Since 2020, the Riga Porcelain Museum has been working on researching the life and works of the artist Aija Mūrniece of the Riga Porcelain Factory. Thanks to the funds obtained in the project competition of the State Cultural Capital Fund at the beginning of 2023, the financial support of the Riga State City Municipality and the interest and support of private individuals, a publication has been prepared, which will begin its journey to readers soon – in the second half of December 2023.
The name of the artist of the Riga Porcelain Factory, Aija Mūrniece, is known in the circles of porcelain lovers and design researchers, but for the general public, this author will be a pleasant new discovery.
Aija Mūrniece worked on the staff of the Artistic Laboratory of the Riga Porcelain Factory from 1969 to 1991 – the last two decades of the factory, which were characterized by mass production of millions of units. She has been associated with the factory before – from 1959 to 1963, she worked as an ordinary painter in the painting workshop of the Riga Porcelain and Earthenware Factory in order to gain seniority and be able to apply for a place at the State Academy of Arts. In 1963, Aija Mūrniece entered the academy, but instead of the intended painter, she ended up in the Ceramics department, subsequently, the coursework and diploma thesis during her studies were completed in close cooperation with the production plant.
The reason for the late entry into the education and labor market, similar to many other people of this generation, is related to the Second World War and deportations – on March 25, 1949, Aija Mūrniece’s family was deported to Siberia: the village of Šegarka, Tomsk region. Mother Īda Mūrniecs, father Alberts Mūrnieks, eleven-year-old Aija and five-year-old Gunar had to fight for survival and rebuild their lives. In 1957, during de-Stalinization, the family received permission to return to their homeland.
The desire to connect one’s life with art and persistent progress towards it permeates Aija Mūrniece’s entire life. Unlike the factory artists who specialized in the design of tableware forms, such as Zina Ulste, Taisija Poluikeviča, Levon Agadzhanyan, and whose names are in active public circulation, decor authors – among whom Aija Mūrniece also belongs – are less aware and popularized than industrial artists. category. Although Aija Mūrniece, as an academically trained ceramicist, was able to create forms and several forms she developed, such as a vase Marta and a vase Mara, went into mass production, however, her professional life is mainly related to decor design. It will be rare for a type of product that was produced in the 1980s at the 1st section of the Riga Porcelain Factory on Maskavas Street and for which Aija Mūrniece did not design the decor. Aija Mūrniece has decorated Zina Ulste’s tableware Era I and Aija II, Vita, Mara, Agadžanjana melts Aria, Victoria, Vilnis, Nelda, Riga, Taisia Poluikevics Karina, Ija, Evening, Erica Eller Sigulda and Marianna, salad bowls, bowls, compote dishes, milk jugs, sets of dishes for children, vases, plates and much more – so perhaps the publication will allow you to learn more about a well-known and beloved porcelain dish from your everyday life.
Aija Mūrniece’s works of art – underglaze paintings with cobalt and salts – are less accessible and known to the public. Few factory artists undertook to create works in this complex technology, while it was not suitable for production at all. However, it was in underglaze painting that Aija Mūrniece developed special virtuosity.
The book was created in cooperation with the Riga Porcelain Museum, the Institute of Philosophy and Sociology of the University of Latvia/the Association of Latvian Oral History Researchers Life story and to the artist herself, who has documented memories of rural life in Latvia during the first republic, about the time of exile in Siberia, and was happy to tell about her life in Soviet Latvia and daily work in the factory from the first person. The publication has 272 pages and contains a fixed biographical story, which opens up a view of the life of the family in several generations and gives a human dimension to the political and social history of Latvia in the 20th century. Also, a part of the catalog has been created, which collects all currently known design and art works of Aija Mūrniece – this is a unique insight into the history of Latvian design and specific examples of production. The publication is illustrated with more than 480 images: photographs of objects, decals and their drawings, sketches and tablets, tracings, drawings, historical photographs and other materials from the collections of Aija Mūrniece and her family, as well as other private individuals, collectors and several Latvian cultural institutions. In this issue, they will be pre-releases. The book is in Latvian with a summary in English.
Regarding the availability of the book, please follow the information on the museum’s website and social sites.
2023-11-22 07:56:20
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