Ojars SPARITIS

Professor Ojars SPARITIS Head of the Department for Doctoral Studies, Latvian Academy of Arts Kalpaka bulv. 13 Riga, LV 1867, Latvia Phone: + 371 7332202. Fax: + 371 7228963 E- mail: lma@latnet.lv Director of  "Melngalvju Nams" (Blackhead's House) Ratslaukums 7, Riga, LV 1050 Phone: +371 7044300. Fax: +371 7044312 E-mail: melngalv@rcc.lv

Born: November 28, 1955, Liepaja district, Latvia

• Theory and history of Latvian architecture and art in connection with culture of neighbouring countries
• Town planning
• Military architecture and fortifications
• Sacral art and architecture,
• Iconology and emblematics
• Theory and practice of preservation and restoration of monuments of architecture

Studies of Swedish archives resulted in focusing my scientific interest on development of fortifications in the Baltics and contacts between Sweden and Latvia during 17^th century

• The periodical division and chronology of Latvian art history, especially periods of the Renaissance and Mannerism, as well as problems of attribution by means of ornament, iconography, printed patterns and practical research in real object
• The phenomenon of “Baltic Germans” in the history of Latvia
• History of culture of “Hanseatic time” and German impact on the Latvian culture as mediators between Baltic states and Western Europe – new methodological approach to the research and interpretation.
• Expertise of the results and conception of main interior design in connection with the reconstruction of the House of Blackheads in Riga – well famous monument of gothic and renaissance architecture in Riga

Languages : Latvian, English, German, and Russian

• University of Latvia (Faculty of Philology), 1979
• Latvian Academy of Arts (History and Theory of Art), 1987
• Master of Arts, 1990
• Doctoral studies at the University of Kiel (Germany) with stipend of DAAD, 1993
• Doctoral studies at the Latvian Academy of Arts, 1991 - 1994
• Dr.art., Riga, 1997
• Dr.habil.art., Riga, 1998

• Professor, Head of the Department for doctoral studies, Latvian Academy of Arts, 1998 -
• Minister of Culture of the Republic of Latvia, 1995 - 1996
• Senior Lecturer , Latvian Academy of Arts, 1986 - 1991
• Inspector of the Latvian Nature and Monument Protection Society, 1981 - 1986
• Editor at the Scientific Library of the Latvian Academy of Sciences, 1979 - 1981

Honours and Awards

• Full Member, Latvian Academy of Sciences, 2004
• Corresponding Member, Latvian Academy of Sciences, 1999
• The Latvian Academy of Sciences and Public Joint Stock Company ''Grindex'' Prize, 2002

• Chair of the Latvian Nature and Monument Protection Society
• Chair of the Latvian-Baltic Germans Centre "Domus Rigensis"
• Member of the Latvian Artists Union.
• Latvian Member of ICOMOS.

• Traditional culture of Latvia and its consciousness. – Australia, Latvian Days of Culture in Sydney, January 1993.
• The Renaissance and Mannerism in Latvian Architecture and Art. - University of Kiel, Institute for Art History, Germany. October-November 1993.
• Preservation of Monuments of Architecture in Latvia – Fair of Handicrafts in Hamburg, Germany, May 1996.
• Baltic Architecture and Art  in Context of European Culture. -  University of Iveskile, January, 2000.

• O. Sparitis. Mannerism, 1997, Riga: Latvijas Enciklopedija Press, 48 p. (in Latvian).
• O. Sparitis. The Riga Dom Cathedral Stained Glass, 1997, Riga, Premo,104 pp. (in Latvian, in English).
• O. Sparitis. The Usma Church in Riga, in Latvia, in the World, 1999, Riga: Zinatne Press, 170 pp. (in Latvian, in English, in German).
• O. Sparitis. Latvian Lutheran Churches Today, 1999, Riga: Nordic Press, 300 pp. (in Latvian).
• O.Sparitis. Culture of "Baltic Germans“ from XIII to XX century. - In: "Baltic Germans in Latvia“, Riga: Center for Ethnic Studies,  2000, pp. 86-217 (in Latvian).
• O.Sparitis. Bornes baznica (The Borne Church, Kirche zu Alt-Born), 2000, Riga, 56 pp. (in Latvian, English, German).
• O.Sparitis.  Monuments and Decorative Sculpture in Riga, 2001, Riga, 160 pp.
• O.Sparitis, J.Anmanis. Cilveks un sparni (The Man and Wings), Riga: Jumava, 2003.
• O.Sparitis. Florence - Riga. Kult'uras paral'eles . (Florence - Riga. Parallels of Culture), 2004, Riga: Jumava, 220 pp. (in Latvian).

