Riga - European Capital of Culture 2014 candidate

zeppelinScientific innovations have alwaysserved in the war industry. One of thesigns of the time of the First World Warwas t he dirigible, which in L at via is k nownas the Zeppelin. The “Zeppelin” willbecome the symbol of the “FreedomStreet” part of the programme.In 2014, the symbol of the “Freedom Street“programme will be a dirigible flight, whoseinventor Count General Ferdinand Zeppelinis closely connected with Latvia. In 1889,he announced the patent for his inventedairship or dirigible balloon. At the beginningof the 20 th century Count Zeppelin wasa regular visitor to Vecgulbene, becausehe was married to Izabella, the daughterof the owner of the manor named Wolf.Very soon German manufacturers saw thepotential of the invention and began to financefurther improvements for the use ofthe ship. Germany was preparing for warand this provided profit opportunities formanufacturers. Zeppelin’s invention wasadapted for bomb carrying. In the summerof 1915, when Courland had already beencaptured, the Germans built five reinforcedbearslayer’s battleby the daugavaIn the classics of Latvian literature andcinema “Bearslayer” is the symbol ofthe eternal battle for freedom. Thiswork, which is rooted in Latvian mythology,incorporates the eternal polarityof the good and the bad.One of the culmination points of the“Freedom Street” programme will be therestoration and demonstration on one ofRiga’s bridges of the legendary and, forconcrete hangars to house the airships inVaiņode. At nightime they lifted off withtheir bomb consignments and flew tothe Russian positions. In 1915, one darkOctober night, German dirigibles, whichare commonly known as Zeppelins, tookoff from Vaiņode and flew over Riga anddropped a bomb consignment onto thecrossing of Marijas and Avotu streets.After the First World War – Latvia’s initialperiod of independence – all five hangarsin Vaiņode were dismantled and installedin Riga, where the Central Marketis now located. The anticipated dirigible orZeppelin flight over Riga is intended to bea symbolic event, a reminder of the bondbetween power, science and technologyin European culture. The Central Markethangars would become a location forEuropean Capital of Culture events – in thecontext of war and market relations.War and market relations are of equalvalue to war and science relations. Withinthe framework of the European Capital ofCulture programme it is intended to orga-nisean international creative industryannual market in the pavilion of the RigaCentral Market. At the weekend, creativeLatvian cinematic history, significant film“Bearslayer” (1930, director AleksandrsRusteiķis), which has been entered intothe Latvian cultural canons of cinema.“Bearslayer” is the first notable achievementof national cinematography and,for its time, an innovative union of alarge-scale production and historic document.A restored copy is being made forthis silent movie. The National ChamberOrchestra Sinfonietta Rīga, in cooperationwith the composer Kristaps Pētersons,who is composing music for the silent film“Bearslayer”, will perform the live accompanimentof the film at a special cinemaconcert by the Daugava.industries will fill the former 1 st World Warmilitary object with products that havebeen created as an alternative solution tothe power of global economics and consumerculture, demonstrating solutions tothe relations between culture and changesin power.The Kult[rix] dirigible will also be like asingular antenna for impulses from ECCevent locations. The dirigible will digitallycapture and process the physical andenergetic field information of ECC events.In cooperation with the media, the publicwill regularly receive the ECC’s energeticimpulses.What: Installation in an urban environmentand digital laboratory, Creative industryannual market.Where: ECC event locations, CentralMarket.When: All year.Concept authors: Riga’s ECC task group.Organisers: Riga Central Market incooperation with creative industryrepresentatives.What: Film, concert and multimedia event.Where: Banks of the Daugava or on one ofits bridges.When: August.Concept authors: Kristīne Matīsa, AgneseZeltiņa, Kristaps Pētersons, GundegaŠmite.Organisers: National Film Centre of Latvia,Riga Cinema Museum, Union of LatvianComposers.Internet resources: www.lks.org.lv,www.nfc.lv.52 53