Cornucopia

The cornucopia, usually depicted in a positive and affirmative form, symbolizes unlimited material and spiritual abundance. In a sense, a museum with its collection is also like a cornucopia: only a small part of its collection is visible, while the rest waits in storage for its researchers and exhibition curators. And yet… What is a museum today? What kinds of exhibitions are created, and for whom? Can anything become an exhibit, and does the “cornucopia” also have limits to its capacity?

The exhibition explores the concept of the cornucopia through the diversity, research, and interpretation of the collections of the Art Museum RIGA BOURSE, highlighting the museum’s openness to change and its responses to the socio-political situation. The display is mostly based on works of art that have either been inaccessible to visitors for decades or have never been exhibited before.

The theme of the exhibition was inspired by the Riga bourse building itself, constructed in the mid-19th century and bearing witness to the beginning of the industrialization era, the business transactions of Riga’s merchants, and the growth of prosperity. Direct representations of the cornucopia can be seen both on the building’s façade and in its interiors. During the 20th and 21st centuries, the function of the building has transformed – from events representing political powers and various exhibitions to the opening of the Art Museum RIGA BOURSE in 2011.

The exhibition is structured along two parallel lines: the symbolism of the cornucopia in different cultures and religions – namely the ancient Greek and Roman world, Christianity in Europe, and Asian art – and an inquiry into the museum as an institution. Painting, graphic art, sculpture, decorative and applied arts, and numismatics are the media through which the narrative of the exhibition is developed and questions are raised – questions for which there may not yet be clear answers in our rapidly changing world.

The exhibition is interdisciplinary: alongside objects from the museum’s collection, texts and a diverse public programme play an important role.

The exhibition is being developed by museum specialists in collaboration with the team of the philosophy journal Tvērums, Dr. theol. Modris Lācis, Dr. hist. Eleni Manakidou (Greece), composer and musician Shino Yamasaki (Japan–Latvia), and Dr. hist. Mārtiņš Mintaurs.

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