RIGA 2014_2009_book_eng_FIN_Part1.pdf - Documentation ...

Riga - 

European 

Capital of 

Culture 

2014 

candidate

The Application of Riga for the Title of The European Capital of Culture 2014

contents 

my name is milda 4 

riga’s proposal for the project of the european capital of culture 2014 13 

challenges presented in the application for riga as european capital of culture 2014 15 

goals proposed in riga’s application 17 

kult[rix] 19 

riga’s programme 2014 29 

force majeure 31 

programme guidelines and structure 32 

thirst for the ocean 35 

freedom street 49 

survival kit 61 

road map 73 

riga carnival 86 

amber vein 105 

european dimension 117 

cooperation with sweden 2014 123 

city and its citizens 129 

mobile centre 135 

mobile centre in sigulda, riga’s official partner city 141 

cultural centres of riga and largest venues for 2014 events 153 

riga’s communication strategy 167 

ecc year organisation 172 

application link with long-term development plans 174 

application preparation process 178 

riga’s 2014 ecc project task group 181 

cooperation partners 184 

special thanks 187

My name is Milda Kristīne, née Krastiņa. I met Alfrēds 

Aleksandrs Vinters while living in Mīlgrāvis. We were married in St. 

Paul’s Evangelical Lutheran Church at Christmas, in 1927. I already 

knew that Alfrēds harboured undiscovered talents and that he wouldn’t 

just remain in the memories of our neighbours as a sawmill worker. He 

played the violin and the zither. Alfrēds had learned to play these in 

his childhood as part of his father’s orchestra. He played for his own 

pleasure and for that of others. This is how he became a songwriter, 

beloved throughout the nation. When Alfrēds was already becoming 

famous, we made the acquaintance of the sculptor Kārlis Zāle at 

a garden party. I remember, it was a very hot summer, Alfrēds was 

playing, but Zāle approached me, and that is what changed my life. 

I became, as they now say, a legend. In 1935, Kārlis Zāle finished 

building the Freedom Monument, based on his Shine Like a Star! 

design. People started talking of the resemblance between me and 

the lady on the top of the monument. I don’t know why, but people 

also started calling her by my name – Milda. 

At the very beginning, so that I could stand and guard, the 

people of Latvia donated funds by way of gratitude to those who 

fought in the Latvian War of Independence of 1918-1920. I would 

like to see such a great instance of unity in this century as well. 

Today, thousands of people take photos of me daily – Germans, 

Japanese, Russians, English, Latvians and many others. They 

stop and watch the changing of the guard of honour. I would like 

to lift them all up – the guards, the tourists, the Latvians – to the 

very top, so that they, too, might see the view that opens up every 

day from my vantage point, 42 metres up. The places where 

Riga’s buildings begin, the sea disappearing into the horizon, the 

unusual sky over Riga – they are all visible from here. 

I am fondly called Milda. It is a good viewpoint, 

one from which I can see the whole city, exactly 

as if I was a bird in flight. I am like a city sentinel. It 

is surprising that I have survived through all those 

wars and times of confusion. Maybe it was luck 

that my fate was decided by the Riga-born and 

Paris-schooled student of Kārlis Zāle – the famous 

USSR sculptress Vera Mukhina, whose Worker 

and Kolkhoz Woman is known all over the world. 

The only chains they decided to guard me with 

then, so that freedom wouldn’t ‘escape’ on its own 

accord, were trolleybuses and their electrical wires, 

innovations of the time. 

Every day, I watch Riga changing – growing in 

size from one day to the next. People, cars, trams, 

houses, shacks, towers, buzzing, rushing, silence, 

noise, streets and gates that connect the city’s Art 

Nouveau pearls to thousands of wooden houses 

on both sides of the Daugava River, the roofs and 

turrets of Old Riga, with its place in the UNESCO 

World Heritage List. I see ever newer buildings, 

I see cranes rising above the future library, and 

ships coming into the port of Riga.

From above, everything can be seen better. There are places and 

people that I wish to see changing. Different periods have left their 

legacies in all the neighbourhoods of Riga – the shapes of factories, 

where manufacturing used to take place for both the Russian and for 

the German occupying powers. Now they stand abandoned. I want 

to wake up those living in ‘sleeper neighbourhoods‘ and who have 

forgotten to greet one another. I want to landscape the banks of the 

Daugava River, where people go and meet each other. I want to see 

Riga grow, not just spread out ever wider. 

Riga has always been a free city in its own way; it has 

always wanted a relationship with everyone. It has never 

wanted to stand apart. Maybe that is why I am built of 

Finnish granite and Italian travertine, while my figure has 

been cast in bronze by Swedish craftsmen. Different 

people have played a part in creating my colourful 

Riga over the centuries – Livs, Latvians, Germans, 

Russians, Jews, Swedes, Estonians, Lithuanians, Poles, 

Belarusians, Ukrainians... they have all lived here together. 

Historians speak of a Liv settlement that was here, 

under my feet, a thousand years ago. 

I watch the bridges over the Daugava, 

connecting both parts of the city. I see that 

for some, the Second World War ended 

only yesterday, and it is still not easy to 

agree on what happened on May 8 th or 9 th , 

1945 in Europe, and what emotions should 

be felt when remembering the decades 

that followed these dates in all of Eastern 

Europe. I hope that an understanding is 

possible for Riga.

People aspire for something more. 

