On the Night of Museums, the evening of 14 May, the exhibition Saeima—100 at the Saeima building dedicated to the Parliament’s centenary gathered over one thousand visitors.
As part of the programme dedicated to the centenary of the Saeima, the visitors of the Parliament viewed a special exhibition about the chairs of the Saeima building. Sophisticated furniture adorning the representation rooms of the Parliament, as well as functional office chairs are all witnesses of important events, present at decisive moments in the history of our country and in the day-to-day work of the Parliament. Visitors of the Parliament had the opportunity to see a special historic artefact—the original chair of the Presidium of the Saeima from the inter-war period.
During the Night of Museums, visitors also had access to the exhibition No Latvia Without Democracy dedicated to the 150th anniversary of Pauls Kalniņš, long-term Speaker of the Saeima, and his life story. Kalniņš was an ardent proponent and defender of the idea of democracy. He worked for the People’s Council of Latvia and was elected to the Constitutional Assembly, where he helped draft the Constitution of Latvia. In addition, he was a Member of the Saeima during all its convocations in the inter-war period, and the Speaker of the first four convocations. Kalniņš was also the acting President of Latvia from autumn 1944 until the day of his death in 1945.
The exhibition dedicated to Pauls Kalniņš was created by the Saeima in cooperation with the National History Museum of Latvia. The exhibition combines sources from the National History Museum of Latvia, the Latvian National Museum of Art and Art Museum Riga Bourse, the Latvian State Archives, the Library of the Saeima, and the National Library of Latvia.
On the Night of Museums, all visitors of the Saeima had a chance to visit several rooms of the Parliament and see the exquisite Plenary Chamber, where Members of the Saeima attend the weekly plenary sittings, as well as the Yellow Room, the Red Room, and the Voting Room.
The event is part of the European Night of Museums, which takes place on the same day all over Europe.
Photos of the Night of Museums: https://www.flickr.com/photos/saeima/albums/72177720298937041
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Saeima Press Service