Conference program
Day 1
Day 2
Day 3
27.11.25
Collection Building: Then and Now
Cinema Splendid Palace, Elizabetes Street 61, Riga.
9.00 – 10.00
Participant registration
10.00 – 10.15
Conference opening – addresses by representatives of the Ministry of Culture and the Latvian National Museum of Literature and Music
10.15 – 11.00
Keynote speech
Léontine Meijer-van Mensch
Against the Wall Head First
Following Jānis Greste’s credo, museums can only find their future by daring to face obstacles head on, bruises included
Léontine Meijer-van Mensch
Against the Wall Head First
Following Jānis Greste’s credo, museums can only find their future by daring to face obstacles head on, bruises included
11.00 – 11.15
Mg.paed. Edīte Putniņa and Evelīna Plostniece, Latvian National Museum of Literature and Music. The Riverbanks of the Song Festival Time Stream – Is it Possible to Contain Them?
11.15 – 11.30
Mg. art. Zanda Šumska, Latvian National Museum of Literature and Music. Transformation of Heritage: Challenges of the Digital Age in Museum Collection Development
11.30 – 12.00
Discussion: Challenges and Opportunities for Museum Collection Development in Future.
Participants: composer Andris Dzenītis, writer Ilze Jansone, leading art experts from the Latvian National Museum of Literature and Music Inese Žune and Ingus Barovskis. Discussion moderated by Laima Jansone
Participants: composer Andris Dzenītis, writer Ilze Jansone, leading art experts from the Latvian National Museum of Literature and Music Inese Žune and Ingus Barovskis. Discussion moderated by Laima Jansone
12.00 – 13.00
Lunch break
13.00 – 13.15
Ph.D. Kristīne Beķere, Kuldīga District Museum. Museum Collection Development in the Late 1930s: The Example of Kuldīga District Museum
13.15 – 13.30
Mg.hist. Ronalds Mālmeisters, Talsi District Museum. Collection Building Trends at Talsi District Museum
13.30 – 13.45
Mg.hist. Gundega Skagale, Latvian Ethnographic Open-Air Museum. An Iron on the Museum Shelf – A Cultural-Historical Testimony or a Burden for the Collection?
13.45 – 14.00
Discussion, questions
14.00 – 14.30
Coffee break
14.30 – 14.45
Ph.D. cand., M.A., Mg.Sc.soc. Anna Žabicka, Pauls Stradiņš Museum of the History of Medicine. Collection Choices as Cultural Policy: An Analysis of the Museum’s Collection Content
14.45 – 15.00
Mg.hist., Dr.med. Maija Pozemkovska, Riga School Museum. The School Museum Created by Jānis Greste – Lost and Vanishing
15.00 – 15.15
Ph.D. Ilona Miezīte, Latvian National Museum of Literature and Music. Lost Treasures: How the Museum’s Predecessors Lost Part of Their Collection Materials
16.00 Premiere of the film Grestomātija
28.11.25
Visionary thinking and the adaptation of historical narratives for future purposes
Epilogue of the LNMLM exhibition “Procrastination and Creation” (mansard), Mārstaļu Street 6, Riga.
9.00 – 10.00
Participant registration
10.00 – 10.15
Opening remarks
10.15 – 11.00
Keynote speech Agnes Aljas
Visions and Frictions: Museums and Youth Engagement.
Visions and Frictions: Museums and Youth Engagement.
