The Riga Art Nouveau Centre Association of Culture Institutions of Riga Council presents this exhibition in association with the European Art Nouveau city network „Réseau Art Nouveau Network” within the project “Art Nouveau and Ecology. 2010-2015”.

At the end of the 19th century, a far-reaching movement which brought about an artistic regeneration emerged in Europe, with Nature as its chief source of inspiration. From Barcelona to Helsinki and from Glasgow to Nancy, nature shaped this new aesthetic and gave life to forms which revolutionized lifestyles, as science and art were united in the drive for modernity. The Nature of Art Nouveau invites you to explore “nature’s temple”, as celebrated by Charles Baudelaire, a world incorporating symbols, scientific discoveries and influences from faraway lands. Armed with a revitalized repertoire, Art Nouveau creators translated their personal perceptions of beauty into their own individual languages. Although their inspiration was firmly rooted in the practical needs of daily life, the realm they created became an imaginary paradise peopled with organic, sensual figures, utopian worlds, dreams and mysteries.

Conceived by the Catalan art historian Teresa-M. Sala, The Nature of Art Nouveau is an exhibition based on both encyclopedic information and individual experimentation. Using photographs and documents, together with a dynamic scenography created by Antoni Garau, it offers a concise view of Art Nouveau yet also aims to bring vividly to life the “perfumes, sounds and hues” of the natural world.

The mission of the Réseau Art Nouveau Network Founded in 1999 is to protect and raise awareness of the Art Nouveau heritage across Europe. Each of the 23 cities will present its own vision to the exhibition according to its location, and some partners will be completing the picture by showing a selection of local artistic creations.

The exhibition has two identical copies that have been shown in all cities within the network since October, 2013. In the summer of 2014 the exhibition will be open in St. Peter’s Church in Riga. The exhibition has an additional catalog “Miraculous world: the symbolic transformations in Art Nouveau”.The Exhibition presents items of the Riga Art Nouveau Museum’s collection also.

As the magnificent Art Nouveau architecture spread in the early 20th century, in Riga Art Nouveau appeared everywhere possible such as painting, applied arts, photography, book cover graphic arts and even industrial production. Riga proves itself as an Art Nouveau metropolis through the quality of craftsmen's work in objects created or used in Latvia and inspired by nature.

Information on the times and places of the exhibition, on the partners of and activities within the exhibition can be viewed in the home page as well as these pages:

• https://www.artnouveau-net.eu/Network/ArtNouveau/Homepage/tabid/108/language/en-GB/Default.aspx?id=436
• https://www.facebook.com/ReseauArtNouveauNetwork
• https://www.jugendstils.riga.lv
• www.kulturasapvieniba.riga.lv
• https://www.kultura.lv
• https://www.iksd.riga.lv
• https://riga2014.org

Additional information:

Kristīne Lipenite

The Association of Culture Institutions of Riga City Council

Phone: 67181058; 26565398

E-mail: kristine.lipenite@riga.lv

www.kulturasapvieniba.riga.lv