E-ARCHIVE: exhibition and seminar in Riga Technical University mark the ECDay
On October 9 an exhibition „Riga Polytechnicum. File Nr. RP 1863–1899” was opened in the atrium of a newly renovated building of the Faculty of Architecture and Urban Planning of the Riga Technical University (RTU) and a public seminar was held jointly by the project „Cross border E-archive” and the Riga Technical University. The audience was introduced with the project, exhibited documents, the history of RTU and the history of higher education in Latvia in the context of scientific and technological progress. The event took place in the framework of European Cooperation Day.
The exhibition tells about outstanding historical personalities who were active in the XIX century – students, graduates and lecturers from the Riga Polytechnicum (RP) (now – RTU). RP was the first institution of higher education in Latvia and the first institution of higher education in applied sciences in the Baltics.
The exhibition commemorates the 151st anniversary of the foundation of the Riga Technical University. It also marks a number of significant anniversaries of the Latvian higher education – the 150th anniversary of the beginning of studies at the Riga Polytechnical Institute, the 150th anniversary of the higher education in Latvia in chemistry, civil engineering and agriculture, the 150th jubilee of a prominent Latvian scientist Paul Valden and the 160th jubilee of a Baltic-German chemist, Nobel Prize winner (1909) Wilhelm Ostwald.
The exhibition and event concept was initiated jointly by the project „Cross Border E-archive” partner organisations: Culture Information Systems Centre, the National Archives of Latvia, and by the Riga Technical University to promote the history of RTU, the Estonia-Latvia-Russia CBC Programme and the Project, and to demonstrate its first results. The aim of the project is to develop a fully accessible and searchable online database (e-archive) showing special collections of documents that are stored in archives of Estonia, Latvia and Russia and will be digitalized within the project’s lifetime. The exhibited personal files of students, graduates and lecturers from the Riga Polytechnicum will form one of these collections, and all exhibited archival documents will be presented in the future e-archive.
The exhibition „Riga Polytechnicum. File Nr. RP 1863–1899” is planned to be a travelling exhibition and will be demonstrated in many buildings of the Riga Technical University in the coming months.
Photos are provided by the Project "E-archive".
More information about the Project can be found in the PORTFOLIO.