In 2025, two major Italian exhibitions arrive in Riga. Press conference with the Minister of Culture and the Mayor of Riga.
Two major Italian exhibitions will land in Riga in 2025, as announced by the Minister of Culture of Latvia, Agnese Lāce, and the Mayor of Riga, Vilnis Ķirsis, alongside the Ambassador of Italy, Alessandro Monti, during a press conference held at the Latvian National Museum of Art on the morning of March 6.
From May 22 to August 24, the Riga Bourse Art Museum will host “Italian Arts and Crafts from the 6th to the 19th Century”, in collaboration with Palazzo Madama and the Turin Museums Foundation. From July 5 to October 26, “Light from Italy: From Fattori to Morandi” will be presented, organized by the Latvian National Museum of Art in cooperation with the Uffizi Galleries. Both exhibitions are sponsored and supported by the Embassy of Italy in Riga.
“Exhibitions created with Turin and Florence represent a major and effective act of cultural diplomacy,” declared Minister of Culture Agnese Lāce, “demonstrating the excellent relations developed with Italy and significantly enhancing the cultural offerings of our capital.”
“We are ready to welcome a large number of visitors to Riga for these two exhibitions,” remarked Mayor Vilnis Ķirsis with satisfaction, “which constitute a first-class cultural event not only for Latvia and its capital but for the entire region.”
“This truly is the year of Italy in Latvia,” added Ambassador of Italy Alessandro Monti. “At a time of great vitality for both Italian and Latvian culture, these exhibitions reflect the creative connection that increasingly links our countries.”
During the press conference, curators of the exhibitions and representatives of the participating museums also spoke. Present for “Light from Italy” were curators Astrida Rogule, Guicciardo Maria Sassoli de’ Bianchi Strozzi Cavina, Vanessa Gavioli, and Elena Marconi. For “Italian Arts and Crafts”, participants included Giovanni Carlo Federico Villa, director of Palazzo Madama, and Vita Birzaka from the Riga Bourse Art Museum.
The Exhibitions
“Light from Italy: From Fattori to Morandi” is one of the most ambitious Italian exhibition projects ever presented in Latvia. It will be showcased in the main building of the Latvian National Museum of Art (LNMM) from July 5 to October 26, 2025.
The exhibition will feature masterpieces from the Uffizi Galleries, particularly from the Palazzo Pitti collection, in dialogue with late 19th and early 20th-century works from the LNMM collection. It marks the first exhibition of this scale undertaken by the Uffizi in Northern Europe, with 86 works of art arriving from Florence, along with archival materials, photographs, and documents relating to connections between Italian and Latvian artists at the turn of the 20th century. The exhibition is curated by a Latvian-Italian team: Elena Marconi and Vanessa Gavioli from Palazzo Pitti, together with Guicciardo Maria Sassoli de’ Bianchi Strozzi Cavina and Astrida Rogule.
According to Guicciardo Sassoli, “This exhibition will highlight, for the first time abroad, the Uffizi’s collection of 19th and 20th-century art.” Vanessa Gavioli added, “This is an almost unprecedented loan for the Uffizi, with over 85 works traveling.” Elena Marconi emphasized, “This significant cultural diplomacy initiative aims to breathe new life into the bond between Riga and Florence, two cities also connected by a 25-year-old twinning agreement.”
The exhibition is organized by the Latvian National Museum of Art in collaboration with the Uffizi Galleries and the association “Nuova Artemarea,” with support from the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Latvia, the Riga City Council, the Embassy of Italy in Riga, and the Latvian Embassy in Rome.
“Palazzo Madama: Italian Arts and Crafts from the 6th to the 19th Century” will take place from May 22 to August 24, 2025, at the Riga Bourse Art Museum. The exhibition will feature over 100 masterpieces of applied and decorative arts from the Palazzo Madama collection in Turin.
“Craftsmanship is the secret behind Italian creativity and genius,” commented Giovanni Carlo Federico Villa, director of Palazzo Madama. “The exhibition we bring to Riga spans nearly fifteen centuries of Italian art, from the Middle Ages to the Baroque, showcasing masterpieces across various crafts.”
The selection includes Murano glass, Venetian enamels, Renaissance bronzes from Veneto, furniture and wrought iron from Lombardy, central Italian majolica, porcelain from Doccia, Vecchio, Cocchi, and Naples, textiles and lace, micro-carvings in wood and ivory, as well as decorative book covers. The focal point of the exhibition will be Renaissance art from the 15th and 16th centuries and its influence on European art in later centuries.
The exhibition is supported by the Boris and Ināra Teterev Foundation. The Riga Bourse Art Museum has previously collaborated successfully with the foundation, including on Latvia’s first joint project with the Uffizi Galleries—the 2021 exhibition “Self-Revelation: Tintoretto, Omar Galliani, Lorenzo Puglisi.”
The exhibition is curated by Daiga Upeniece (Riga Bourse Art Museum) and Elisabetta Rabajoli (Turin Museums Foundation), with exhibition design by Latvian designer Reinis Suhanovs. This exhibition is also sponsored and supported by the Embassy of Italy in Riga.
Photo: Edijs Palens / LETA
