Riga - European Capital of Culture 2014 candidate

thirstfor the oceanYearning for the ocean is a yearning for eternity. Human speech,the projection of feelings onto the immensity of the universe.The existential mysteries are reflected in the human. The oceanof cognition is both perceived reality and the human to his orher self. These mysterious relations between temporal, ephemeral,mortal human beings and the mysteries of eternity – thehistory of the all – cannot be settled once and for all. These arepossibly the most enduring – and at the same time the mostdynamic – relations in human life.Approaching the ocean of consciousness, cognition and the unknown,the human is alone, without ancestors, children or home toback him or her up. The relations with the essence of the universe arethe relations of the vertical to the horizon. Latvians live on the coast ofthe Baltic Sea, linked to the oceans only by the North Sea. Kārlis Skalbe,one of Latvia’s foremost lyric poets, in his philosophical fairy tale “HowI Sought the Girl of the North” and in his first poems, writes dreamilyof the sea despite having seen only Alauksta Lake at the time. Humanyearnings, dreams, and longings for transformation and for the neware ambivalent. In their temperament, they bear resemblance to a cravingto merge, to adapt and to dissolve in the primordial motherland.The ardour with which people strive for new horizons resembles theobsession to create. The spiritual dimension is as vital as the experienceof the senses and the rhythms of consciousness and the subconscious.Thirst for the ocean embrace not only the promise of distanthorizons (Dullais Dauka, the daft but heroic creation of the writerSudrabu Edžus, strode toward the horizon to find out what was onthe other side) but also a craving for unfathomable depths (the greatLatvian poet Rainis: ‘Where did you find such stupendous words? –I stared out to sea for some time’).What does it matter if the Baltic Sea is composed of slightly salty waterin which few species swim, needing to adapt to water that is neithertruly sweet nor really salty? Is that where musings on Latvians beingadaptable begin? Does the shallowness of the sea determine thedepth of yearning for the ocean? For Skalbe, the lake was enough.Thirst for the ocean is part of the trajectory of coming into being. It isunique for each individual. Latvians, thirsty for sunlight, saw signs in theplay of the sun upon the waters, taking that path in their folklore and in art.What is beyond the horizon? Where does the ocean end? Is yourfreedom – the freedom you search for but must make for yourself – tobe found there? Does it reflect your standing by the sea, vertical againstthe horizon? Or is the ocean as infinite as your being? Strangely,no one competes with you in walking this road. No one opposes you.Everyone for himself – the archipelago of the Baltic Sea.36 37