Riga - European Capital of Culture 2014 candidate

noisy neighboursClashes of power, conflict zones arean inescapable part of the reality ofthe contemporary world. Rebellion andconflict are the norm, unavoidable, regardlessof which part of the world weare in. The presence of direct or indirectconflicts and collisions leaves anindelible mark on the consciousnessand actions of people.museum of legaciesLegacies are the things to which storiesbelong, for which people createlegends. Legacies are the things,which help people to orientate themselvesin the world. Wars, fires, changesin values destroy legacies, but it isnot within the power of any invincibleforce to destroy everything. There arelegacies that are more powerful thanany force, which, because of theirstories, help us survive, making thestory about oneself, the city, countryand the world even bigger. Everyoneinherits legacies from generation togeneration, to which he allocates hisFor the 2014 “Poetry Days” the intention isto invite participants from the world’s conflictzones. Conflict zones will mean notjust countries where there are real conflictsor real war activity zones, but also countrieswhere intolerance towards culture, ahigh level of prejudice and cultural conflictcan be observed, for example Turkey andGreece, England and France, the Balkancountries, Spain and Catalonia, Georgia,Russia and the USA. The short-term goalon which the choice of guests will bebased is to prove that culture can overcomevarious conflicts and is above andbeyond the rifts between different nations,even war activity. The long-term goal of theproject is to promote cross-border activities,break stereotypes and initiate a closerlook at the different cultures of the world.The “Noisy Neighbours” programme intendsto include guest poet public readings,as well as a master class combinedwith a seminar, where all interested partieswith or without prior experience in literaryactivities will be able to participate andgain skills, advice and inspiration fromprofessionals from other countries. Openown story and which have influencedthe life of his family, his personal life.Legacies make it possible to restoretime.Several centuries ago every country dwellerwho crossed Riga’s border had to bringwith him two cobblestones, from whichRiga’s streets were made. Everyone arrivingat the European Capital of Culture willbe asked to submit to the exhibition personalitems with a historic legacy. The locationof the exhibition is planned in one ofthe former Freedom Street factories – VEFor in the territory of Riga Wagon Factory.Together with this large-scale project,which will run for the entire ECC year, anexhibition is planned in the Museum of thelectures are also planned at the Universityof Latvia and Latvian Academy of Culture,during which students and other interestedparties will have the opportunity to meetforeign poets, find out about current eventswithin their cultures, develop discussionsand exchange information.What: Poetry readings in an urbanenvironment, masterclass, seminars.Where: Esplanade, Academy of Culture,University of Latvia.When: September.Concept authors: Inga Bodnarjuka, IevaKolmane, Uldis Bērziņš.Organisers: Latvian Writers’ Union.Cooperation partners: Latvian Literature.Centre, Ventspils International Writers’and Translators’ House.History of Riga and Navigation “Stories of100 objects from the museum collectionabout Europe”. The exhibition would display100 legacies from the museum collection,which have an outstanding historicor artistic value, or value linked with theidentity of Riga inhabitants.What: Exhibition.WHERE: VEF or Riga Wagon Factoryterritory.When: January.Concept authors: Inese Zandere, Museumof the History of Riga and Navigation.Organisers: Museum of the History of Rigaand Navigation, Occupation Museum,War Museum, LU Faculty of History andPhilosophy.ruptureWar is the biggest of barbarisms, thesupreme sin, war is a man’s world, waris something which cannot be framed.War is the object of 20th century artisticreflection, which is inextricablylinked with Europe’s historic traumaand collective experience. War is therupture of the evolution of mankind or,maybe evolution is the rupture of theprogress of war?The Latvian National Art Museum ExhibtionHall Arsenāls, which was historically builtand used as a military depository in the19 th /20 th centuries, in 2014 will become thelocation for a large-scale exhibition, whichwill mark out artists’ views and positionstheatrical collisionboulevardFreedom Street is the location of thestage for collisions of war. During the1 st World War monuments and factorieswere evacuated from here, whichnever returned to their places after theend of the war. Culture has always reactedto political and historic events,creating a kind of space for tension inthe forms of drama and theatre.In 2014 the Daile theatre on FreedomStreet and untraditional premises for thetheatre environment – 1 st World War evacuatedfactory territories, will become thelocations for European theatre guest performances.Over the course of the year theguest performance programme will offersix of the world’s most prominent artiststheatre performances, relating to collision,male-female and conflict solutions, and theprewar-postwar theme. The programmeregarding the war theme. The exhibition willprovide an insight of the museum collection– Grosvalds, Kazāks and others,Anselm Keefer, Shirin Neschat, NedkoSalakov –, and will offer contemporaryartist interpretations (Imants Lancmanis,Sandra Krastiņa, Ilmārs Blumbergs, KatrīnaNeiburga, Krišs Salmanis, Miķelis Fišers),as well as present the works of internationallyrecognised foreign artists.The intention is to supplement the exhibitionwith historical materials (photographs,interior elements, weapons, etc) from thecollections of the Latvian History Museum,Latvian War Museum and Museum of theHistory of Riga and Navigation, whichwould allow for a more detailed characterisationof the period and appeal to a broaderrange of society. The planned exhibitionwill be selected by the curators of theLatvian New Theatre Institute, putting theaccent on the contemporary tendenciesand quality of guest performances andtheir place within the context of Europeantheatre art and at the same time encompassingthe needs of various groups of society.In 2014 the intention is to invite artistssuch as Christoph Marthaler (Switzerland),Alain Platel (Belgium) and KrzysztofWarlikowski (Poland) to bring guestperformances to Riga. Parallel to eachguest performance the LNTI will developeducational programmes, film sessionsand lectures, during which talks and discussionswill take place regarding theatreart in a wider discourse. Geographically,the guest performances will encompassthe Freedom Street trajectory of Riga territory.The implementation of this type ofprogramme will confirm that Riga is theplace for regular, high-quality projects inthe field of contemporary theatre.will propose an original view through theprism of the theme of war, which will markout the collision of forces, position theevents of war as the catalyst of an era or,on the contary, as an irreparable rupture ofthe regular course of history, illustrate thedifferences in the interpretations of eventsby men and women, as well as reveal anddemonstrate many other viewpoints, fromwhich it is possible to look at significantevents in our history.What: International exhibition.Where: Exhibition Hall Arsenāls.When: All year.Concept authors and organisers: LatvianNational Art Musuem in cooperation withthe Contemporary Art Centre.What: Theatre guest performanceprogramme.Where: Daile theatre, VEF (StateElectrotechnical Factory), Riga CinemaStudio, Riga Wagon Factory territory.When: Begins in February.Concept authors and organisers: LatvianNew Theatre Institute.Cooperation partner: Daile theatre.54 55