On 14 May, the Night of Museums, the Saeima will open its doors to visitors wishing to view the exhibition dedicated to the Parliament’s centenary: Saeima—100.

As part of the Saeima centenary celebration, visitors of the Night of Museums will be able to view 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 will have 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 will also have access to the exhibition No Latvia Without Democracy dedicated to the 150^th 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 will have a chance to visit several rooms of the Parliament: the Yellow Room, the Red Room, the Voting Room, and the exquisite Plenary Chamber, where Members of the Saeima participate in the weekly plenary sittings.

On the Night of Museums, the Saeima building will be open to visitors from 19:00 to midnight.

The event is part of the European Night of Museums, which takes place on the same day in the entire Europe.

Saeima Press Service