The exhibition will be on display from June 5 to September 27 on the 1st floor of the National Library of Latvia (NLB). Admission to the exhibition is free and can be viewed any time during the NLB’s working hours.
The exhibition shows the everyday life of Latvians in England at a time when life in exile communities was bustling and Latvian identity was being cultivated. After the Second World War, approximately 13,000 Latvian refugees settled in Britain, and soon began to form strong communities in London, Corby, Bradford, Leeds, Nottingham and elsewhere.
They founded their own organisations, acquired community properties, organised cultural events, defended Baltic interests and fought for the restoration of Latvia’s independence.
The exhibition provides a glimpse into the everyday life of this generation and their children in the 1960s–1980s, as captured by Latvian photographer Harijs Blezūrs (1926–2000). The Blezūrs family has donated more than 9,000 photographic negatives to the museum, which vividly illustrate social life in the English properties acquired by Latvian communities – “Almelija”, “Straumēni”, “Mūsmāja” and “Rofanta”.
Every Monday at 12:00 at the National Library of Latvia there will be a guided tour of the exhibition by a museum representative and on August 14 at 18:00 in the museum premises at Berga Bazaar there will be a “Blezūrs Family Evening” with Harijs Blezūrs’ relatives.
More details are available here.
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