Third Exhibition in the Spectrum Series Opens: Architecture of Lines

The Museum of Decorative Arts and Design (10 Skārņu Street, Riga), in collaboration with the Latvian Jewellery Art Association, continues its pop-up exhibition series “Spectrum”, introducing audiences to current developments in Latvian contemporary jewellery art. The third exhibition, “Architecture of Lines”, is on view from 1 October to 13 December 2026.

Following the exhibition “Beautiful Nature”, in which jewellery and objects were presented as discoveries, specimens, or hybrids between the organic and synthetic worlds, the next exhibition in the series, “Architecture of Lines”, explores the line as one of the fundamental elements of jewellery construction – as contour, structure, rhythm, and drawing in space.

The exhibition features jewellery artists Māris Auniņš, Jānis Brants, Vladislavs Čistjakovs, Andris Lauders, Una Mikuda, Anita Savicka, Paula Treimane, and Jānis Vilks. Their works reveal different approaches to creating relationships between line, material, space, and the body on the intimate scale of jewellery.

“The apparent simplicity of a line conceals a surprisingly wide range of expressive possibilities. It can lead towards geometry and absolute precision, or towards organic forms and structures found in nature. Yet simplicity is demanding: the purer the form, the less room there is for error. This is precisely why the artists’ craftsmanship is so clearly visible in these works. I recognise in their approach the clarity of an architect’s thinking – the ability to envision proportions, construction, and the relationships between individual elements with precision. What architecture and jewellery share here is the very method of thinking: constructing form through precise relationships between its components,” explains Ginta Grūbe, curator of the exhibition series.

In the works of jewellery artists Jānis Brants and Una Mikuda, geometry and construction become essential means of artistic expression.

“I often get ideas for jewellery simply by walking down the street. I first construct the piece in my mind: I work out the form, proportions, distances, millimetres, every detail. By the time I arrive at my workshop, all that remains is to translate the idea into material,” says jewellery artist Jānis Brants.

“Construction and spatiality are central to my work – how individual elements connect to create an overall form. I am interested in how these elements can transform the conventional shape of a ring, giving it volume and a sculptural character while maintaining its connection to the body. In this way, jewellery becomes not only a decorative object but also a spatial structure that interacts with the body and movement,” explains jewellery artist Una Mikuda.

The exhibition’s theme is also reflected in its display design. The artists’ works are presented in individual showcases supported by lightweight wooden frame structures, whose rhythm within the space echoes the central motif – the line as a defining element of structure and form. The graph paper lining the showcases refers to technical drawing, scale, and construction, while the graphic design by Eltons Kūns connects the exhibition to the visual identity of the entire “Spectrum” series.

Photography: Kaspars Teilāns, exhibition opening.