Riga - European Capital of Culture 2014 candidate

alternative city guideTo find the city within the city. To goon psycho-geographical wanderingsand get lost in one’s city, discoveringa completely different, as yet unknownplace. Accompanied by an experiencedguide, an urban guru, discover the city’shidden zones, sneak behind the liningof the city and get to know the localfolklore.Cities as labyrinths of meaning and polygonsof adventure have always temptednot just curious inhabitants but also cityguests. Not in vain has the movement ofcity diggers and waders recently developed;the wish to discover the city from adifferent angle has been activated.One of the thematic lines of the activitiesby the Latvian Centre for Contemporary Art(LCCA) which over time has been developedin several projects, is the city, urban space,its mapping and study (“City. Tales aboutRiga”, 2002, re:publika 2004, “Urbanologic”,2007 etc). Several thematic tours have beenorganised and a guidebook has been published.Therefore, LCCA in cooperation withcity researchers, experts, artists and othercreative people will expand the initiated progressionand organise a cycle of excursionsto unknown places in Riga, as well as issuingan alternative Riga guide.These unique excursions will introducethe different faces of Riga, reveal the citywithin the city, going on tours along pathsthat have never been included in the usualtourist routes. There will be an opportunityto discover Soviet Riga, whose imprint canstill be found on the interiors of several cafes,Spilve Airport and others; participantswill experience the charm of communalapartments and drink a glass of tea in thekitchen, while listening to the host’s talesof former times. Small groups of interestedparties will be offered exclusive visits to thehouses of interesting characters.Another Riga will be sought, both getting toknow the multicultural history of the city andhighlighting its social texture. Guests couldget to know Hebrew Riga, take a walk throughthe Russian Riga in the Moscow district, visitthe Grīziņkalns workers’ area and track the territoryof the Vārnu Street republic. During captivatingtrips, excursions round the industrialheritage zones would be offered, which, justlike a history book, recount the city’s life story,confirming that the Ērenpreiss Company,design map“Design Map” is an alternative plan forre-discovering the unknown Riga, industrialRiga, the third largest industrial centreof Russia in the early 20 th century, themanufacturing and design pride of theLatvian state and the USSR, the achievementsof the renewed Latvia. The designmap will introduce Latvian achievementsin design in the past and today.The design map will show the Riga thatthinks of its citizens, their comfort, so thatthey all might feel good in their city. Barsand cafes with contemporary interiors, historicallypreserved design statements, smallarchitectural forms and city environment,designer hotels and shops, innovative gastronomyand high class service design, anew library with its proposed opportunities.Places and people that are associated withdesign. The city creates its maps. We offera design map of Riga that includes designobjects and places, the city’s creative areas– Kalnciems Street area, Berga Bazārs,Spīķeri, innovative gastronomy options, etc.It is a map that serves both as printed materialand as an interactive option. Objects andplaces are marked with special symbols.Throughout the year, with its culminationĶuze sweet factory or VEF and others are notjust forgotten trademarks. Many of the excursionswould be summarised in small guidebooksthat would be regularly updated andform the ‘collected works’ of Riga.It is also planned to publish a large alternativeguidebook of Riga with the participationof artists (Ieva Epnere, Līga Laurenoviča,Ēriks Božis and others), writers (AgneseKrivade, Margita Zālīte, group Orbīta), sociologistsand others, in its creation. Theguidebook would be created as a valuableinterdisciplinary project and would includeduring the “Design Days” in October 2014,a string of exhibitions will take place in themuseums of Riga:• Each museum will create an exhibition inthe museum or exhibition hall about achievementsin the sector of manufacture and design,starting from the Latvian car manufacturingindustry and VEF (State Electro-technicalFactory), to porcelain, designer workshops(e.g. “Baltara” porcelain in the memorialapartment of Romans Suta and AleksandraBelcova, or the activities of today’s mostwell-known designers in Latvia). For the DollMuseum this might be creative doll workshopsfor children and professional designersin cooperation with the Latvian PuppetTheatre and children’s theatre studios.• In the largest exhibition halls – thematicdesign exhibitions.• In the new Castle of Light an impressivedisplay of graphic design that includes bookgraphics, applied graphics – posters, cataloguesand informative publication graphicsand other visual forms of communication. Thehistory of Latvian graphic design up to today.• An exhibition about the creation ofLatvian manufacturing or industrial design,as a base area choosing one of the mostdeveloped sectors of Latvian manufacturing– the furniture or textile industry. The exhibitionwill reflect the development of furnitureoriginal excursion routes, interviews withinhabitants, local folklore, writers’ essays,urban poetry, photographs etc.What: Guidebook of excursions.Where: Starts in March, guidebookpresented in November.When: All year.Concept authors: Latvian Centre forContemporary Art (LCCA).Organisers: Latvian Centre for ContemporaryArt (www.lcca.lv), Jānis Borgs, IndustrialHeritage Fund (www.i-mantojums.lv),www.urbantrip.lv, www.bradajumi.lv.through different periods of time – the workof craftsmen, manufacturing opportunities,contemporary manufacturing, the trainingprocesses for specialists in design, technology,economics and business management,the work of experimental design laboratories,new product testing, the path of aproduct from the idea to the finished product,showing that good design is one of theinstruments used for raising the quality of lifeand an added value indicator for goods.• Exhibition location – unused premises inthe city centre or any of the former productionunits.What: Displays, exhibitions, seminars,conferences. Creative fields in the urbanenvironment of Riga. City mapping.Where: Riga museums, galleries, exhibitioncentres, educational establishments, designbureaus and salons, manufacturers, designinstitutions and internet portals.When: All year.Concept authors and organisers: DesignInnovation Centre, Design InformationCentre, www.dic.lv.Cooperation partners: Riga CityCouncil, Latvian Ministry of Culture,Latvian Ministry of Economics, LatvianInvestment and Development Agency,Riga’s museums and exhibition halls,businesses, design salons and bureaus.78 79