They gaze at the Baltic Sea from the 

Mangaļsala lighthouse and think about 

what is beyond the horizon, and dream of 

lifting up the skies above Riga. It feels like 

there is a hidden energy pulsing within 

the city, seeking its way to break out, like 

thirst that seeks quenching. 

Riga is thirsty, as if waiting for the rain. I 

want to see the city revive, just like after 

spring rain. 

Yours always, 

Milda 

Riga is not afraid of large-scale relationships. 

Historically, Riga entered into trade alliances and 

friendships with cities throughout the world – both 

during the Hanseatic League period and today. 

Riga knows how to receive guests fittingly – we have 

welcomed NATO state leaders, Pope John Paul II, 

participants of Latvia’s song and dance celebration, 

Queen Elizabeth II, the Dalai Lama, spiritual leader of 

Tibet, visitors of Riga’s 800 th anniversary celebrations 

and thousands of others from all over the world. All have 

been among the city’s welcome guests.

1198 The name of Riga is mentioned in the Chronicles for the first time 1200 Bishop Albert and the Crusaders arrive in the Livonian lands 1201 The founding of Riga 1201 exported to Europe via Riga: grain, w ooden materials, linen, hemp, tar etc. Salt, herring, spice, manufactured goods enter Russia from Europe. Riga becomes 

Riga’s diocese is founded (from 1251 – archdiocese) 1202–1204 Pope Innocent proclaims the Fourth Crusade to Syria, Palestine and the Baltic countries 1205 The first 

theatre performance in Riga (in Latin, with Biblical themes at the base of the play) 1206 Livonian elder, Ako, rises up against the Crusaders 1207 The Order of Brothers of 

the Sword subordinates the Livonians, confirming them into Catholicism 1209 Craftsmen and traders begin building St. Peter’s Church. The raising of Dome Church with a 

cloister is begun. The church complex raised in the XII century now forms its central choral and altar section, although the church itself was rebuilt several times between the 

XIII to the XVIII centuries 1204 Raising of the Castle of the Diocese and Order in Riga 1210 The Treaty of Peace and Free Trade is concluded, according to which trade in the 

basin of the River Daugava was regulated between Riga, Smolensk and Polotsk. “Russkoje podvorje” – the meeting place for Russian traders – is established 1211 The first 

educational establishment, Dome School, is created next to Dome Church, where clergymen are prepared; lessons take place in Latin; a school for German children is 

opened next to St. George’s Church in 1226. 1225 St. Jacob’s Church is raised. Transition from Roman to Gothic style in Riga’s architecture 1225 Riga acquires city rights 

1225–1227 The Chronicle of Henry (in Latin) 1290s Rhymed Chronicle (in German) 1282 Riga joins the Hanseatic League. In the14th century masonry develops in Riga. 

Dome Church is adorned with Gothic style sculptures 1330 The raising of Riga Castle, combining features of a medieval cloister and fortress 1330 A house is built, which in 

1477 acquires the name of House of the Blackheads 1334 Riga’s new market square changes its name – to Town Hall Square 1352 Small Guild is founded in which German 

guild craftsmen unite. Riga’s patricians, the biggest traders and money-lenders, take the city’s municipal authority into their own hands 1354 Great Guild is founded, its 

members – German traders 1352 A clock is installed in the tower of St. Peter’s Church for the first time, a guard is also on duty here, who would ring the church tower bell in 

case of fire 1353 The first secular education establishment is opened near St. Peter’s Church, where the town’s civil servants are prepared (lessons in German) Latvians 

create their craftsmen fraternities: 1383 Fraternity of Beer and Wine Bearers, 1450 Fraternity of Dockhands is established, 1469 – Fraternity of Meters. These fraternities 

enable Latvians to stand alongside the German section of society 1416 The Blackhead Society is founded – a club for young, unmarried foreign traders 1423 Envoys of Riga, 

Reval (Tallinn) and Dorpat (Tartu) conclude a trading treaty with Novgorod on behalf of 73 Hanseatic towns 1452 Riga obtains great independence because the Livonian 

Order is forced to share power over the city with the archdiocese1480 Livonian army attacks Russia. Grand Prince Ivan III of Moscow heads on a retaliatory military expedition 

1484 Riga’s inhabitants battle with the Livonian Order and demolish the Castle of the Order 1491 The Order encircles Riga and reclaims its property, the Master of the Order 

commands Rigans to raise a new castle in six years. Around 1551 the new Riga Castle is built on the shores of the Daugava 1494 Development of serfdom in Livonian towns. 

1503 In response to the attack by the Russian army in Livonia, forces of the Order, led by W. Plettenberg, attack Pskov. An armistice is entered into between Russia and the 

Order, which lasts for more than 50 years – until the start of the Livonian War in 1558. Russia, the Livonian Order, Poland, Grand Duchy of Lithuania, Sweden and Denmark 

are involved in the battle for the Baltic countries and outlet to the Baltic Sea 1507 The first well-known monument to Latvian writing is issued – the Lord’s Prayer translated 

by Nikolaj Gisbert. During the Reformation period many take on the Lutheran religion 1525 Master of the Livonian Order, W. Plettenberg, allows Riga to proclaim Lutheranism. 

