Looking back at the opening of “Stories from the Sea” exhibition in Kolka

Looking back at the opening of “Stories from the Sea” exhibition in Kolka

On the afternoon of October 24, a large group of people gathered at the Livonian Community House in Kolka to listen to stories from the depths of the sea. Celebrating the 140th anniversary of the Kolka lighthouse, a seminar and opening of exhibition “Stories from the Sea” was organized by the association “Domesnes” in cooperation with the National Cultural Heritage Administration, the Underwater Cultural and Historical Heritage Association and Kolka Livonian Community House. The exhibition draws public attention to an important but a little-studied part of Kolka – the underwater heritage. The sea around Kolka is considered the largest ship graveyard in the Baltic Sea, however, there has been very little underwater research here and in Latvia in general, and in many cases it has been led by divers and history enthusiasts.

Among the storytellers were specialists and volunteers from various fields. The seminar was opened by the initiator of the event – the head of the association “Domesnes”, Dženeta Marinska, who spoke about the origin of the idea of the association, its activities and the heritage of Kolkasrags, around which the association organizes its activities. Kaspars Markus Molls, a specialist in the Department of Archeology and History of the National Cultural Heritage Administration gave a general overview of underwater research in Latvia, emphasizing the importance of volunteers and associations in identifying and preserving cultural heritage.

Dainis Poziņš, head of the Department of Weapons and Military Equipment of the Latvian War Museum, looked back on the expedition that took place more than 20 years ago (1999-2000) at the coast of Latvia together with Swedish and Estonian researchers, which still remains the largest underwater research expedition in Latvia. Jānis Megnis, the port manager of Roja and Engure took us on a search for “ghost nets”, discovering abandoned and lost nets lying at the bottom ogf the sea and how it presents an environmental pollution problem for the Baltic Sea.

Kurzeme planning region, together with the Latvian Institute of Aquatic Ecology and Estonian partners, has also committed help solving this problem, namely by collecting and processing stray nets in the “Coreel” project, which was announced by Anete Jansone, the representative of Kurzeme planning region.

LHEI Senior Researcher Solvita Strāķe revealed the underwater world through the eyes of a biologist, who also encounters wrecks on the seabed among biological treasures. The representative of the diving club “Baltijas ronis” Žanna Šeļementjeva demonstrated real enthusiasm for the recognition and preservation of the underwater heritage. The idea of a Maritime Museum, which still does not exist in Latvia, was mentioned among the participants, but Sandra Jakušonoka, an enthusiast of the society “Bolderājas grupa”, is convinced that there will be one, and it should be located in the Daugavgrīva fortress.

The number of visitors and its institutional composition confirmed the relevance of the topic. Kaspars Markus Molls, a specialist in the Department of Archeology and History of the National Cultural Heritage Administration, describes the event as a valuable meeting of representatives of the marine management and research industry.

Association “Domesnes” thanks all storytellers for their enthusiasm and interesting stories! For the cooperation in creating the exhibition, the association thanks representative of the Underwater Cultural History Heritage Association, diving enthusiast Saulvedis Vārpiņš, who shared photos and videos from the seabed of Kolkasrags. The exhibition is complemented by findings from the collection of the association. The exhibition will be on display at the Kolka Livonian Community House until the end of this year, a visit can be arranged by calling 29 475 692. In January of next year, the association will take the exhibition to the branch of the Roja Sea Fisheries Museum in Kaltene.

The summary was written by Dženeta Marinska, association “Domesnes”. Contact information: 29475692, dzenetam@gmail.com