Riga Art Nouveau Centre: digitisation of cultural heritage and development of a Virtual Museum

Project facts

Project promoter:
The Association of Culture Institutions of Riga Municipality
Project Number:
LV04-0005
Target groups
Children ,
Young adults
Status:
Completed
Initial project cost:
€413,114
Final project cost:
€399,690
From EEA Grants:
€ 169,868
The project is carried out in:
Rīga

Description

The project focuses on addressing the following challenges: the Art Nouveau Museum has not yet been completed, as a result the Museum only exhibits a small part of its collection (authentic Art Nouveau interiors, decorative art and design objects). There is a strong interest in Riga's cultural heritage and a need to increase people's access to it. There is a lack of a digital database containing information on the cultural heritage of Art Nouveau, it's history and arts. As for the needs of tourists and students and other museum visitors, it is essential to use leading-edge interactive content presentations which feature in digitised format and make the historic heritage widely and professionally available for public. Riga's Art Nouveau heritage is insufficiently documented and publicised.The project aims to digitise the cultural heritage of the Art Nouveau Centre and create a virtual museum. In order to promote the Art Nouveau of Riga metropolitan establishment, cultural heritage and public access for both Latvian and foreign tourists, it is essential to show the unity that exists between cultural heritage and architecture, arts, popular traditions and lifestyles. The project contributes documentation of cultural values, research and as a result - opening of museum of art nouveau heritage to the public. Beneficiaries of the project are the receivers of provided cultural services; the restored and digitalised objects will be made more accessible to society. The donor partner is the National Centre of Art Nouveau Norway with whom six experience exchange visits will be held - three in Latvia, three in Norway, which will help further increase the quality of the project and will help sustain the project results after the implementation of the project.

Summary of project results

Only a small part of its collection (authentic Art Nouveau interiors, decorative art and design objects) was exhibited. There was a strong interest in Riga's cultural heritage and a need to increase people's access to it. There was a lack of a digital database containing information on the cultural heritage of Art Nouveau, its history and arts. Riga's Art Nouveau heritage was insufficiently documented and publicized.The project objective to digitize the cultural heritage of the Art Nouveau Centre and create a virtual museum is completely achieved.The digital database with information on the Art Nouveau cultural heritage 1000 units (photos, of the Art Nouveau objects and Arts Nouveau cultural heritage items descriptions in Latvian, English and German) has been created. Besides the architecture and art history, experts conducted research on photo art, applied art and design, fashion, architecture and living environment of the Art Nouveau period for the creation of the items of the database. The digital Art Nouveau exhibition is available for the public from 30/09/2016. The project helped to promote the Art Nouveau of Riga metropolitan establishment, cultural heritage and public access for both Latvian and foreign tourists. The project results show the unity that exists between cultural heritage and architecture, arts, popular traditions and lifestyles. The project contributes to make museum more accessible to society. Involvement of the donor partner - the National Centre of Art Nouveau Norway with who experience exchange visits was held, helped to increase the quality of the museums exhibitions and to sustain the project results after the implementation of the project. After the project implementation 10 interactive museum exhibition programs are available for the visitors and multimedia hall is available for the lectures, seminars.

Summary of bilateral results

The exchange of experience with experts from the Norwegian National Art Nouveau Center has made it possible for specialists of the Riga Art Nouveau Center to acquire knowledge and experience about creation of the exposition of a virtual museum at the museum what has already been established and have been operating for a long time. As well as the partnership gave an opportunity for the museum’s experts to gain experience in the Art Nouveau heritage protection and research work in Alesund. Collaborative activities have been implemented, where experts from the Norwegian National Art Nouveau Center have provided consultations on the creation of a digital exhibition. The partnership helped to create museums exhibitions in high quality.