Freedom of religion is proclaimed in Riga. The play, “The Lost Son”, by Rigan, Valdis Burhards, which is directed against the Archbishop and Order leadership is staged in 

Town Hall Square. Town Hall Square is also known for its performances by magicians and tightrope walkers, the carrying out of public punishments, a pillory and the burning 

of witches. At the start of the 16th century, the streets of Old Town in Riga are established, which are still used today 1524 The achievements of the Reformation crushed the 

authority of the Catholic church and the Order. Destruction of religious icons in Riga (Lutherans do not recognise icons) 1524 The first Lutheran services in Latvian take place 

in St. Jacob’s Church 1560 The first Lutheran church handbooks in Latvian appear 1587–1589 St. John’s Church of the Dominican Order is newly built. For a while, in 1523, 

when the Dominican monks are evicted from the church, it becomes a storehouse for weapons. The King of Poland, Stefan Batory, a devout Catholic, demands that the 

church be returned to Riga’s Catholic community. The first organ is set up in Dome Church 1524 Riga’s city library is opened 1532–1533 The first documents in Latvian 

appear 1548 One of the oldest reproductions of Riga’s panorama in German geographer Sebastian Münster’s book, “Cosmographia” 1562 Complete collapse of the 

Livonian Order. Master of the Livonian Order and the Bishop of Riga swear their allegiance to the King of Poland, Sigismund II Augustus, giving preference to the Polish 

crown, instead of Ivan the Terrible 1561–1581 Riga is a free city, no longer under the guardianship of the Order or Bishop 1583 Russian-Swedish peace treaty concludes 

the Livonian War 1585 The first catechism in Latvian is published as a response of Counter-Reformation and the Catholic church to Lutheranism. The persecution of 

Lutherans begins. 1583 In Riga a Jesuit Council is founded, that had a ruling role in the Counter-Reformation movement 1588 Antwerp inhabitant, Nicholas Mollines founds 

the first typography in Riga 1600–1629 Polish-Swedish War – a battle for control of the trading route in the Baltic Sea 1611 Sweden occupies Riga, led by King Gustav II 

Adolf 1621 A strong city fortification system is established – rampart height 9–11m, 5 bastions are raised, a citadel enclosed by ramparts and bastions. The fortification 

system is in operation until 1857. The old city wall that is gradually covered with houses, serves as the second line of defence (a section of wall can be seen today in John’s 

Courtyard). One of the main fortification towers, Powder Tower, or Sand Tower as it was known until the XVI century, has remained until today. During this period Riga’s 

municipal authority decides to cobble all the streets the same – all farmers entering the city had to bring with them at least two granite stones 1622 The first water-pipe is 

installed in Riga, the water being taken from the Daugava with the aid of a pump 1625 179 books are printed: 126 – in Latin, 48 – in German, 3 – in Latvian, 1 – in Swedish, 

1 – in Finnish 1628 The King of Sweden, Gustav Adolf proclaims Riga the second capital city of Sweden 1638 German minister, Georgius Mancelius, compiles a German- 

Latvian dictionary, which is the first written Latvian lexicon collection 1680 By order of Swedish King Karl XI the first periodical is published – the socio-political newspaper 

in German, ‘Rigische Novellen’ 1685–1689 – Ernst Glück translates the entire Bible into Latvian 1690 Following a fire in St. Peter’s Church, Rupert Bindenschu creates a 

unique wooden steeple construction in Baroque style, as well as the church’s western façade with Baroque portals. The church retains this appearance until 1941. Today the 

church’s appearance reflects that of the XVII century 1696 The house of timber merchant E. Dannenstern, on Mārstaļu Street 21, is built in Swedish baroque style. Travelling 

comedians perform their numbers in this house 1700–1721 Great Northern War. Russia’s Tsar Peter I forms a coalition with Denmark and Saxony for joint battle for outlet in 

the Baltic Sea, the main opponent – Sweden 1709–1710 Under the leadership of Count Boris Sheremetjev Riga is enclosed by Russian military forces. 94% of inhabitants 

of Riga’s surroundings die in the plague epidemic, the plague spreads to the Russian army and the inhabitants of Riga. 1710 Capitulation of Riga. Riga comes under the 

subordination of Russia 1721 The Treaty of Nystad formally enforces the new borders of Russia. In order to win the sympathies of the Baltic German nobility, Peter I renews 

its former privileges, 10 the Baltic provinces acquire special political and economic status in the structure of the Russian Empire. Various goods manufactured in Russia are 

Russia’s most significant trading port in the Baltics 1721 By order of Peter I, the Garden of Viesturs is created in Riga, where approximately 30 450 trees are planted 1738 A 

teachers’ seminar is founded in Valmiera, where Herrnhut preachers are prepared, who taught Latvians to read and write, and who had nothing in common with Catholic 

priests. The Herrnhut Movement began in Saxony and to a certain extent followed the Puritan Movement in England in the 16th century 1743 German nobility manages to 

prohibit the Herrnhut Brotherhood Movement, which is forced to work illegally 1765 In the name of Empress Catherine II, Governor General Browne in the provincial assembly 

expresses proposals for improving the situation of farmers 1774 The first collection of secular poems in Latvian is issued – G. F. Stender’s “New Popular Songs” 1774 

Stenders popularises scientific ideas and achievements in the “Book of High Wisdom” 1782 The first public theatre is opened in Riga 1789 The first secular prose in Latvian 

comes into circulation – Stender’s “Stories and Tales” 1789 The first Russian educational establishment in Riga is opened – Catherine’s School 1796 The first descriptive 

work about Latvians is published by Garlieb Merkel, the book “Latvians”, in German. 1800 Riga’s beach (now Jurmala) becomes a popular recreational place with Rigans. 

