Valdis Celms
Valdis Celms, born on 24 October 1943 in Vildogas parish, Sigulda Municipality, Latvia, is a Latvian artist, graphic designer and neopagan leader. He studied at Riga Construction College and the Art Academy of Latvia.
Celms is regarded as a founder of kinetic art in Latvia. He explored moving artworks in the 1960s and became prominent in the 1970s with kinetic sculptures, photomontages and graphic design. He mixed modern materials with influences from folk art and aimed to imitate the movements of nature. Some of his more ambitious kinetic ideas from the 1970s were not built at the time but were realized after the Soviet era.
In 1980 he designed the large "Rīga" signs welcoming people to the capital. A major retrospective of his work was held in 2013 at the Latvian Museum of Decorative Arts and Design to celebrate his 70th birthday. In 2014 he received Latvia’s Order of the Three Stars.
Celms is a leader of the Baltic neopagan group Latvijas Dievtuŗu sadraudze and helped create the Lokstene Shrine of Dievturi on an island in the Daugava River, which opened in 2017.
He has published books including Latvju raksts un zīmes (2007) and Baltu dievestības pamati (2016), the latter drawing on Ernests Brastiņš, Marija Gimbutas and Janīna Kursīte-Pakule.
Spouse: Gunta Celma.
This page was last edited on 3 February 2026, at 11:42 (CET).