RIGA.- From 29 May to 16 November 2025, a new exhibition, Art of Viet Nam, is on view in the Asian Art Gallery of the Art Museum RIGA BOURSE in Riga (3rd floor; Doma laukums 6).

The Latvian National Museum of Art (LNMA) collection of Vietnamese material culture is small, around 50 objects. Most of the items were acquired in the second half of the 20th century, with the last donation being received in 2024.

The majority of the collection is Dong Ho folk coloured woodblock prints that were mainly displayed during the Vietnamese New Year celebrations, therefore the works depict positive and humorous themes such as various good luck signs, national allegories, historical figures, and other popular stories. Through distinct scenes of everyday life, Dong Ho paintings embody the traditional Vietnamese aesthetic, values and wishes. The collection contains different versions and parts of the works demonstrated in the images on labels.

Viet Nam has a complex and multi-layered history, which is also reflected in the objects in the LNMA collection related to both the Chinese influence on their heritage and French colonialism – blue-and-white porcelain, mother-of-pearl inlays, opium pipes as a reference to the Opium Wars (1839–1842, 1856–1860), and a 1912 silk embroidery from Hanoi with direct traces of French colonialism.

In 2024, the museum received 17 objects as a diplomatic gift from the Embassy of the Socialist Republic of Viet Nam in Sweden. These include a traditional Vietnamese male costume, a rice drum and Dong Ho coloured woodblock prints enriching the collection with missing pieces and showing diversity in the use of colour in the works.

Exhibition curator: Kristīne Milere, Exhibition Curator / Art Museum RIGA BOURSE / Latvian National Museum of Art

Graphic design: Kristīne Jansone, Visual Communication Specialist / Art Museum RIGA BOURSE / Latvian National Museum of Art