Latvian National Museum of Art shows a massive exhibition dedicated to 100th anniversary of World War I – in Arsenāls exhibition centre. Open now - until April 20.
‘This exhibition is a story about a turning point in history and an architectural sight, featuring three conflict zones – conflict of time, when a new age had completely transformed the previous system of values; conflict within – a person’s ability to sacrifice life by joining a conflict and fighting for his homeland and finally the geographic zone with its superpowers and their political conflicts in Europe,’ – said Riga 2014 Foundation social relations programme manager Mārtiņš Drēģeris.
17 of the most prestigious museums and national galleries from 11 countries – Estonia, Lithuania, Finland, Poland, Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Slovenia, Croatia, Serbia and Hungary – will be present in Riga. Three Latvian artists – Ēriks Božis, Krišs Salmanis and Andris Breže – will also present their works.
‘Only now do we understand how an exhibition can motivate people to think about many things: war as a historic event, during which countries fight each other and people live, work, survive and love. Human emotions is exactly the most important aspect of this exhibition,’ – says the head of Riga 2014 Foundation Diāna Čivle.
’1914 – World War I. The war that is said to had changed the world; the course of the world’s development, geopolitical situation and put many new independent countries on the map of the world. These new countries were formed as the four empires collapsed. This is the topic of this exhibition – going through collapse, destruction and anything else that is associated with war and finally being depicted in modern art. The art that was formed over those years by people who witnessed those events,’ – says Director of Latvian National Museum of Art Māra Lāce.
Curator of ’1914′ exhibition and project author Ginta Gerharde-Upeniece believes ‘the exhibition asks a question – is a world war a thing of the past, is the human nature to wage war a cause of present day aggression? Are the benefits one side acquires worht all the sacrifices? Speaking of war as past experience, we have rekindled old myths and have reinterpreted them in new light.’
This exhibition will be open at Arsenāls exhibition centre of Latvian National Museum of Art January 18 – April 20.
Source: Baltic News Network
http://bnn-news.com/latvian-national-museum-art-open-massive-exhibition-1914-108656