11.00 – 11.15
Ph.D. cand. Kristina Petrauskė, Vytautas the Great War Museum. From Spectators to Citizens: Empowering Participation in Museums
11.15 – 11.30
Mg.hist. Barba Ekmane, Latvian War Museum. Can the Past and its Stories Influence the Future? Looking at the Period of Latvia’s Restoration of Independence, One Could Say Yes
11.30 – 11.45
Mg.theol. Laima Jansone, Latvian National Museum of Literature and Music. Those Crazy Years… Evidence of the Use of the Latvian National Anthem Between 1940 and 1950
11.45 – 12.00
Discussion, questions
12.00 – 13.00
Lunch break
13.00 – 13.15
Mg.art. Džūlija Rodenkirhena, Latvian Museum of Photography. The Strenči Photo Studio Collection and the Diversity of Its Interpretations: A Place Created in the Archive
13.15 – 13.30
Mg.hist., Mg.teol. Anete Jenča Turaida Museum Reserve (State Protected Cultural Monument). The Narrative of the Third Awakening and the Church in the Museum: How the Exhibition We Believed – We Exist Reconstructs the Role of the Church in History
13.30 – 13.45
Mg.sc.soc., Ph.D. cand. Ināra Mukāne, Daugavpils University, Augšdaugava District Municipality. Interaction Between Personalities and Places in the Development of the Berķenele Cultural Environment
13.45 – 14.00
Mg. philol. Dace Micāne-Zālīte, Association of Memorial Museums, Ojārs Vācietis Museum. Letters from Berta Alvīne Vāciete to Her Son Ojārs: The Epistolary and Emotional Code of the Era in the Research “Letters from Līzespasts”
14.00 – 14.30
Discussion, questions
14.30 – 15.00
Coffee break
15.00 – 15.15
Dr. artium student, Mg.art. Kristīne Želve, curator and director. Between Research and Creation: Notes on the Making of the Interdisciplinary Exhibition The Times of the Land Surveyors. An Unfinished Script for the Third Film Adaptation
15.15 – 15.30
Mg.art. Dace Vosa, Association of Memorial Museums, Janis Rozentāls and Rūdolfs Blaumanis Museum. Rūdolfs Blaumanis’ Room
15.30 – 15.45
Mg.philol., Mg.paed. Deimantė Cibulskienė, Maironis Lithuanian Literature Museum. The Versatility of a Literature Museum: What Will Interest Future Visitors?
16.00 – 16.30
Discussion, questions
16.30 – 17.00
Coffee break
17.00 – 17.15
Mg.art., Mg.philol. Inga Surgunte, Project Manager for Sustainable Development, Latvian Museum Association. Working Strategically with Sustainable Development Goals: The Experience of Four Latvian Museums in the Project TOWCHED
17.15 – 17.30
Anna Bindere, Latvian Autism Association. Autism-Friendly Museums in Latvia
17.30 – 17.45
Mg.philol. Iveta Ruskule, Director of the Latvian National Museum of Literature and Music. Creative Participation as a Future Strategy for Museums: Experience, Compromises and Added Value
17.45 – 18.00
Discussion, questions
18.15 Launch of the conference proceedings “Acts. Facts. Artefacts”
19.00 Conference closing and free time in the exhibition “Procrastination and Creation”
29.11.25
Excursion day
Guided tours in the Latvian National Museum of Literature and Music exhibition “SongSpace” and in the Museum Repositories.
10.00 – 12.00
Excursion to the exhibition “SongSpace”, Lūcijas Garūtas Alley 8, Riga
Details: marketings@rmm.gov.lv
Details: marketings@rmm.gov.lv
12.30 – 14.30
Excursion to the Museum Repository, Pulka Street 8, Riga
Details: marketings@rmm.gov.lv
Details: marketings@rmm.gov.lv
Special guests
Deimantė Cibulskienė
Deimantė Cibulskienė is the director of the Maironis Lithuanian Literature Museum. She has led more than thirty projects aimed at making Lithuanian literature and museology more accessible and dynamic.
Museum is a smart, ever-evolving and adaptable institution, full of creativity and inspiration.
Agnes Aljas
Agnese Aljasa is the Research Secretary of the Estonian National Museum. Her research interests include audience engagement, cultural and digital participation, contemporary collecting, and the impact of museums in the context of technological change.
Vision gives us a purpose that goes beyond routine – so we can face change, crises, and new expectations with clarity and strength.
Léontine Meijer-van Mensch
Léontine Meijer-van Mensch is director of Museum Rotterdam. She previously worked in Germany as programme director of the Jewish Museum Berlin, deputy director of the Museum of European Cultures (Berlin), and director of the State Ethnographical Collections of Saxony (Dresden).
Without vision, museums only preserve the past; with vision, they help shape the future.
Conference program
Day 1
27.11.25
Collection Building: Then and Now
Cinema Splendid Palace, Elizabetes Street 61, Riga.
Day 2
28.11.25
Visionary thinking and the adaptation of historical narratives for future purposes
Epilogue of the LNMLM exhibition “Procrastination and Creation” (mansard), Mārstaļu Street 6, Riga.
Day 3
29.11.25
Excursion day
Guided tours in the Latvian National Museum of Literature and Music exhibition “SongSpace” and in the Museum Repositories.
