Last week, the National Library of Latvia (LNB) opened an exhibition on library information systems, «Bezdarbības māktie ziloņi» (Elephants Plagued by Inaction), by artist Krišs Salmanis. It is curated by Anda Boluža, who has been organising exhibitions on a wide range of topics at the LNB since 2017. In the Nice Touch section, Anda talks about resources that help her research and find materials for exhibitions.
«As an exhibition curator and content author, I often have to do research work, looking for useful historical images, facts, and archival material. The website Redzidzirdilatviju.lv, which provides quick and easy access to the digitalised collection of the Latvian State Archive of Audiovisual Documents, was an invaluable help in creating the exhibition From Arcadia to Mars about the history of Riga parks and protests. Type in the name of the place you are looking for, and you will see it in historical photographs in seconds! I know that the artist Krišs Salmanis, whose exhibition we have just opened, has also found a lot of interesting things there. The new Digitalabiblioteka.lv is an equally great site, allowing you to access materials from various archives, museums, and libraries from the comfort of your home. There, within minutes, I found unique photographs of Vējzaķsala or Fēgezaka Island from the Daugava Museum collection, taken by Gunārs Binde in 1989 during the Ķīpsala-Sea expedition.»
Anda Boluža graduated from the Art Academy of Latvia and later studied critical writing in art and design at the Royal College of Art in London. She has researched Soviet-era graphic design and written about contemporary design in Latvia. Anda has been a curator at the Latvian Museum of Photography, and head of communications at the Latvian Centre for Contemporary Art. Since 2017, Anda has been organising exhibitions at the National Library of Latvia. Until September 21, the National National Library of Latvia is hosting an exhibition by Krišs Salmanis, where library is shown as a labyrinth of mirrors, where visitors are guided to their destination by search tools developed by librarians.
Viedokļi