Railwaymen

How did railwaymen – engineers, telegraphers, bosses, signalmen, wagon–lubbers, clerks – experience the changes in technology, ruling powers, times and customs? «Railwaymen” is a multi–voiced story in a museum founded by railwaymen, through the stories and objects entrusted by railwaymen.
The design choices preserve and highlight the value of the building itself – the exhibition is hosted in a wooden house that has served as home for several generations of railway workers. The visitor becomes a guest in different situations – in an apartment, at a workplace, at a parade. This feeling of visiting is enhanced by the size of the rooms, the colour palette, and the absence of official introductory texts.
The combination of individual exhibits also adds nuance: for example, Soviet propaganda items are accompanied by excerpts from interviews expressing the attitudes of participants towards official culture; information about the privileges of railwaymen and are accompanied by a «complaint phone» – railwaymen are heard complaining about shortcomings in the housing or work organisation;
the list of railwaymen deported by the Soviet occupation regime is supplemented by a railwayman’s recollections of the task of assembling wagons for the deportation.
There is a lot of interactivity in the exhibition – by arranging the picture frame, sound is triggered, a three–dimensional model can be used to assemble a familiar neighbourhood of Jelgava, in cooperation with other visitors they can cope with the task of the station duty officer at the relay wall and other activities.

The exhibition is scheduled to open in 2024.

ClientLatvijas Dzelzceļa vēstures muzejsKolektīvsZane Zajančkauska, Ilze Kalnbērziņa-Prā, Kitija Vasiļjeva, Sabīne Moore, Evija Štelpa, Madara KrēziņaAudiovisual solutionsWarp, Reinis AdovičsTechnical consultationsEgons BaranovsYear2023