From the 1820s Jurmala and Riga are linked by regular coach traffic 1795–1801 G. F. Parrot carries out research in the electrochemistry field in Riga, collaborating with 

chemist and pharmacist D. Grindel, who in 1803 founds Riga’s Society of Chemists and Pharmacists. This is the first society of chemists in the Russian Empire 1803–1810 

Grindel issues the first journal of chemistry and pharmacy 1806 “Songs of Blind Henry” is published. Blind Henry is the first Latvian to have a collection of poems published 

1807–1809 The first collection of Latvian traditional songs is published 1812 Napoleon’s army occupies the province of Courland, but does not capture Riga. Threatened by 

the army, the suburbs of Riga are burned, creating preconditions for the current layout of streets and buildings 1819 Abolition of serfdom in Livonia 1822 The Association of 

Riga’s Physicians is founded 1822 The first newspaper in Latvian, “Latvians’ Newspapers”, is printed in Jelgava 1822–1832 Following the abolition of serfdom, Latvian 

farmers are given surnames 1824 The Latvian Friends’ Society is founded – a Latvian literary society, created to promote the development of the Latvian language and 

culture 1820s The first steam engines appear in Riga’s factories. The transition from manufactory production to industrial production takes place, overall using machinery 

1830–1834 Two examples of late-Classicism style are built – the Arsenal and War Hospital. Classicism also emerges in paintings, and as a result woodcarving and 

monumental decorative paintings are seen less and less. Artists increasingly focus on paintings of city scenes of Riga and genre paintings (K. Fehelm, J. C. Brotze, K. G. 

Grass), at the end of the century the graphic genre develops (J. C. Brotze). Decorative metalwork becomes popular 1837–1839 German composer R. Wagner works in Riga’s 

German Theatre and organises musical evenings in the House of the Blackheads, where apart from W. Mozart, S. Bach, L. Beethoven, G. Rossini, R. Wagner’s first 

compositions are heard – overtures “Rule, Britannia!” and “Columbus” 1833 The first secular choir song for four voices in Latvian is published in the newspaper “Latvians’ 

Friend”. Choral singing is promoted by the church and school 1834 The Society of History and Antiquity is founded 1835 A law on factories determines the rights of workers 

and the length of the working day (14–16 hours) 1838 The first industry and craft exhibition is opened in Riga 1841 Kuznecov’s faience factory is founded, where a porcelain 

production unit is created after 10 years 1850 The independent diocese of Riga’s Russian Orthodox Church is founded 1857 Riga’s Technical Society is founded 1857 A 

Latvian bookshop is opened (W. F. Gecker’s typography)1850–1880 The national awakening of the Latvian nation 1852 The first telegraph line is established and omnibus 

traffic is opened 1862 The first Latvian higher education institution is opened – Riga’s Polytechnic 1862 The first Sports’ Organisation – Riga’s Gymnastics Society is founded 

1868 The founding of Riga’s Latvian Society 1869 The first original Latvian play is created – Adolf Alunāns’ “Self Raised” 1869 City Art Gallery opened in Riga (today the 

National Art Museum) 1870 Riga’s Latvian Theatre is founded 1873 The I Latvian Nationwide Song Celebration 1879 The first Art School is opened 1883 Riga’s Russian 

Drama Theatre is opened 1885–1889 Following the general Russian example a police and court system is organised. Control of social life transfers from the Baltic Germans 

into the hands of Russian civil servants 1891–1913 Latvian music is popularised with “Autumn concerts” 1894 For the first time in Latvian literature the issue of women’s 

rights is touched upon in Aspazija’s play “Lost Rights” 1896 First cinema séance in Riga 1898 Jugendstil enters Riga’s architecture 2nd half of the 19th century Riga 

becomes one of the most significant cities in Russia, industry and trade flourish. 1900–1903 The world’s economic crisis overtakes Latvia 1902 The most performed play 

in Latvia is created – Rudolf Blaumanis’ “Tailor Days in Silmači”1905 Rainis writes the most significant example of symbolism in Latvian literature – the play “Fire and Night” 

1905 The city of Riga’s electric power plant begins work 1907 Russian-Baltic Wagon factory begins to produce its first automobiles 1907 F. A. Canders begins his research 

in the field of interplanetary flights and rocket theoretical calculations in Riga. 1909–1913 Rapid economic development in the territory of Latvia, connected with the rise of 

Russia’s industry 1910 Riga’s symphonic orchestra commences work 1910 An exhibition by futuristic artist group “Union of Youth” is organised in Riga and the first avantgarde 

manifest in Latvian is written 1911 The first permanent ballet troupe in Riga starts work 1912 Riga Zoo is founded 1915 Evacuation of industrial companies in 

connection with the approach of the 1st World War front-line 1918.18.11 In Riga, Latvia is proclaimed an independent state 1919 The Academy of Art, Conservatory, Latvian 

National Theatre and National Opera, Central Library and the University of Latvia are unveiled in Riga 1919.11.11. The Bermondt army suffers defeat near Riga 1920–1921 

Signing of the Peace Treaty between Latvia and Soviet Russia. Western countries recognise Latvia de jure 1920 Daile Theatre, Reiters’ Choir, Museum of Foreign Art and the 

Latvian Culture Foundation are founded 1921 The Herder and French Institutes are founded in Riga 1921 Latvia joins the League of Nations 1925 Latvian Radio goes on air 

