Due to the repressive Soviet regime, documentation of queer lives in Latvian territory before the 1990s is extremely limited. Under Soviet rule, queer identities and relationships were criminalized, forcing many individuals to conceal their identities throughout their lives. This enforced invisibility has contributed to the misconception that queer people did not exist during that time. Even after the end of the Soviet era, stigma and discrimination have remained strong, and many older queer individuals continue to keep their identities private.

THE STORY LIVING ROOM is a platform that brings history to life by exploring the lived experiences and personal stories of the queer community, while also reflecting on broader social change. The space is designed as an interactive environment where visitors are invited to share their own experiences. It focuses on recording queer histories — offering tools and prompts that support the sharing of testimonies and encourage reflection on how queer culture and memory can be documented today and into the future.

This initiative seeks to explore how collective participation can help fill the silences in our recent past — particularly those shaped by repression and stigma — and empower the community to document and preserve its own history in ways that are visible, accessible, and ongoing.

The Story Living Room was created by Rūta Jumīte and the critical pedogogy researcher Ieva Laube. The curator of the project was Andra Silapetere. The project was created for the Latvian Centre for Contemporary Art exhibition “All Good Between Us” within the project “Islands of Kinship”.