Dialogues with the Past

On Wednesday, January 19, Art Nouveau Museum in Riga hosted the opening of an exhibition of Slovak art jewellers Jana Machatová and Peter Machata entitled “Dialogues with the Past”. The exhibition was opened by the artists and Slovak Ambassador to Riga Ladislav Babčan together with Director of the host Museum Agrita Tipane.

Both authors are the winners of the 2020 Crystal Wing Award in the category of visual arts. Even though they often exhibit beyond the borders of our country, this is their first show in Riga ever.

Art Nouveau Museum is known for its historic artefacts from the “Belle Époque”. Jana Machatová thus decided to display her art works referring to this period of time. She opted for three of her collections named “Women´s Diligence”, “Family Album” and “Love is Love”. They all reflect the stories of the past both on personal level as well as in form of social conventions. The artist incorporates them with humour into her art works while preserving their decorativeness and noblesse.

Peter Machata introduces the “Mother and Son”, “Relics” and “Stigma” collections. In his work, the author uses organic shapes, combining them with universal symbols depicting our world´s current challenges. In addition to the serious side, his works are also characterized by a certain playfulness and use of the symbols of pop culture.

The exhibition in Riga will last until 27 February. The artists will then move to the second largest city in Latvia, Daugavpils. They will exhibit in the Mark Rothko Center where they plan to display art works from other collections.