RSU Anatomy Museum Wins Certificate of Recognition in the Category Structural Unit of the Year 2022

Many departments at Rīga Stradiņš University (RSU) worked so selflessly and diligently under the stressful and unusual conditions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic that they not only maintained but also raised the bar of excellence of RSU. RSU management therefore decided to award two Certificates of Recognition this autumn in addition to the Structural Unit of the Year award – one went to the RSU Anatomy Museum and the other to the Medical Education Technology Centre (METC).

The Anatomy Museum received the Certificate of Recognition for getting RSU into the list of the world’s best medical museums. They have also combined art, research, and history in such an outstanding way as to attract the interest of the general public.

Rector Prof. Aigars Pētersons presented the Certificate of Appreciation to Ieva Lībiete, the Head of the RSU Anatomy Museum, at RSU Academic Ball, which took place on 10 September 2022 at the Riga Latvian Society House.

Since its opening, the Anatomy Museum has welcomed around 22,000 visitors including students and schoochildren, families with children, and international visitors.

‘Although the museum is not large, some visitors are willing to spend the whole day here and say as they leave: “I didn’t manage to see everything today, so I will come again tomorrow!”,’

says Baiba Rībere, Information Centre Specialist at the Anatomy Museum.

The museum’s collection consists of a teaching collection, which was created mainly in the 1920s and 1930s, and includes not only wet and dry preparations, but also documents and photographs.

Diāna Jakseboga, Collection Keeper at the Anatomy Museum, reveals that 10,000 anthropological surveys were digitised in 2022 and work is currently under way on digitising photographic film, which is another material from anthropological expeditions. ‘We are uploading the digitised materials to both the National Museum Collections Catalogue and the RSU DSpace platform.’

‘We have always wanted to build the museum as a place that embraces diversity. So far, we have welcomed researchers, medical historians, students, musicians, and artists!’

says Rūta Žiaugre, the museum’s Education Project Manager. ‘One of our special projects is our collaboration with British artist Paddy Hartley, who created 101 ceramic figurines especially for our museum. His images create a wonderful interplay between the visitor and the collection.’ The exhibition is open until the end of January 2023.

2023 promises to be another eventful year for the museum: there are plans to open an exhibition of perceptual illusions, there will be a number of anatomy embroidery workshops titled Adatomija, a festival for sketching, music, and anatomy called saMAŅA: Anatomija, and much more. In addition to the public programme, the museum’s exhibition will be expanded. Part of the historical collection of Prof. Arthur von Hochstetter (1918–1997), which is stored in Basel (Switzerland), will be brought back to Riga with the support of Hoffmann-La Roche. The RSU Anatomy Museum will also take over 35 historical preparations from the 18th and 19th centuries.

All curious visitors are always welcome to the RSU Anatomy Museum!

About the RSU Anatomy Museum

• Address: 9 Kronvalda bulvāris
• Number of employees: six
• Head: Assist. Prof. Ieva Lībiete
• Open to visitors since 16 June 2021
• It took five years to establish the museum. The historic 19th-century stable building, located in the courtyard of the RSU Anatomical Theatre, was completely rebuilt and specially adapted for the museum.
• The Anatomy Museum is a structural unit of the RSU Institute of the History of Medicine.
• Official website: https://am.rsu.lv/ 

In late summer of 2022, RSU employees and students nominated candidates for the RSU Annual Award in nine categories. Everyone could then vote for the 25 candidates nominated for Structural Unit of the Year. The RSU management determined the winner by choosing one of the three top votes.