Schools respond to Ministry invitation to visit exhibition on New Latvians and Krisjanis Valdemars

On 6 February, students of 13th Secondary School, in response to the invitation by the Foreign Ministry, visited the exhibition The Genesis of a Nation: the New Latvian Movement and Krisjanis Valdemars and saw also the recently renovated Ministry building. Several other secondary school classes have displayed their interest in seeing the exhibition. The response from minority language schools, which are gradually transferring to the Latvian language of instruction, has been especially active.

The Ministry has informed schools on the opportunity to visit this exhibition, which may be seen as a history lesson in a historic site. In addition to the exhibition, school pupils are also being offered a guided tour of the renovated Ministry building.

The display tells the story of the Latvian national awakening during 1850s - 1880s and includes documents and exhibits related to the foundation and activities of the first Latvian associations, as well as about Latvian students in Dorpat (Tartu, or Terbata, as it is known in Latvian). Special attention is paid to the life and work of Krisjanis Valdemars. The exhibition features original copies of Pēterburgas Avīzes, a New Latvian newspaper, and informative materials about the work of the paper's editorial staff. To commemorate the prominent figure of the New Latvian movement, the street on which the Foreign Ministry building is located bears the name of Krisjanis Valdemars. The Genesis of a Nation: the New Latvian movement and Krisjanis Valdemars is the first exhibition to take place in the recently renovated building of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs at �Ė3 Krisjana Valdemara.

The Foreign Ministry has organised the exhibition in association with the State History Archives of Latvia. It is the first exhibition of the series The course towards the statehood of Latvia dedicated to the 90th anniversary of establishment of the state of Latvia.

The exhibition will be on display until 22 February in the foyer of the Foreign Ministry building. Visiting times to be arranged in advance with the Public Relations Division, telephone number 67015984 (Elina Kreslina).

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