the trivial paper packaging design.
This year, museum souvenirs have appeared amongst all of the diversity which is offered to the tourist as a possible memento of Latvia. The National History Museum of Latvia has begun collaboration with Nice Place, which has gained experience in souvenir production over a number of years – see the interview with the business founder and designer Zane Ernštreite in the following pages of this magazine! During the Night of Museums visitors could buy and send postcards. Zane recalls: “Most often we heard the phrase: ‘Shall we send it to mum?’ The biggest postcard hit was a reproduction of a twenty Lat banknote, issued in 1936. This inspired a gamut of emotions, but generally people humorously noted that you could buy a twenty lat note for 30 santims. Some people immediately had ideas who to send it to. For example, to someone who had lent them money. The second most popular postcard was a reproduction of a 1572 engraving of the Riga skyline”. Objects held in the collection of the History Museum have been reproduced not only on postcards, but on coasters, bookmarks, t-shirts and badges. The range of souvenirs is traditional, proper and – what is just as important – affordable. Nice Place uses manufacturing technologies that go hand-in-hand with a simplified technological solution and an attractive price.
A different souvenir strategy has been adopted by the Contemporary Art Museum in its kim? pilot project in collaboration with Fionn Dobbin and the Stockholm School of Economics in Riga, where the designer has involved students in a creative activity course ‘Business Reactor’. Fionn Dobbin was born in Germany in 1979 and was educated at the Berlin University of the Arts, but has studied at the Design Department of the Art Academy of Latvia as an educational exchange student of the Erasmus project since 2005. Dobbin regularly stays in Riga, and has worked in the advertising agency Mooz! and the design company Znak as a creative director. Currently he is working on a social design project ‘Mammu!’. “These days it is important to be creative in business. You not only have to know the basics of business, but you must also know how to use the knowledge in a variety of ways, in the same way you cook using a diversity of ingredients. You can make and sell plain coffee, but you can also turn it into art, until it becomes the best coffee there has ever been. It is not possible to teach the ability to be creative, because there are no clearly defined, ready formulas for creativity, although I encourage creativity by providing my students with conditions similar to those of a playing field.”
Taking into account the aim defined by kim? to increase the number of young visitors, Fionn, together with his students, has decided to subject his souvenirs to art and experiment. They invited Maija Kurševa, an artist represented in the museum, to choose a typical motif from her work to be used in a t-shirt design, and for her to print the shirts herself, using a screen printing technique. Therefore each t-shirt is made unique, signed and numbered by the artist. The first range of souvenirs was sold during the Night of Museums in a former warehouse in the Spikeri. This warehouse has been modified using the simplest materials – wooden boxes and ordinary fabric. “It doesn’t seem interesting or pertinent to us to start a regular souvenir shop in the museum. Organising this unexpected and short-term “counter”, we have tried to create new ways in which to make the sale of souvenirs more interesting. It could be a shop on wheels or a shop like a caravan, supplemented with performances”. This experiment of attracting visitors was associated with bananas – they had stickers with the museum’s logo stuck on them and passed out for free to visitors, ironically looking back on Joachim Zigerists’ political advertising campaign of the 1990s.
Although the souvenir concept of the Latvian National Museum of Art is different, the methods of how to manufacture and promote the items are similar – some of them have been manufactured only in a few copies, assigning a unique value through hand crafting. New souvenir lines are intended to be launched ceremonially accompanied by an entertaining programme. Responsibility for souvenirs in the museum has been entrusted to the LNMM zīmola fonds (‘LNMA Brand Fund’), and the authors of the concept are Inese Pētersone, Daina Vītoliņa, Laila Baumane and Vanda Dauksta. Souvenirs dedicated to Gustavs Klucis have been designed by Frančeska Kirke. kim? has purposely decided to only produce series in small editions and emphasise the touch of the artist’s hand, while the strategy of the LNMM zīmola fonds has been shaped by the issue of investment. “A souvenir collection is currently being created in collaboration with the museum, which uses only a small part of the fantastic art works in the museum collection and permanent exhibition. We are trying to create things that appeal to a range of museum visitors – students, tourists, art lovers. I cannot order a thousand, nor 500 items, which is the usual volume of any other manufactured product, therefore the manufacturing prices of the objects are high”, explains Inese Pētersone. In time each museum branch will have a different range of objects, providing both cheaper and simpler, and more expensive and original items. Visitors of the Museum of Decorative Arts and Design will be able to buy souvenirs that are sold in the design museums of other countries, for example, miniature copies of Vitra chairs. “This collection is not aimed at making a profit, but at creating a unified image, with a sense that you are a representative of international design. We are not worse or better, just different, and we definitely can be placed alongside others, on the same shelf”, Inese Pētersone justifies the museum’s choice. The foundation has received financial support from the State Culture Capital Foundation, the Riga City Council and the Swedbank Programme ‘Atspēriens’ for the conceptual development of the souvenir range, as a testimony to their professional model of work. At this time, museums have the opportunity to extend their list of high-quality souvenirs, as well as prove that the ‘face’ of Latvia can be made interesting and exciting by state institutions – by working together with appropriate collaborative partners.
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.05(2).15(2).fotoa(2).pozarskis 019-1(2).jpg)
