RSU-70 Anniversary Exhibition Now Open

From 15 October 2020, an exhibition dedicated to the 70th anniversary of Rīga Stradiņš University (RSU) is on display in the lobby of the RSU Main Building at 16 Dzirciema iela. The exhibition is about the way the students, lecturers, scientists, and the administrative staff of RSU have been shaped by the university's study and academic environment, extracurricular events, and traditions as these interact with changing social and political systems over the course of seven decades.

There are interactive stands dedicated to each decade with an imaginary character from the university guiding visitors through the respective period. Authentic, thematic museum exhibits and photographs are exhibited alongside a news feed and quotes about important events from each decade. 

• At the 1950s stand, visitors can read a student's letter to his mother about taking up medical studies, extracurricular activities and his everyday life. 
• The 1960s stand covers Soviet ideology, namely, communist propaganda and militarisation.
• The 1970s stand gives an overview of the scientific activity that has always been integral to the life of the university. 
• The stand dedicated to the 1980s shows a popular tradition at universities at the time – the third semester, which was also known as the work semester. This tradition involved young people actively getting involved in student units working as builders, doctors, pharmacists, and train conductors during the summers. 
• The 1990s were a time of great changes - in Latvia as well as at the university. The era offered new opportunities and required people to learn about and to introduce Western traditions that had previously remained on the other side of the Iron Curtain. 
• The story of the first decade of the 2000s allows us to immerse ourselves in what the first steps were in creating the university’s visual identity, something that seems self-evident from today's perspective. 
• Whereas, the story of the second decade of the 21st century covers student participation in the university's development. At this stand, visitors are invited to send their greeting to Rīga Stradiņš University.

The exhibition was prepared by Daiga Dupate and Iveta Skripste from the RSU Museum together with Imants Cīrulis, Head of the Department of Medieval, Modern and Contemporary History of the National History Museum of Latvia, and designer Alvis Berngards with his creative team: Nameda Zemīte, Agate Eglīte–Drēziņa, Zane Meldere, and Jānis Auniņš. A special thanks to RSU Marketing Manager Inese Lipska and RSU Student Union activists Nikola Krista Ivanova and Elizabete Paula Valguma for their involvement in the creation of the exhibition.