• Untersuchungen zur Formensprache der Renaissance in der Architektur und bildende Kunst Lettlands.- In: Beitrage zur Renaissance zwischen 1520. und 1570. Jonas Verlag, 1991, S. 273.-294.
• Elements of vernacular culture in Latvian sacral art. - Cels ( Riga), 1992, N 1 (44), pp. 76-85 (in Latvian).
• Critic view on preservation of Latvian heritage of culture and processes in art at the last decade of the second millennium. - The Heritage of Culture (Riga), 1993, pp. 71-87 (in Latvian).
• Die Ilustrationen in Johann Roenners Chronik „Livlaendische Historien“ und die Portraits der Ordensmeister.- Acta Universitatis Stockholmiensis. Studia Baltica Stockholmiensia. N 12, Kunst und Architektur im Baltikum in der Schwedenzeit, (Kiel), 1993, S. 59.-76.
• Values of Art in Jaunpils Lutheran church.- O. Sparitis, R.Varpina. Church of Jaunpils, 1994, Talsi, pp. 9-16 (in Latvian).
• Formale Merkmale in der dekorativen Plastik und Skulptur des 16. Und 17. Jh. als Indikator der inneren Periodisierung des manierismus in Lettland. –In:  Sztuka Prus XIII – XVIII Wieku, 1994, Torun, S. 227- 263.
• Influence of neighbouring countries on the development of Latvian architecture and art. - Akademiska Dzive (USA), 1995, N 37, pp. 60 -67 (in Latvian).
• Collections of the Society of Blackheads.- In: The House of Blackheads in Riga, 1995, Riga, pp. 97 -134 (in Latvian).
• Influence of the Netherlands’ culture to Latvian architecture and art in XVI and XVII centuries. - Netherlandism in Polish Art (Warsaw), 1995, pp. 189-214.
• 17^th Century Allegoric paintings in Latvian Lutheran Churches. - Ars Ecclesiastica. The Church as a Context for Visual Arts, 1996, Helsinki, pp. 269-274.
• Ein Interpretationsversuch ueber den Autoritarismus und Ikonologie in der lettischen Kunst der 20.-30 er Jahre.- Revue Baltique (Vilnius), 1996, N 6, pp. 22-30.
• Stylistic patterns in Latvian decorative plastic and sculpture of XVI and XVII centuries as indices for periodisation of Mannerism. – In: The Culture of the XVI Century Renaissance, 1997, Moscow, pp. 266-281 (in Russian).
• The last Duke of Courland Peter and his property in Sagan.- Journal of the Institute of History (Riga), 1997, p. 48 (in Latvian).
• Expression of political pretensions and national self-confidence in the monuments of the 19^th and beginning of 20^th centuries in Riga. – Proc. Latvian Acad. Sci., 1997, vol. 51, N 3 (590), pp. 53- 68 (in Latvian).
• Ein Interpretationsversuch ueber das Autoritaere und die Ikonologie in der lettischen Kunst von 1920 bis 1940.- In: Kunst im Ostseeraum. Greifswalder Kunsthistorische Studien. Bd. 2, Architektur und bildende Kunst von 1933 bis 1945. Peter Lang Verlag, 1997, S. 199- 210.
• Politisches Handeln und die Frage des nationalen Bewustseins bei der denkmaelern russischer und deutscher Herkunft in Riga. - Nordost Archiv (Lueneburg), 1998, Heft 1, S. 205-240.
• Aspects of an iconological interpretation of the emblematic painting cycle in the church of Gaiki. - Doma-4 (Riga), 1998, pp. 11- 27 (in Latvian).
• The Semantics of romantic images in parks of Latvian estates. - Romanticism and Neoromanticism in Latvian Art, 1998, Riga, pp. 114-132 (in Latvian). 
• Nachgotik in der Sakralarchitektur Lettlands im XVI-XVII Jh. - In: Argumenta, Articuli, Quaestiones. Studia z historii sztuki sredniowiecznej. Torun, 1999, S. 239-264.
• Rezeption niederlaendisher und deutscher graphischer Vorbilder des 16.-17. Jahrhunderts in der luterischen Sakralkunst Lettlands. - In: Sten Karling and Baltic Art History, 1999, Tallinn, pp. 197-236.
• Die ersten Saengerfestbauten in der Architektur Lettlands. - In: Architektur und Bildende Kunst im Baltikum um 1900. (Buecherreihe "Kunst im Ostseeraum. Greifswalder Kunsthistorische Studien, Bd. 3), Frankfurt-am-Main - Wien, 1999, S. 50-61.
• An Iconological Interpretation of the Cycle of Emblematic Paintings in the Church at gaiki in Courland. - In: Glasgow Emblem Studies. Volume 5. The German-Language Emblem in its European Context: Exchange and Transmission, 2000, Glasgow, pp. 145-166.
• Die Rolle der Hanse in der Kultur Rigas. - Proc. International Conference"Hansa Yesterday - Hansa Tomorrow", Riga, June 8-13, 1998 ; 2001, pp. 251-255.
• Die Rolle der Hanse in der Kultur Lettlands. - In: Rostock, Bremen, Riga 2001. Geschichte, Wirtschaft, Kultur, 2001, Riga, S. 2-7.
• Riga et la Hanse. - In: European Cultural Heritage Review. Europa Nostra, 2002, N 5, pp. 26-29.
• Embleme in der Kultur Lettlands zwischen protestantischer und katolischer Tradition. - In: Multivalence and Multifunctionality of the Emblem, 2002, Muenchen: Peter Lang, pp. 187-210.
• Das Scwarzhaeupterhaus - allseitig betrachtet. - In:  Revue Baltique. Vilnius, 2002, N 16, S. 93-105.
• Kirchenbau - vom Rigaer Dom bis zum Jungfernhof. - In: Johann Wilhelm Krause. 1757-1828. Katalog. Bd. 2., Tallinn, 2002, S. 241-267.
• The rebirth and restoration of administrative, political and cultural symbols in Riga's Town Hall Square. - In: Composing Urban History and the Constitution of Civic Identities, 2003, Washington, pp. 341-371.
• Das klassische Erbe der Renaissance-Baukunst und dessen marginale Stilelemente. Kompositionen der Saeulenordnung und Anpassung deren Elemente. - In: The Problem of Classical Ideal in the Art and Architecture of the Countries around the Baltic Sea, 2003, Tallin, pp. 55-84.
• Staedtebau in Livland und Kurland im 16. und 17. Jahrhundert. - In: Staedtisches Leben im Baltikum zur Zeit der Hanse, 2003, C.Schirren Ges. Verlag, Laueneburg, S. 125-146.
• Sakralarchitektur der Renaisance in Lettland. - In: Kunst- und Kulturgeschichte im Baltikum. Homburger Gespraeche 2001-2002. Heft 19, Kiel, 2004, S. 64-101.
• Joris Joriszn Frese. - In: Beyond Traditional Borders. Riga, 2006, pp. 173-176.
• Dutch Copper Engravings for Sacral Paintings.- In: Beyond Traditional Borders. Riga, 2006, pp. 231-236.
• Die Architektur lettischer evangelisch-lutherischer Kirchen in Litauen aus der Sicht des Jahres 2005.-In: Homurger Gespraech 2005, Heft 22, Kunst und Kunstgeschichte im Baltikum. Kiel, 2006, S. 97-121.
• Von der Festung zum Herrenhaus. Entwicklung der Gutshaeuser in Lettland waehrend der Renaissance im 16. und 17. Jahrhundert. – In: Baltische Gutshoefe. Leben-Kultur-Wirtschaft. Lueneburg, 2006, S. 137-227.
• Dominican Pedagogy in the Emblematic Ceiling Paintings of the Pasiene Church, Latvia.-In: The Emblem in Scandinavia and the Baltic. Glasgow, 2006, pp.231-261.