1931 In New York, work is completed on the 102 storey high skyscraper Empire State Building 1935 The Monument of Freedom, built with donations from the people, is 

unveiled in Riga 1937 A large number of ethnic Germans leave Latvia 1937 The world’s first miniature camera, the VEF Minox, invented by inhabitant of Riga Walter Zapp, 

begins to be manufactured in Riga 1940 The Red Army occupies Riga. Development of the Soviet system 1941 The first mass deportation to Siberia 1941 The German Army 

occupies Riga. Mass elimination of Riga’s Hebrew population 1944 Soviet forces occupy Riga. Renewal of the Soviet system 1946 Foundation of Latvian SSR Academy of 

Science (today Latvian Academy of Science) 1947 Trolleybuses begin to operate in Riga 1949 Second mass deportation from Latvia 1954 Latvian Television goes on air 1961 

First ‘Art Days’ in Riga 1963 Riga’s Film Studio is built 1964 Orthodox Cathedral goes under state subordination, the Science house and planetarium are unveiled in the former 

church building 1965 Riga’s passenger harbour is opened 1974 Airport “Riga” goes into operation 1988 The first international cinema forum “Arsenal” takes place 1988 The 

start of the third awakening for the renewal of Latvian independence 1989 On the 50th anniversary of the signing of the Molotov-Ribbentrop pact, supporters of Latvian, 

Lithuanian and Estonian independence join hands to create a human chain, “Baltic Way” from Vilnius, through Riga to Tallinn 1990 Approval of the declaration “For the renewal 

of Latvia’s independence” 1991 Latvia is proclaimed a free democratic state, adopted into the UN 1994 The removal of Russian military forces from Latvia 1998–2001 The 

800th anniversary of Riga 1998 The historic centre of Riga is included in the UNESCO List of World Heritage Sites 2004 Latvia becomes a Member State of the 11EU and NATO.

iga’s proposal for the project 

of the european capital of culture 2014 

Every city has many faces. Possibly, we know just a few of 

them. City guests and inhabitants often see completely different 

towns. Riga – a cultural metropolis, a European suburb, a 

point between Russia and the West, a harbour town, a bilingual 

society, a city with rich cultural traditions, song celebration, 

Jugendstil, old wooden structures, innovations, new medias, 

opera. Culture is undoubtedly a significant component of this 

city that cannot go by unnoticed even during a short visit, in 

the haste of today when there is no time to observe and obtain 

in-depth knowledge. 

For many of Riga’s guests, the first encounter with the city takes place 

at the airport. RIX – the airport’s denomination marking Riga on the 

global map. Kult[rix] – that is how we will recognise Riga as the 2014 

European Capital of Culture (ECC), a city inseparable from culture. 

Kult[rix] is more than a hybrid of words, it is the key to the Riga’s cultural 

space code, encompassing both tradition and innovation, joining the 

common with the elitist, immersing the local into the global and holding 

an endless amount of the undiscovered and unknown. One of the 

challenges faced by the ECC is to reveal what Kult[rix] is to both Riga’s 

inhabitants and guests. 

Often known in Latvia as the patriarch of multi-media, Hardijs Lediņš 

– architect, musician, man of letters, artist and performance master 

– said several years ago that ‘... every geographic point is capable 

of generating anything. Absolutely anything that can be generated. 

Therefore, practically any point presents the opportunity of generating 

an entire scale of values’. 

[x] is the unknown point on the map of a city, country or Europe that 

creates and accumulates creative energy and expresses itself in 

the most unexpected ways. It doesn’t matter if the creative potential 

is concentrated in an environment with a well-developed cultural 

infrastructure or in a city suburb that can’t pride itself with cultural 

traditions and ordered surroundings. Transgressing and expanding the 

usual territorial and geographical boundaries, initiating and stimulating 

the development of cultural processes onto an unfamiliar territory, we 

liberate a new charge of creativity and can achieve surprising results. 

When looking for the [x] point, imagine the view from an aeroplane 

heading towards Riga, or a Google Earth image on a computer screen. 

We can try and zoom in, looking for a familiar place or noticing something 

out of the ordinary. The digital age offers an unaccustomed closeness, 

allowing the image to be transformed into pixels. The Kult[rix] scheme 

would work in a similar way, first focusing on the region and the city, 

then zooming in to the cultural institutions and events that take place 

there, and finally – the people. 

Cultural activities migrate to the suburbs and through gentrification 

transform degenerated territories into cultural polygons and 

laboratories. Short-term cultural activities and artists’ interventions in 

former harbour territories, monotonous residential areas or languishing 

suburbs continue the development of new and existing infrastructures, 

as well as improve the quality of life. 

[x] is cultural territory, where, through the interaction of various cultural 

aspects, a symbiosis of new cultural forms is created, widening the usual 

borders of cultural perception and providing new experience. The texture 

of culture is interwoven by various forms of life – cuisine, conversations, 

gardens, psycho-geographic walks. The various expressions of culture 

are interconnected. As the global interacts with the local, the national 

culture is influenced by the global and European cultural processes, 

and they, in turn, are fed by the specific features of the local. 

Along with the aspect of global and local interaction, we can develop 

a theory about the spirit of the age or zeitgeist, and atmosphere of a 

place – they both are mutually connected values. Their interaction could 

be compared to panoramic potentiometer activity. Turning it one way 

the proportion of zeitgeist increases and the presence of atmosphere 

diminishes, but turning it the other way, the opposite occurs. However, 

the total exclusion of one factor is impossible. The system zeitgeist – 

atmosphere of a place’ has an inseparable polarity, where one pole is 

in a contradictory position in respect to the other’. 

