Maketa fails - Jura Žagariņa mājas lapas

LETTERS AND THE VISUAL ARTS. Poet IngaGaile addresses Latvians who are fleeingthe economic crisis in Latvia: You think youare special, you emigrate to the Mediterranean./ You would also be special if youstayed put and sought / Your mission in thislanguage, in this land, among this grudging,jealous, singing, thieving crowd. UldisGrasis’ five poems include a similar appeal:Take a deep breath, / Cross yourself / Andhead for the barricades / But do not give up.Imants Auziņš reflects on the legacy of poetOlafs Stumbrs (1931-1996), who was reinterredin Rīga last year. In a poem, Auziņšrecounts an amusing misunderstanding inCalifornia in 1983. ••• As she has donefrom time to time since the very beginningsof our magazine, Benita Veisberga contributesliterary “notations” in a simple, unaffectedstyle, letting the reader pleasurablyimagine being her guest at home. •••Dainis Mjartāns describes how Latvians, despitemany hardships, managed to cultivatethe visual arts in post-WWII Displaced Personscamps in Germany. ••• Linda Treijaand Ilze Nāgela introduce Imants Tillers, apainter who has been at the forefront ofAustralian contemporary art for over threedecades. Color reproductions of two of hissignature arrays of canvasboards explore migration,displacement and diaspora. Treijaalso introduces Rīga-based artist Zane Lūse,two of whose paintings − illustrations fromfantastic stories begging to be told − arepresented in color. The photographic art ofJānis Buls and Gunārs Birkmanis commemoratesthe rebirth of the independent Latvianstate twenty years ago. Seven photographsfrom Modris Rubenis’ series of portraits ofordinary citizens of the town of Kuldīgaare a continuation from the last issue. Thecover design is by our contributing editorVoldemārs Avens.LITERARY COMMENT. In part IX of her studyof Latvian cultural contacts across the IronCurtain during the Cold War, Eva Eglāja-Kristsone focuses on the exile community’sconflicted attitudes toward cultural contactswith Soviet occupied Latvia. ••• FranksGordons, reflecting on his personal connectionswith theater directors Ādolfs Šapiro,Asja Lāce and Bernhard Reich, is moved toexclaim: Latvians, Jews and Germans, all entwinedtogether − art and persecution, passionand disillusionment. ••• Juris Šlesersrecommends a book about China’s inroadson the nation of Tibet, by Chinese-Americanauthor Canyon Sam, Sky Train: TibetanWomen on the Edge of History. Šlesersconcludes that the example of Tibet’s powerfuland enduring emigré society is one forLatvians to emulate in our own aspirationsfor national survival. ••• Poet Uldis Bērziņš,who, three years ago, completed his translationof the Koran in the Latvian language,offers some poetic examples of islamic ideasof divine love. ••• Guntars Godiņš paystribute to the monthly literary magazineAvots, a powerful voice in Latvian cultureduring a tumultuous time of national reawakening,1987-1992. ••• Rolfs Ekmaniswelcomes a newly born quarterly literarypublication, Latvju Teksti, edited by GuntarsGodiņš, not as a competitor to Jaunā Gaita,but as a partner in common cause.HISTORY, MEMORIES, ACTUALITIES. JānisKrēsliņš, Sr. details the siege of Sidney Streetand other Latvian anarchist activities inLondon 100 years ago. ••• Jānis Liepiņšhighlights some glimpses on the life of FricisMenders, one of the leaders of the LatvianSocial Democratic Party after WorldWar I. ••• Velta Sniķere’s anecdotal recollectionsof random moments in her life aretitled “Absurdities”. ••• The online discussionin Kiberkambaris addresses a distressingstatistic showing that the populationof Latvia is one of the most impoverishedin the entire EU. ••• In laconic and factladenstyle as always, Marginalia providesa single source of information all culturallyaware Latvians ought to command: who haspassed on, who has won awards, new publications,music, theater, visual arts, education,strange happenings, important eventsin and around Latvia, in the diaspora andelsewhere in the geopolitical arena. •••Associate editor Juris Žagariņš announcesthat our fund drive last fall was a big success.In the foreseeable future Jaunā Gaitawill maintain its present format and qualityand continue to send gift copies to librariesin Latvia without raising subscription rates.BOOK REVIEWS. Volume 4 of Olafs Gūtmanis’Raksti (Collected works) − reviewedby Lāsma Ģibiete • Velta Sniķere’s reminiscencesSavādībiņas (Absurdities) − BirutaSūrmane • Māris Brancis’ monographon artist Guna Ikona-Krūmiņa, Lidojums:gleznojumi un zīmējumi (A flight: paintingsand drawings) – Voldemārs Avens • VairaVīķe-Freiberga’s Logique de la poésie: Structureet poétique des dainas lettones andJānis Eifelds’ à la Rabelais novel Meļu dzīres(An orgy of liars) − both reviewed by JurisSilenieks • Journal of Baltic Studies (September2010) − Gundars Ķeniņš Kings.jž