The exhibition was prepared by the Association of Memorial Museums in cooperation with the Embassy of the Czech Republic in Riga with a support of the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Latvia. The opening of the exhibition took place on November 20th at Rainis and Aspazija House-Museum. Mr. Miroslav Kosek, Ambassador of the Czech Republic, and Rita Meinerte, Director of the Association of Latvian Museums, opened the exhibition. Then, Žofie Součková, the Czech flutist and student of Erasmus in Riga, played two musical pieces. The exhibition was attended by prominent people from cultural and social environment of Riga, members of diplomatic corps, Czech and Latvian students as well as the members of the Latvian-Czech Society. The exhibition will last until December 15, 2018.

 

The Latvian Television LTV 1 broadcasted the opening of the exhibition (https://ltv.lsm.lv/lv/raksts/20.11.2018-latviesu-simboli-un-dzeja-kaligrammas.id144562 ).

 

 

Latvian symbols are one of the oldest symbols in Europe. They emerged from pagan times, and each of them is connected with significance and often has a story that is mostly related to the pagan gods or natural phenomena. These symbols connect the modern time with ancient history and endeavour to awaken our spiritual part. The ancestors of today's Latvians have created these symbols by observation of the nature and then used them to worship their gods, especially the main god Debesis and the goddesses Laima and Māra. These gods provided them with protection against misery, fire, devil, or poor crops. The symbols also served as a blessing for good health, fertility, happiness and other human activities. Diana Kněžínková selected some of the symbols and gradually put them into her own designs, which she has been creating with using the classical Latvian verses. Some separate basic symbols she used in her designs can be described, for example, as follows:

 

Šķērsu Krusts (The Golden Cross of the Supreme God Debesis) provides a protection and reflects a mischance, and is a symbol of positive charge and creates order and harmony; Māra (the symbol of the goddess Māra - Mother of the Earth) protects from the birth to the death, protects against diseases, and is a symbol of fertility.