As a text is formed by words and spaces between them, the language 

of culture is formed by events, buildings, achievements, as well as 

expressions of culture integrated in our everyday lives, and which we 

perceive as self-evident. They are like a fungus mycelium, of which 

we notice only the mushrooms, leaving the net of branched roots 

unnoticed. The activities of the ECC could activate the diversity of 

cultural forms and the development of their entire spectre. 

12 13

challenges presented in the application for riga 

as european capital of culture 2014 

Real value is hidden in the 

space between words. Text 

is just a form of information, 

which is finished and 

therefore restricted. The 

value of culture is not form, 

but the freedom of creative 

spirit, which dwells in the 

infinite space between 

objects and concepcions. 

• Develop a new understanding of culture, perceiving it as 

broader than the development of the specific cultural sector, 

expanding borders and demonstrating the effectiveness of the 

presence of culture and creativity in all fields as an ability to create 

added value and develop a positive influence on people, the 

economy, various aspects of development of the city and society, 

the human race as a whole; 

• Expand the borders of accessibility of culture and initiate the 

creation of a new form of civil communication, in order to reach 

new audiences, involve existing ones and ensure their participation 

in cultural processes, activating a new quality of communication 

culture within interest groups. 

• Create common discussion in interest groups, for the surmounting 

of sector, territorial, social and competence barriers and 

common resolution of tasks. Development of a common responsibility 

and action platform on a local, regional and cross-border 

cooperation level, within the framework of existing organisations 

(business associations, research and manufacturing business 

clusters), as well as develop the creation of a new intersectional 

cooperation network. 

Justification of challenges 

For twenty years Latvia’s history has been characterised by – 

nationalism – segregation – Europisation – migration – ascent – 

crisis – joint creation of responsibility. These processes can be 

considered summary development lines, resulting from privatisation, 

liberalisation and structural reforms over recent years in this 

region. They are processes that concern society as a whole and 

influence every person’s life. They are visible and tangible processes 

that have long-term consequences for society and which 

create the base from which the city will develop. 

Creative ideas, creative approaches, creative solutions, imagination 

and ideas are becoming the main economic driving forces 

in the world. Creativity has always been an instrument of cultural 

processes, thanks to which development, cooperation, acquisition 

of traditions are possible, but the city has developed as a 

space where creativity can take place. Creativity is what develops 

links between people, promotes the development of a dynamic 

society and competition. Latvia’s long-term development strategy 

for 2030 indicates that creativity is a resource that Latvia, including 

Riga, as the most significant source of human capital and 

partnership, mustn’t deplete, but look for new ways in which to 

make use of. 

The fuel of creative economy is creative substance or idea resource, 

which is generated by talent and an open society. The joint 

creation of responsibility is the quintessence of the creative process. 

Three things are necessary for joint creation: cooperation 

between people and organisations – desire to cooperate, practical 

action; cooperation institutionalisation – common standards, 

knowledge, values, support – and social capital – common trust, 

contacts. 

The joint creation of responsibility is Latvia’s and Riga’s challenge 

for the next few years and can be achieved by developing the 

potential for creativity, imagination and cooperation. Creativity is 

the resource of the future, without which the joint creation of responsibility 

is impossible. 

14 15

goals proposed 

in riga’s 

application 

• Promote creativity and an innovative approach, highlighting 

these as key catalysts in cultural development and the improvement 

of cultural processes, because culture as an instrument for the cultivation 

of creative skills and improvement of the individual is the main 

precondition for the birth of new ideas and improvement of the quality 

of life and culture as an event and process of society. 

• Show the diversity of European culture and encourage intercultural 

dialogue, promoting the development of a quality, new communication 

level between people in the Latvian and other European 

country cultural sector, societies in the civil sense, different generations, 

social groups and interest groups; 

• Promote dialogue and understanding between cultures and nations, 

promoting diversity of civil opinion and multiculturalism, 

thus enriching the European cultural space; 

• Accentuate the need to deepen the concept of development 

in the city administration context, supplementing it with a cultural 

dimension and underlining the fact that cultural development and 

creative activity are significant factors that influence the quality of 

life, welfare and sustainability of cities; 

• Highlight and present the interconnections between the cultural, 

educational and economic sectors, acknowledging that the 

synergy of these fields develops an economy based on knowledge, 

highlighting the importance of the creative industry in the 

economy; 

• Implement Riga’s cultural development vision and popularise it 

in Europe, thus promoting the city’s intention to visibly demonstrate 

that an understanding of culture promotes human rights, sustainability, 

democratic participation and creates conditions for peace; 

• Fulfil Riga’s ambitions with a rapid and determined development 

of the cultural sector, bringing to life new cultural infrastructure 

facilities in Riga’s urban landscape and developing the existing cultural 

infrastructure. 

• Promote the principal of participation as the basis of cultural 

development, which would interweave and link civil responsibility, 

identity, creation, intercultural dialogue and festive atmosphere; 

• Underline the importance of local cultural development, because 

it furthers the democratic participation of society, multiplies social 

capital and balances current globalisation tendencies, highlighting 

the importance of culture in a local context and promoting the rights of 

all city inhabitants to culture and knowledge, discriminating no-one. 

