Exhibition at Madona Regional Studies and Art Museum
from 14 January to 5 March, 2017.
The exhibition is devoted to industrial art phenomena in Latvia in the second half of the 20th century. Using porcelain and the Riga Porcelain Museum’s assortment as the central element, the exhibition illustrates the evolution of mass production design from the 1940’s to the 1990’s i.e. the period when Latvia was part of the USSR, as well as the dynamics of porcelain art and design in the 1990’s, shortly after the collapse of the USSR and the restoration of Latvia’s independence.
At the core of the exhibition are works from the Riga Porcelain Museum’s collection – porcelain services ranging from mass produced consumer goods to production proposals which were accepted but never produced or which were not accepted and remained behind the scenes in Latvian design history. There are also unique signature works created by Riga Porcelain Museum artists for exhibitions celebrating production achievements or personal or group shows. The exposition also includes tea and coffee services from the collection of the Madona Regional Studies and Art Museum, offering insights into the prevalence, use and cultural and historical significance of such objects in northern Vidzeme. Approximately 50 services have been selected to reflect the development of the industry over 50 years, revealing the common trends and exceptions in consumer product design, their aesthetic potential and the individual styles of their designers, which over the course of half a century influenced both the factory’s style and public perceptions of beauty and utility.
Thanks to the arrangement of the exhibition prepared specially for Madona Regional Studies and Art Museum as well as visual materials from the Latvian Museum of Architecture, the displayed items can be shown in a broad cultural and historical context, encouraging viewers to ponder the complex relationship between design, public ideology, economics etc. in Latvia in the second half of the 20th century.
The exhibition “Riga porcelain. The second half of the 20th century. Services from the Riga Porcelain Museum collection” is on display at the Madona Regional Studies and Art Museum, and is a collaborative project between the Riga Porcelain Museum of the Association of Cultural Institutions of Riga City Council and Madona Regional Studies and Art Museum.
The exhibition will run until 5 March 2017.