Riga displays original plaster sculpture of Mother Latvia

Riga is exhibiting the original plaster sculpture of Mother Latvia, the central figure in a memorial group honouring fallen soldiers. LSM reports that the work is on show at the Riga Latvian Society building from Monday, November 9.

The sculpture was created by Kārlis Zāle in 1928. The venue was chosen symbolically, Riga Monument Agency director Agnese Strautiņa said, because the first fallen soldiers were taken from the building.

The exhibition coincides with the 90th anniversary of the consecration of the Riga Brothers’ Cemetery memorial, which took place on November 11, 1936. The memorial honours soldiers killed in the First World War and Latvia’s War of Independence. Around 3,000 people are buried there, including 300 unidentified soldiers. An urn beneath the Mother Latvia statue contains 517 handfuls of soil, one from each Latvian parish.

The sculpture will remain on display until the end of the year.