Riga - European Capital of Culture 2014 candidate

un for freedomRunning as a national sport growsmore popular every year. The annualNordea Riga marathon participantnumbers are increasing and variousother runs and marathons are beingorganised in Riga and beyond. As agift to Latvia for her 90 th birthday a relay“Run! For Latvia!” was organised.Runners can also be seen every daymore and more often in the city’s parksand on its streets, just exercising. Arun is in its way an attempt to conquertime, prove that historical time is acquirablein an illusory manner.propagandaBecause of its geopolitical situationLatvia has always been the stage forvarious European political ideas, uponwhich political campaigns vibrate, influencedby the most diverse currents,ideas, movements, tendencies andhistoric turning points. Power, for workwith the masses, chooses the most diversetools— including art.Since the renewal of Latvia’s independence,5 parliamentary elections have alreadytaken place and in total, an independentLatvian parliament has already beenelected 9 times. Every time elections approacha certain tension can be observedamongst political powers; promises aremade, publicity campaigns created. Theintended project would demonstrate thedevelopment of political ideas and the instrumentsused by them over the centuryup to today. The intention of the exhibition“Political propaganda history in Latvia” isto gather political posters and party politicalposters that have been created beforethe establishment of the Latvian state,during Latvia’s initial independence andafter renewal of Latvia’s statehood. Itis intended to demonstrate all politicalcampaigns and pre-election publicity campaignsin chronological order, confrontingartistic facts with real historic events, whichthe campaigns feature, thus developingboth a collection of serious historicalmaterial and bringing a smile to the facesof exhibition guests regarding the role ofpropaganda tools or campaign posters inthe public’s choice.What: Exhibition.Where: Riga Art Space.When: August - October.Concept authors: Riga’s ECC task group.Cooperation partners: Latvian Art Directors’Club, advertising agencies.The time has come for runners to becomeparticipants of an unprecedented event.Everyone who feels sporty has the opportunityof becoming the co-creator ofan event celebrating the anniversary ofthe declaration of the independence of theRepublic of Latvia. In turn, all Riga inhabitants– of being the spectators of an unprecedentedcity performance. Instead ofthe usual concert for the anniversary of thedeclaration of the independence of Latviaa run will take place – a “Run For Freedom”along the entire length of Freedom Street.In its way this will be a run through FreedomStreet and at the same time the history of aEuropean street, where various periods ofLatvian and European history will be outlinedat various sectios of the run.The start will be at the Ethnographic OpenairMuseum and the route – along FreedomStreet to the Freedom Monument. Totallength of the run — 11 kilometres.What: Marathon.Where: Freedom Street.When: May 4 th .Concept authors: “Untitled” Ltd.voice from the past ineisenstein’s birthplaceProvocative proof that Europe’s andLatvia’s mental space always hasbeen and is united: an opportunityto be convinced that Latvian cinemaclassics have worked and thought ona global level. A review of classic filmsin their black and white tonality like avoice from the past seem to contrastwith the contemporary multi-colouredcity environment, but at the same timesurprise us with the topicality of eternalproblems, which makes us thinkabout intransient values that will stillbe significant in the distant future.One of the world’s most distinguishedcinema directors Sergej Eisentein is fromRiga, and he proved that outstanding cinemalanguage is compatible with undisguisedpropaganda. His film “BattleshipPotemkin” is recognised as one of the alltime20 best films. Cinema, since its beginning,has always served as an instrumentof power, searching for means of artisticexpression between terms dictated bypower and artistic and human protest. Rigainhabitants are characteristic with their particularattitude towards cinema and theircharacteristic cinephilia has arisen froma restricted access to the European cinemaculture heritage during the Cold Warand the search for their identity in nationalcinema.The films will be shown in an urban environment- large-scale open-air sessions onopen-air screens on city squares, in parksand beyond. It will be the border expansion ofcinema’s territorial consciousness and interactionbetween selected works of Europeancinema classics (European Cinema Greats)and the restored Latvian cinema heritage(Latvian Cinema Greats). This project is alsoan opportunity for the expansion of timeborders — unlike usual cultural events, themost favourable time for open-air cinemasessions is in the evening hours of dusk,when cinema projections with their appealand particular magic would attract youngpeople and other groups of society.In 2008, the State Agency National FilmCentre of Latvia began work on the restorationof the Latvian cinema heritage and plansto finish the restoration of about 100 films by2014. Of the renewed films it will be possibleto make the most precise selection, whichwill interplay with European cinema classicsand will provide an insight into the best examplesof our cinema culture heritage.The Riga Cinema Museum and theNational Film Centre of Latvia propose aconceptual selection of European CinemaGreats – demonstrating one film fromevery European country (for example,Michelangelo Antonioni from Italy,Sergei Eisenstein from Russia, Jean-LucGodard from France, Louis Bunuel formSpain, Andrzej Wajda from Poland, AkiKaurismaki from Finland, Ingmar Bergmanfrom Sweden, Vera Chytilova from theCzech Republic, etc.). In 2014, they wouldall meet for the first time in Riga and taketheir places next to the pearls of Latviancinema classics.What: Open-air cinema sessions.Where: City squares, suburbs.When: June-September.Concept authors and organisers: Riga CinemaMuseum, National Film Centre of Latvia.Cooperation partners: Danish CulturalCentre, Nordic Country InformationCentre, French Cultural Centre.56 57