The Gallery Daugava entered the Latvian art scene in November, 1993 with the exhibition of Rūdolfs Pinnis’ works “From the Aiviekste to the Seine”. Its foundation was motivated by the desire to find a place where artists and the public could communicate. Director and actors need a stage, otherwise their existence would never be known, and they would have no opportunity to address their audience. The same is true about artists. They need a place to exhibit their work through which they speak, make us think, dream, meditate, listen to ourselves and respond emotionally and intellectually to their artwork. The artist can be considered a barometer of his time, even if he is not aware of it. Art is created by the artist, but consumed by the viewer. This philosophy motivated us to set up a Gallery and not much has changed. We have just acquired experience, know-how and more understanding as over 400 exhibitions have been mounted since then. There were solo-exhibitions of Latvian contemporary artists including painters, sculptors, graphic artists, ceramists; as well as competitive, specialized, thematic and conceptual exhibitions. Some years were like a marathon, where it seemed that the year had hardly begun and it was Christmas time again… A question may arise: is this worth it? Yes, we feel, it is! Since the gallery’s opening the art scholar Anda Treija has been its director.

Throughout these 15 years the Gallery Daugava has been located in the Old Riga. Since May, 2002 it has been housed at 10/12 Alksnāja Street in a 17th century warehouse which was re-designed for the Gallery by architects Andris Kronbergs and Eduards Beernaerts (the Architects’ bureau ARHIS).
However the Gallery is not the only place where Latvian art has been displayed.
On November 29, 2006, an exhibition was presented in the Small Guild Hall in Old Riga. Its purpose was to acquaint the participants of the NATO leaders’ summit and the guests of our country with the Latvian contemporary art. Over 30 art projects have been implemented outside Latvia: in Austria, the Czech Republic, France, Great Britain, Norway, Slovakia, Spain, Ukraine, Germany and Sweden. Nearly all of them were supported by the Foreign Ministry and Embassies of Latvia.
The first exhibition abroad set up by the Gallery required great effort because a number of practical things had to be settled. At that time the State Cultural Capital Foundation did not exist and the Gallery itself not very efficient in search of supporters, the economic situation in the country was less than ideal. Yet, we managed to deliver a hundred artworks by 23 artists including paintings, sculptures and spatial objects to the superb exhibition hall, Sala Millares in Madrid. It was 1996 and thanks to the Latvian Shipping Company, Andris Kļaviņš, Ventspils Oil and Igors Skoks the exhibition reached the port of Bilbao. Fifteen artists were present at the opening of the exhibition; it was documented in the catalogue “23 Artistas de Letonia”.
Several years later when Aija Odiņa was the Ambassador of Latvia in the United Kingdom of Spain, the exhibition of the Latvian contemporary art “Testimonio de la fe” (Testimony of Faith) was held in the State Museum of Madrid in 2002. It was shown on Madrid TV and documented in a catalogue as well. Later, the same exhibition was held in the Art museum of Seville. The project received significant support from the Parliament of Latvia. The exhibition project “Life. Play. Freedom” was carried out in Newcastle, Edinburgh and London. There we had a wonderful cooperation from Terēze Svilāne who appreciated Latvian art and was ready to work for it, or more precisely, to serve it. It was in 1998-1999. The same exhibition project “La Vie. Le Jeu. La Liberte” was carried out in the French cities of Lille,Calais,Lorient and San Sier. We were fortunate that the art scholar Sandra Kalniete was the Embassador of Latvia in France at that time. Naturally, she supported our activities there. This exhibition project “Life. Play. Freedom.” got reflection in catalogues in English, French and Latvian. The texts were written by the Dr.phil. Andris Rubenis. Sixteen artists participated in the project.
Even Ojārs Feldbergs’ granite sculptures “travelled” through Europe, which caused difficulties for those who had to ship the works and arrange the exposition. Of great importance was the exhibition of the Latvian sculptor Gļebs Panteļejevs and artist Ilmārs Blumbergs “Terskel” (Threshold) in the Vigeland museum in Oslo with the catalogue in Norwegian and English. Norway has seen several of our exhibitions. Many Norwegian art galleries are quite cooperative as Norwegians seem to relate to our art. The Gallery Daugava has arranged exhibitions in Prague and other Czech cities as well. The art dialogue “Prague–Riga” was quite impressive. It was initiated by the diplomat, Iveta Šulca who was then Latvia’s ambassador to the Czech republic, and now is the representative of the European Commission in Latvia. Within that project the Gallery mounted a ceramics exhibition in the Prague museum of Decorative and Applied Art. Afterwards the Czech Prime Minister Vladimir Špidla visited our gallery. We received letters of gratitude for our work from Jose Manuel Barroso, and from the Foreign Ministry of Latvia for “ Strengthening the State of Latvia”. On the Gallery’s 15th anniversary a diploma of recognition was received from the Ministry of Culture of Latvia for “ Significant Contribution to the Development of the Latvian Contemporary Art”. On its anniversary the gallery was represented in Vienna, in the museum MOYA located in the city centre, at 20 Lowelstrase, for the opening of the Latvian contemporary painting exhibition, devoted to the 90th anniversary of Latvia. This project was supported by Guntis Rāvis, president of “Skonto Būve” and Valdis Lejnieks, Board chairman of the joint-stock company ACB.

The Gallery Daugava has also turned to publishing lately. Initially it prepared exhibition catalogues, which were a necessity and can hardly be referred to as a venture since they documented the exhibition or the art project. The latest publications have become much more complex and more significant. We have just received support by the State Cultural Capital Foundation for the work on the painter Biruta Baumane’s painting album. We were encouraged by the successful result of the art album “Imants Vecozols. Painting”, which opened in August, 2008, and was honoured by the presence of the State president Valdis Zatlers and Mrs. Lilita Zatlere. The idea of proceeding with this type of art editions of this kind developed when we saw the joy in Imants Vecozols’ eyes as he was holding the book that reflected over 50 years of his creations. The high appraisal of the book raised the following question: who of the artists will receive the next edition? Biruta Baumane’s joy on the offer was genuine. It inspired us to go on. Work on the album “Biruta Baumane’s Painting” will probably not progress smoothly, without a hitch. It never does. But the major goal is to see joy and satisfaction in the painter’s eyes when she is listing through the book on her life-long painting. Let success be with us!


About the Gallery, exhibitions and artists writes Anda Treija.