Temporary Exhibition "A National Shrine"

To celebrate its 30th anniversary, the Museum invites you to visit the temporary exhibition "A National Shrine" at Latviešu strēlnieku laukums 1, Riga.

The Museum Collection contains more than 70,000 items – a unique treasure trove of memorabilia and testimony to the fate of Latvia and the experiences of its people in the 20th century.  The exhibition highlights items showing Latvian national symbols that were made in Soviet prisons and Gulag camps, in refugee camps in Germany, and later in exile by Latvian refugees.

The exhibition displays twelve flags of Latvia.  Several flags were taken along by Latvians fleeing their homeland in 1944; they were later carefully preserved in the USA and Canada. Others were kept hidden in Soviet-occupied Latvia. One was used by the Latvian Legation in London.

The title of the exhibition comes from an article in "The New York Times" by Andrew Higgins on 25 September 2022.

The creators of the exhibition: Aija Ventaskraste, Egils Mednis, Artūrs Romeiko, Taiga Kokneviča, Baiba Brieže, Aivars Reinholds, Pēteris Kalniņš, and Gundega Michele.

The exhibition will be open until 22 December 2023.

Photo: Latvian Scout emblem, West Germany, late 1940s.