You Must Not Reconcile with Monsters. Opening

From 12 September 2026, the Madona Museum of Local History and Art will present an exhibition of Latvian exile artist Zigfrīds Sapiešs (1924-2014), "You Must Not Reconcile with Monsters."

The exhibition features monumental wooden sculptures that reflect the artist's personal experience of the horrors of war and his reflections on humanity, culture, and its fate. The simplified, symbolic visual language invites viewers to look into the darkest pages of history. Of particular significance are the works in which Sapiešs addressed the "monsters" of fascism and Stalinism, which left indelible marks on his life. The artist's warnings about the fragility of civilization remain relevant today.

Zigfrīds Sapiešs' life story is as extraordinary as his art. During the Second World War, as a teenager in Nazi-occupied Latvia, he experienced the madness of a Nazi prisoner-of-war camp, was later forced to fight on the Eastern Front, and was wounded. Yet he managed to escape the war and reach Denmark. After the war, Sapiešs built a new life in Newbattle, Scotland, where he became a teacher and, working with the Scottish Arts Council, encouraged local people to explore the cultural past of their country with fresh understanding.

In Latvia, the sculptor remained little known for a long time, as he lived in exile in Scotland for more than fifty years. Today, his work is increasingly being discovered by Latvian audiences and is becoming an important part of the heritage of Latvian exile art. The artist's widow Paula, a South African-born educator, continues to live and work in Newbattle and to keep Sapiešs' memory alive by donating his works to the World Centre of Latvian Art, whose collection includes a substantial body of the sculptor's work.

The exhibition will be on view until 22 November.

Information submitted by: Sabīne Gudberga, curator of exhibitions at the Madona Museum of Local History and Art, tel. 64823844