The Days of Culture and Handicraft of Indonesia in Latvia was launched with a good start. The event kicked off on 16 May 2009 at 18:00 followed by Dinner reception attended by about 200 distinguished guests representing the Latvian Government, the Parliament, diplomatic corps, media and the Latvian society.

The event was also opened for public starting at 20:00 and went on until 01:00 Sunday morning where a huge number of visitors (9.312 people) attended the opening at Museum of Foreign Art in Riga. Indonesian traditional Dances were also performed during the event by professional dancers from Sleman Regency in the province of Yogyakarta as well as the Indonesian Embassy to Latvia based in Stockholm.

Presentations about Batik and the demonstration of the making of Batik was also performed by the Batik Master from Sleman Regency, R. Bambang Sumardiyono. In addition, for the first time, a member of Saeima or Latvian Parliament from the Green Party, Mr. Ingmars Lidaka, who has made 9 episodes of documentary film about Indonesia for the Latvian National Television (LVT), made a presentation about Indonesian flora and fauna for the visitors.

The wide coverage of the local media prior to the start of the event, has attracted and created much of curiosity about Indonesia among the public. The one week exhibition is held until 23 May 2009 at the Museum of Foreign Art Latvia located at the Presidential Palace. Among the exhibition are the authentic Batik Painting and art, shadow puppets, and pictures of Indonesia.

The Exhibition was held jointly by the Museum of Foreign Art in Riga and the Indonesian Embassy in cooperation with the Government of Sleman Regency in Yogyakarta as part of the inter-cultural program exchange between Indonesia and Latvia. The event marks the increasing bilateral relations between Indonesia and Latvia.

Indonesia opened its diplomatic relations with Latvia in 1993 and the Indonesian Embassy in Stockholm has been accredited to Latvia since then. Latvia has also appointed its Honorary Consuls in Jakarta and Bandung since 2008.