Exhibition of glass art “The Sweet River of Hope”

The glass art exhibition “The Sweet River of Hope” created by the the Center of Glass Art and Study is on display at Mentzendorff’s House from November 19, 2025  to January 21, 2026. The exhibition features glass art works made by artists Vineta Groza, Rūta Štrausa and Ilze Dūdiņa.

Artist Vineta Groza is a professor at the Latvian Academy of Arts, head of the Visual plastic arts department. Vineta Groza’s creative work in glass art is characterized by the search for innovative solutions and the use of various glass processing techniques. The artist strives to combine intellectual provocation and aesthetic pleasure in her works, constantly discovering new nuances and possibilities in “collaboration” with such a fragile and at the same time so strong material – glass. In the works of art on display at the exhibition Vineta Groza has “fused” reflections on the unifying structure and spirituality of the world’s structure, emphasizing the all-encompassing power of the white color.

Artist Ilze Dūdiņa is an associate professor at the Latvian Academy of Arts, a longtime head of the Center of Glass Art and Study, and also the author of the idea for this exhibition. The works exhibited at this exhibition reveal her diversity in “playing with glass.” “Hot glass must be stirred and swirled like honey, when it goes out, then it can be shaped. It is also the “sweet river of hope”, when something so completely new is formed from hot sand. Glass is a miraculous, perfect material, but it also has a dangerous side. In the hands of the artist, the material remains safe, sonorous, and sparkling. A glass artist must be endowed with both imaginative and rational thinking, as well as technical knowledge – the properties of glass must be taken into account in order to create a thought, illusion and beauty in glass, so that the glass turns into a miracle of art. Glass is an artist’s cooperation partner, realizing an idea,” says Ilze Dūdiņa about the nuances of creating a glass artwork.

Artist Rūta Štrausa is a young artist, who in 2025 received a bachelor’s degree from the Latvian Academy of Arts with her diploma art work in glass “Daughter of the Sun”. The artist continues her studies at the Latvian Academy of Arts in the master’s program. The exhibition presents the message of Rūta Štrausa’s creative thought in the interplay of glass and light in her art works.

 “The Sweet River of Hope” – the title given to the exhibition is a message agreed upon by the artists that in the flow of the time river, through the twists and turns of personal and social life, hope, in a comprehensive spectrum like an alloy of white glass, is the energizer of existence and creative power, which is symbolized by the exhibited work “Hope” by Rūta Štrausa.