ARCHAEOLOGY AND ART IN LATVIA

Abstract

The correlation between art and archaeology in Latvia can be traced in vari- ous ways. First, despite all technical innovations there are still professional artists that work on field with archaeologists and are directly involved in the recording of archaeological evidence. Furthermore, art-related work is being done in reconstruc- tions, book illustrations and museum exhibitions. In addition to those who devote their artistic skills to scientific and educational purposes under the supervision of archaeologists, we can see quite a lot of artwork that represents something archaeo- logical while being the free fruits of artistic imagination. Archaeological science is of the opinion that inaccurate stylisations of archaeological costumes in movies or arbitrary depictions of some archaeological period in literary or any other work of art can very easily lead to false impressions and misunderstandings that endure for decades. On the other hand, scientists have no right to restrain the public from interpreting its own past as it deems fit. The aim of this paper is to discuss the relations and crossroads between art and archaeology by examining how they historically have developed, coexisted and influenced one another in the territory of Latvia from the 19th century till nowadays.