16 17

tensity 

sky 

current 

future 

austras koks 

blue mushroom 

amber road 

spiritual 

life 

sequel 

process 

resin 

white 

red 

black 

ocean war spirit idea 

kult[rix] 

Kult[rix] designates the cultural space, cultural territory of 

Riga that embraces both traditions and innovations, combines 

forms of daily life with the elitist and the professional, merges the 

local into the global and hides many yet undiscovered things. The 

notion Kult[rix] in Riga’s project denotes a new understanding of 

culture marked by three basic principles or keys: 

• Creative abilities; 

• Expansion of borders (broadening of the understanding of 

the notion of culture through close interaction with other fields); 

• New forms of interaction. 

In implementing the project of the European Capital of Culture, 

Riga intends to call into being the new, broadened through Kult[rix] 

understanding of the notion of culture already before 2014 and 

ensure the further development of this ‘platform’ after 2014, establishing 

it as a well-known hallmark of processes and events that 

change the way of thinking, based on perception of culture as a 

creator of added value, creative industries and all other fields and 

the driving force of sustainable development of the city. Kult[rix] 

is a scheme of thinking, a set of tools contained in each event 

in the programme of the year of the European Capital of Culture. 

earth 

sea 

past 

physical 

cause 

Adventures of Austraskoks* in the world of force majeure (*a symbol of dawn in Latvian pagan tradition) | Egils Mednis 

19

Creativity is the ability to 

paint a painting, creativity 

is the ability to see a 

painting and wallpaper, 

and understand that 

the painting’s motif can 

be transformed into 

wallpaper and propose it 

in a creative manner 

I think that life itself is a kind 

of creative project because 

at every instant we come in 

touch with new situations. 

Each moment is unique, you 

have to resolve it and you 

need new ways of thinking. 

Creativity is 

freedom and 

self-assurance. 

Mutual respect. 

Respect towards 

cultural heritage, 

environmental 

values. Cultural 

education of a 

new generation. 

Tolerance, 

understanding, 

culture of 

mutual relations. 

Knowledge of 

the creators 

and pioneers of 

Latvian culture, 

environment, 

heritage. The 

acquisition of 

creative skills 

and abilities from 

an early age 

Using a creative 

approach, we need 

to promote new ways 

of communication 

that broaden existing 

borders in people’s 

consciousnesses, the 

so-called Riga culture 

extends beyond the city 

borders – not just on 

a Latvian, Baltic Sea 

region or European 

level, but also on 

a global level 

Creative industries – in Latvia so little known, in 

the EU considered strategically important fields of 

economic activity. At the same time they mark border 

transgression and the creation of aspects of new 

communication points – business and culture, various 

cultural fields, international cooperation, etc. 

Everyone has some 

kind of creative 

energy, ideas. It does 

not matter whether he 

is or is not an artist. 

What matters is that 

he does not focuses 

it solely on the choice 

of goods, on daily 

preoccupations and 

material things, but 

either creates a work 

of art or expresses 

himself in the creation 

Creativity: anyone can be creative. Children 

are creative, janitors and trolley-bus drivers 

are creative. Unfortunately it is not called the 

right name. The intellectuals have privatised 

creativity as inherent in their circles only. 

of something new, 

even if only on the 

level of amateur art. 

There are very many 

different opportunities 

to be creative, the 

main thing is that 

it should not be 

concentrated only and 

exclusively on some 

sort of consumer 

culture. 

creativity 

The creativity of every Riga inhabitant is a value that can be made 

use of and which needs to be stimulated, ensuring the possibility 

for all to take part in cultural processes. Riga is a cultural territory 

that is open to new ideas, orientated towards a wide participation 

of society and the stimulation of new work, with an aim to promote 

a greater cultural diversity and dialogue. 

• With the expansion of the concept of creativity, applying it 

to any sphere of life, not just traditional fields of culture, developing 

a symbiosis of various sectors, thus creating new ideas, new 

communication forms and actions. A new perception of culture 

and the broadening of the concept of creation will stimulate the 

creative economy, promote the transposition of art and creativity 

also onto economic and business benefits and stimulate public 

and private partnership. 

• Creativity is the most important driving force for Riga’s development, 

thanks to which solutions are possible both from the aspect 

of new communication forms and from the border expansion 

aspect. A change in the perception of creativity would mean a 

creative approach in any profession or walk of life, which, if taken 

advantage of, can achieve sustainable development for the city. 

• Creativity anticipates the promotion of dialogue and creation 

of joint responsibility for the city as a common living space, 

about environmental quality in the broadest sense of the word. 

Creativity is what promotes the participation of various groups 

and individuals in the city, which makes the creation look for forms 

of expression. 

• With a growth in the well-being of society and the quality of 

city life, it is increasingly important for inhabitants to be involved 

in some kind of creative activity. Personal growth is becoming 

increasingly significant, therefore, taking into account Riga’s development 

scenario, where the accent is placed on the person, 

the possible uses of this potential have to be anticipated. 

• The merging of the cultural and creative sectors has stimulated 

growth in recent years in Europe and created a need to develop 

creative industries and promote broader interdisciplinary 

cooperation forms – greater social, humanitarian, scientific and 

art cooperation. This is possible by changing the understanding 

of the concept of creativity. Creative industries are one of Riga’s 

most significant resources, which will have a major impact in the 

context of long-term development. 