• Aizmirst – lai atceretos. - Gram.: Spriediet paši. Eseju krajums par garigam vertibam. Riga, 2006, pp. 161-167 (in Latvian).
• Vidzemes Dziesmu gramata un tas sastaditaji. 1908. gada gleznota grupas portreta uzdotie jautajumi.- R. kraj.: Makslas vesture un teorija,  Nr. 5, Riga, 2006, pp. 42-48 (in Latvian).
• Recenzija gramatai Zeile P. Latgales kulturas vesture: No akmens laikmeta lidz musdienam. (Rezekne, 2006, 746. lpp. – Latvijas Vestures Instituta Zurnals, 2006, Nr. 3, pp. 173-177 (in Latvian).
• Jaunas Jeruzalemes stasts.- Kulturas Forums, 2006, 22. decembris  (in Latvian).

• Catalogue of Public Sculpture and Monuments of Riga. SOROS Foundation Latvia (1995)
• Latvian Lutheran Church Today. North-Elbian Church, Germany, Vallenberg Foundation Sweden, Latvian Lutheran Church (1996-1998)
• “Hanse Yesterday – Hanse Tomorrow” – International Fair of Handicrafts, International Scientific Conference in Riga, June 1998
• Culture of Ethnic Minorities in Latvia – Research of Their Social, Cultural, Political and Sociological Integration. (Series of TV programs for Latvian State TV). SOROS Foundation Latvia

Last update 22.05.2007