Translating Memory: Czech and Latvian Literary Crossroads

• 📅26 November 2026, 6:00 PM
• 🎟️Free of charge, with prior registration (limited capacity)

🗣️ The event will be held in Latvian

As part of the exhibition by Czech curator Diana Kotmel Kněžínková (Diana Kotmel Kněžínková), “Collective Memory Is All I Don’t Remember: Shared Moments,” currently on view at the Zuzeum Art Museum, we invite you to a special evening in the accompanying programme посвященный to Czech and Latvian literary connections and the phenomenon of collective memory in literature.

Continuing the tradition begun in Prague in the spring of introducing Latvian literature to foreign audiences, this time in Riga the focus will be on translations of Czech literature into Latvian. The event will serve as a bridge between visual art and literature, expanding the exhibition’s central theme of how individual and collective memory echo within our cultural space.

During the evening, Nadežda Kopoloveca will give a short introduction to the theme of collective memory in Czech literature. This will be followed by a discussion in which Inguna Cepīte, director of the publishing house Pētergailis, and translators Jānis Krastiņš and Halina Lapiņa will speak with Mārtiņš Mintauts about their experience of bringing the works of Czech authors into Latvia’s cultural space, the behind-the-scenes aspects of translation, and the cultural exchange between the two nations. At the end of the event, visitors will have a unique opportunity to join a guided commentary tour of the exhibition led by the curator herself.

The event is organized in cooperation with the Embassy of the Czech Republic in Riga and the association Latvia-Czechia.

Participants

Mārtiņš Mintauts, Dr. hist., lecturer at the Faculty of Humanities, University of Latvia, senior researcher at the National Library of Latvia.

Nadežda Kopoloveca, Dr. philol., lecturer at the Faculty of Humanities, University of Latvia, vice chair of the association Latvia-Czechia

Inguna Cepīte, director of the publishing house Pētergailis

Jānis Krastiņš, translator

Halina Lapiņa, translator

Alberts Sarkanis, Dr. philol., chair of the association Latvia-Czechia

Program

6:00 PM–6:15 PM – Introduction: The theme of collective memory in Czech literature in Latvian translations.

6:15 PM–7:00 PM – Discussion with publisher Inguna Cepīte (Pētergailis) and translators Jānis Krastiņš and Halina Lapiņa.

From 7: 00 PM – Guided viewing of the exhibition with an art mediator.

*By attending the event, you agree to photography and video recording and to their use for publicity purposes. You have the right to object to yourself or your child being photographed or filmed by notifying the photographer or videographer during the photo or video session.