Art Nouveau Costumes: Vita Millere (Riga Art Nouveau Centre)

The Riga Art Nouveau Centre is the only museum in the Baltic states given over to Art Nouveau heritage. It occupies the house at Alberta iela 12 that the Latvian architect Konstantīns Pēkšēns built for himself in 1903, on the street that made Riga’s reputation for the style. Its late-summer exhibition is about a single craft: the reconstruction of what people actually wore while that street was going up.

Jūgendstila tērpi. Vita Millere — Art Nouveau Costumes — shows the work of Vita Millere, a costume maker who trained in Latvian theatres and has worked with the museum since 2016. Each garment is built by studying the period’s silhouettes, fabrics and finishing details in historical sources: town ladies’ suits, dresses, skirts and blouses, but also everyday clothes and servants’ dress, down to the ribbons, fastenings, cuffs, brooches, belts and decorative stitching. One piece reconstructs a 1904 design by the Latvian artist Jūlijs Madernieks, which set national dress traditions against the aesthetics of the new style. Museum staff wear the costumes while receiving visitors and giving tours.

Practical details

• When: 7 August – 13 September 2026
• Where: Riga Art Nouveau Centre, Alberta iela 12, Riga LV-1010, Latvia
• Hours: 10:00–18:00, ticket desk closes at 17:45; closing days are listed on the museum’s own site
• Organiser: Riga Art Nouveau Centre — +371 67181465, jugendstils@riga.lv

Full details are on the museum’s own site. Cultural Heritage Online lists this exhibition for readers planning a trip to Riga; admission is handled directly by the museum.