The Museum of Decorative Arts and Design introduces the most important personalities and events associated with Latvian design in the form of documentary films.
The video series focuses on the origins and creative environment in Latvian design in the 1960s-1980s.
The main characters in the films are Valdis Celms (1943), an internationally renowned theoretician and practitioner of design and kinetic art; Artūrs Riņķis (1942), one of the leading representatives of kinetic art in Latvia; and Jānis Borgs (1946), an artist, critic, curator and publicist.
He reveals the story of the origin of the famous city border sign "RĪGA", describes photo collages devoted to the urban environment, and looks back at the first activities of designers in Latvia.
Valdis Celms' works in the Digital Library.
He recalls how he managed to preserve his kinetic art object "Sakta" on the facade of the hotel "Latvija", talks about working in factories and turning to a solitary career as an artist - his lifelong creative fulfilment in the kinetic art garden "Nekurienes vidū".
Artūrs Riņķis' works in the Digital Library.
He analyses the relationship between modern art, design and ideology in the 1960s and 1970s, discusses the design ecosystem and his contemporaries.
About Jānis Borgs and his works in the Digital Library.
Interviews with these bright and charismatic personalities are not only a documentary testimony of that era, but also a poetic journey into the artists' memories, creative diversity, dreams, ideals and their relationship with reality at that time.
The visually rich videos will appeal to a wide range of audiences, educating, inspiring and highlighting the facts of Latvian cultural history in depth.
The short films "Design Stories" are also available on the LNMA YouTube channel in Latvian with English subtitles.
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