Traveling Latvian Exhibit Makes Stop at Marist

The mobile exhibit explores the history of the country from 1000 AD to the present day.

Latvia exhibit on display on the main floor of the Marist James A. Cannavino Library. Photo by: Lilian DeFilippis '26

A traveling Latvian history exhibit is on display in the James A. Cannavino Library.

The exhibit, titled “WE ARE LATVIAN,” explores the history of the country and the Latvian region from the year 1000 up to the present day. The exhibit includes banners, interactive tablets and “What would you choose?” cards, giving viewers real-life scenarios that Latvians experienced throughout their history.

“Way back 1,000 years ago, even 150, 200 years ago, Latvia was not a nation,” said Peter Dajevskis, the project director for the exhibit. “It consisted of people who spoke the same language, had a lot of cultural commonalities, but in terms of government, there was not a government they were under.”

Dajevskis, who was born in Soviet-occupied Latvia and arrived in New York in the 1950s, grew up amongst Latvian culture.

“It was not even a question of whether I’m interested,” recalled Dajevskis. “It was like, ‘This is what my life is like.’”

The exhibit is a mobile unit part of the American Latvian Association, which promotes the study of Latvian history and culture, provides books and materials for children and assists recent Latvian immigrants.

It was brought to Marist University with the help of Professor Juris Pupcenoks, chair of the Political Science department.

“I like creating opportunities for students, and I like just creating opportunities for people in general,” said Pupcenoks.

Pupcenoks learned about the mobile exhibit through a friend, when it was at the Latvian Lutheran Summer Camp in the Catskill Mountains this summer. From there, he got in contact with Dajevskis and was able to bring it to the Marist campus.

“This exhibit tells a story about a part of the world that you don’t know much of,” said Pupcenoks. “The way the exhibit was developed, it tells a story in a very simple kind of way.”

The exhibit condenses the over 1,000-year-old history of the Latvian region into eight panels, from the first people in 1000 AD to the occupation of the Soviet Union in Latvia from 1940 until 1991.

“In contemporary times, it’s important because of the threat of occupation by foreign powers, as we know in our daily news reports,” said Dajevskis. “That’s the kind of thing that I hope helps people understand our own times and what we’re facing today,”

“WE ARE LATVIAN” will be on the second floor of the James A. Cannavino Library until Monday, September 15.