Loan of objects from the museum collection

Pauls Stradiņš Medicine History Museum holds a diverse and internationally significant collection comprising over 200 000 units: objects, documents, photographs and other forms of evidence of the history of medicine.

To facilitate public accessibility of the collection, the museum welcomes requests for short-term and long-term loans to various local and international institutions.

Loan request

If you wish to borrow objects from the collections of Pauls Stradiņš Medicine History Museum, please make sure first that you are able to meet the conditions listed below.

The loan request in the form of an official letter (on the stationary of the organization or business) should be addressed to Director of Pauls Stradiņš Medicine History Museum Kaspars Vanags and mailed to the museum’s address, Ukrainas neatkarības iela 1, Riga, LV-1010, or emailed to info@mvm.gov.lv (if the letter is signed electronically). After receiving the loan request, representatives of the museum will contact you to agree on the time-frame for consideration of the loan request.

The minimum notice for a loan request is 6 months, if you wish to borrow 5 or more objects, and 3 months for less than 5 objects. This requirement does not apply to institutions that borrow objects for a charge; however, please note that timely submission of your loan request will significantly increase the possibility of a positive result.

Timely submission of your loan request increases the availability of a loan in cases when the objects must undergo conservation treatment or are of interest to other prospective borrowers.

Please make sure you have included the following information in your loan request:

purpose of the loan (title of the exhibition, permanent display, film etc.);
running time of the exhibition or permanent display (from‒through) / shooting date of the episode;
exhibition venue of the loan;
explanation of the relevance of the requested objects from the museum collection to the concept of the exhibition, permanent display, film etc.;
complete information on the requested objects, including the museum inventory numbers (can be enclosed or attached as a list);
term of the loan;
information on security guarantees, including insurance (if required);
full name and contact details of the representative authorised by the borrower;
details of the borrower.

Main conditions

To be granted a loan, please make sure you can comply with the following conditions:

1. Insurance

The borrower insures the objects on loan, with the exception of cases where the borrower is an accredited museum, a state or local government-run scientific, cultural or educational institution or the term of the loan does not exceed one calendar week and the Collection Commission of Pauls Stradiņš Medicine History Museum concludes that the loan constitutes a generic type of object.

2. Exhibiting

The borrower must inform Pauls Stradiņš Medicine History Museum in a timely fashion about the planned methods of displaying the borrowed object from the museum collection to make sure they are consistent with the standards of preventive preservation. The borrower must assume full responsibility for any costs pertaining to framing (if necessary) and mounting (including showcases, plinths, domed display cases, stanchion barriers ‒ if required). Pauls Stradiņš Medicine History Museum reserves the right to request courier oversight, paid for by the borrower, during the transportation, installation and dismantling of the object to make sure that the conditions stipulated in the agreement are met.

If the term of the loan exceeds one year, the borrower covers the museum’s costs for the annual verification of the object’s existence and storage conditions, as stipulated in Paragraph 93 of Republic of Latvia Cabinet Regulation No. 956, "Regulations Regarding the National Collection of Museums".

3. Loan costs

Loan costs do not apply if the borrower is an accredited museum, scientific institution, higher educational institution or an institution subordinate to the Ministry of Health.

Loan costs apply to non-accredited museums and other institutions in keeping with the paid-service price list of Pauls Stradiņš Medicine History Museum:

for cultural and educational purposes, 1 item per day: EUR 5.00;
for commercial and entertainment purposes, 1 item per day: EUR 30.00;
for commercial and entertainment purposes, loan of particularly fragile objects or objects requiring special care, 1 item per day: EUR 150.00.

4. Risk management

Any borrower must make sure that rooms and showcases used to store and display (even temporarily) objects from the collection of Pauls Stradiņš Medicine History Museum meet the standard safety and environmental requirements. The borrower must take full responsibility for risk assessment pertaining to the objects from the museum’s collections on loan.

5. Packing and transporting

Prior to the loan, the objects are packed by Pauls Stradiņš Medicine History Museum or agents of the contracted transport company under supervision by the museum specialists. After the loan, the objects are packed by the borrower or agents of the contracted transport company under supervision by representative of the borrower or a courier of Pauls Stradiņš Medicine History Museum (if so agreed) using the same materials and methods (as the ones) used on receiving the objects on loan. All costs pertaining to transportation of the objects are covered by the borrower.

Refusal of loan application

Museum may turn down a loan request if:

application for loan has been received too late;
the cataloguing of the object has not been completed;
the object is in poor condition;
it is currently on view or is scheduled to go on view as part of another short term or permanent exhibition;
it is on loan outside the museum;
the loan is requested for purposes unrelated to events in the areas of science, culture, aesthetic or general education;
the object is undergoing conservation or restoration treatment;
specific conditions for using the objects are stipulated in the acquisition documents;
the loan applicant is unable to guarantee the required display and preservation conditions.