On November 29, the Vilna Gaon State Jewish Museum (VGSJM) welcomed the delegation of the National History Museum of Latvia, headed by the museum‘s director, Dr. Arnis Radiņš.

Currently, the National History Museum of Latvia is located in temporary premises in the capital city, Riga. Once the reconstruction of the Riga Castle is over, the museum and its exhibits will be moved there. The museum‘s team which visited Vilnius is responsible for the future exhibitions in the renovated premises, and therefore expressed great interest in the exhibitions of the VGSJM and their spatial arrangement.

The Latvian delegation was warmly greeted by the deputy director for museum‘s activities, Kamilė Rupeikaitė-Mariniuk. She briefly introduced museum‘s history, concept, exposition sites and initiatives to the guests. After a short presentation, the Latvian team was invited to have a tour in the museum‘s Tolerance Center. The guests were shown art and Judaica exhibitions as well as museum‘s permanent exposition „Rescued Lithuanian Jewish Child Tells about the Shoah“, opened in 2009. The arrangement of the exposition, displayed in tiny premises, involved original spatial decisions.

Director dr. Arnis Radiņš was interested to know whether the VGSJM is funded by the state. According to him, Latvian state museums struggle due to rigid financial management system and therefore are looking for a new model, which would allow reducing the bureaucratic burden and managing finances more efficiently. In addition, dr. Arnis Radiņš briefly spoke about the situation of the Jewish museums in Latvia. He noted that while being private, these museums are partially financed by the state.

After a constructive meeting the guests left for Riga, but promised to come back to Lithuania for another visit.

Director dr. Arnis Radiņš was interested to know whether the VGSJM is funded by the state. According to him, Latvian state museums struggle due to rigid financial management system and therefore are looking for a new model, which would allow reducing the bureaucratic burden and managing finances more efficiently. In addition, dr. Arnis Radiņš briefly spoke about the situation of the Jewish museums in Latvia. He noted that while being private, these museums are partially financed by the state.

After a constructive meeting the guests left for Riga, but promised to come back to Lithuania for another visit.