Museum of Decorative Arts and Design

The museum introduces the public to the latest trends in design and decorative arts in Latvia and beyond and invites a public discussion on developments in the field.

The Museum of Decorative Arts and Design (MDAD) has been open to the public since 1989. Its collection was started in the 1920s. The permanent display is a story of the paths of development taken by decorative art and design in Latvia from the late 19th century to the present day.

The design collection was launched in 2005, when the Museum of Decoratively Applied Art was renamed into the Museum of Decorative Arts and Design.

MDAD is located in the former Church of St. George (Juris), which was built in 1204 and remains the oldest stone building in Rīga preserved to the present day. In the mid-1980s, a Polish company specialising in the restoration of antique monuments began the reconstruction works for the museum, which were completed in 1988.