With the objective of founding the Latvian Museum of Contemporary Art, in 2014 the Boris and Ināra Teterev Foundation and ABLV Charitable Foundation founded the Latvian Museum of Contemporary Art Foundation.
ATTENTION! Selection of architects has begun for the Latvian Museum of Contemporary Art’s conceptual design competition. The competition is open until February 8, 2016. Read more here [1].
In a formal ceremony [2] on 30 October 2014, the Latvian Minister for Culture Dace Melbārde and Latvian Museum of Contemporary Art Foundation Council Members Ināra and Boris Teterev, Ernests Bernis and Oļegs Fiļs signed a Memorandum of Intent [3] regarding the implementation of the aspiration to build the Latvian Museum of Contemporary Art.
By 18 November 2021, drawing on the founders’ funds and other financing, in partnership with the Republic of Latvia’s Ministry of Culture, the Latvian Museum of Contemporary Art Foundation will build the Latvian Museum of Contemporary Art, as well as manage the museum’s operation, governance and development, including the formation, maintenance and augmentation of its collection. The museum will be open and accessible to the general public. The Foundation’s founders are already providing the EUR 30 million financing required for the construction of the museum.
The philanthropists’ decision to undertake the establishment of the museum is a logical continuation of the work done to date in the field of Latvian culture and art by the founders of both foundations. Private initiative is hugely important to the development of society, and this step gives a powerful developmental impulse to Latvia’s arts processes, to strengthening the nation’s identity, tourism industry and the development of arts education, as well as the formation of an integrated cultural space in Riga.
In recent years, the demand from the public and the cultural sector for a contemporary art museum in the Latvian cultural space has significantly increased. This process is actively being nurtured by several non-governmental organisations, devising special programmes to support the creation of new works and contemporary art exhibitions, as well as various public activities to highlight the idea of the establishment of the museum. Since 2005, the Ministry of Culture and ABLV Bank have actively collaborated to build a collection of Latvian contemporary art [4]. Parallel to these initiatives, the Boris and Ināra Teterev Foundation is also implementing the programme "Art in Public Space" [5] (in collaboration with the City of Riga).
The Latvian Museum of Contemporary Art is currently under development.