Photographers: Juris Kalniņš, Indriķis Stūrmanis and others.

The exhibition focuses the visitor's attention on one of Latvia’s great riches – the harmonious balance between nature and the urban landscape.

Nature in Latvia is characterised by a swift changes in mood; it is emotional yet balanced. The sea with its shores covered in light and fine sand, the national parks, biosphere reserves and nature parks, as well as the rivers and lakes, swamps and bogs are the natural assets of the country. These landscapes have emerged from the interaction between natural processes and human activities. The land bears traces of work that serve as reminders of the people's affiliation to it, and of how they lived their lives in accordance with the seasonal cycles. The landscape is the visual reflection of the life of society – from a traditionally ploughed field to a modern-day golf course or deer farm.

Latvia’s architecture is shown in all its varied scope: from the old Gothic and Baroque churches to the most recent public buildings.

During the Presidency, with the support of the Embassy of Latvia in the Republic of France, the exhibition will visit several more cities:

9-27 March – Honorary consulate of Latvia in Saint-Étienne (10 rue Mi-Carème)
20-30 April – Cosmopolis Art Gallery in Nantes (18 rue Scribe)
6-12 May – Media library in Montrouge (32 rue Gabriel Péri)
14-26 May – Aix-en-Provence, venue to be confirmed
29 May-7 June – Tours, venue to be confirmed
June – Caen, venue and dates to be confirmed