• One of the main instruments of creativity, for achieving a 

change in the perception of culture and idea of border expansion, 

is the use of positive provocation in relation to the everyday level 

of consciousness of culture and society, and the desire for experimentation, 

supplementing the traditional process of the perception 

of culture with provocative methods, creating new processes 

with an experimental approach. 

• Creativity as the main driving force of cultural development 

can be employed in the use of technologies and for a change in 

the perception of the fact that technologies are an element of culture, 

an instrument of creativity, a tool for people’s creativity. The 

rapid development of technologies can be used as an instrument 

that permits the synthesis of various sectors, developing cooperation 

between individuals and various societies. Technologies and 

a creative use of them present the opportunity for cooperation 

in an inter-regional and global context, which, over the coming 

years, will be a significant factor of cultural development of any 

city. In a situation where technologies are rapidly developing and 

people ‘can’t keep up’, it is precisely creativity that becomes the 

most significant resource of competitiveness. 

* Focus group comments 

20 21

Latvians are in themselves 

a kind of border. A border 

beyond which the unfamiliar 

or unknown begins. 

Important is the need for adequate infrastructure, 

cohesion of the social sphere and the city, creative 

economy in the shape of support for different projects. 

In 6 years Riga will look different. Which of all of the 

above-mentioned aspects will be topical still? We 

must focus on those who will remain topical. 

Depressed 

areas really are 

very important. 

It would be 

important to 

think about this 

target audience, 

it shouldn’t be 

those who do 

attend events 

to a greater or 

lesser extent, but, 

if it is the city, 

then it should 

” 

encompass the 

entire city. 

Culture is an 

interdisciplinary 

phenomenon, 

which feeds off the 

It is important 

to encourage 

the miniature 

creativity in 

each district, 

in each place 

of the city, to 

search for it, 

to find it and 

to support it. 

It is 

important 

not just 

to build a 

house that 

creates the 

atmosphere 

of culture, 

but to do 

very many 

other things 

around it 

as well, 

symbiosis of various 

sectors. It is not 

a frozen dogma. 

Changeability and the 

ability to react with 

precision to what 

is happening is one 

of its qualities. The 

cultural environment 

of every city is 

different, similarly 

to food, which is 

made up of different 

ingredients. Culture 

can have several 

axes in a city, several 

centres of gravity. 

Migration of the centre 

=suburb in the centre, 

centre in the suburb. 

The everyday as art 

=art as the everyday. 

to put the 

transport 

and all the 

other things 

in order. 

border expansion 

The idea of border expansion encompasses the expansion of the 

borders of both space and time, with the aim of making full use 

of the potential offered by human resources and infrastructure. 

In Latvia’s case, Riga has amassed both cultural and spiritual 

potential. The mobility of this creative potencial, and its promotion 

is envisaged in the “Mobile Centre” idea involving partners from 

the Riga region, other parts of Latvia and Europe. 

notion of spatial border expansion 

• The idea of spatial border expansion focuses on the 

currently dominant cultural forms being transferred to a different 

geographical space – outskirts, residential areas, out of the city 

centre, stressing the idea of culture as a changeable centre of 

events. Currently, culture concentrates in the centre, while the 

suburbs continue their life on the periphery. Through border 

expansion suburban cultural space is created anew, turning 

depressed city regions into locations for creative and cultural 

events. 

• The spatial aspect of border expansion also includes the 

expansion of borders with the construction of new, significant 

cultural infrastructure facilities (the new Latvian National Library 

will connect Latvia’s regions into a common information network 

and will develop intellectual and information cooperation networks 

with other country databases; the new Contemporary Art Museum 

will include Riga into the network of contemporary art processes, 

marking it as a new location for cultural dialogue on the map of 

contemporary world of culture). 

• Conscious of Riga’s dominance in Latvia’s spatial structures 

and the growing intercity migration in Latvia, the border 

expansion concept also includes aspects of regional cooperation, 

development of cultural cooperation forms among towns and 

regions, thus decentralising cultural events and making use of 

infrastructure, encompassing as wide a cultural field as possible 

and developing new forms of cooperation. The “Mobile Centre” 

idea, which is included in this concept, envisages the participation 

of Riga as the ECC in any location in Latvia, where it is possible 

to create and make use of existing infrastructure, promote the 

creation of new work and new forms of cooperation. 

• The spatial aspect of border expansion includes 

interdisciplinary approach to changing the understanding of the 

concept of culture, developing an open infrastructure, necessary 

for creative expression in various spheres of life, previously 

considered as not belonging to culture, and promoting the 

development of creative industries in Riga and Latvia. 

• The idea of border expansion sees Riga as a geographical 

and cultural transit city, attracting creative people from other 

places of the world, who would contribute to the development 

of a creative environment in Riga. Culture becomes not just a 

resource for participation, but also a significant instrument for the 

development of political, economic and diplomatic ties thanks to 

Riga’s geographic location and historic cultural ties – a bridge 

between East and West. 

border expansion time aspect 

• The concept of border expansion from the time aspect 

includes predicting – what will be in six, ten years, who will be the 

potential users of culture and participants of the creative process 

in 2014 and in the long-term, focusing attention on work with 

potential target audiences already today. 

• Border expansion from the time aspect includes work with a 

generation that is open to other, untraditional forms of the use of 

culture, leading us to research and predict, what forms of culture 

the younger generations are using now, in their formative years, 

and what could be their development in the future. 

• Border expansion from the time aspect includes prediction 

in the context of demographic changes and economic globalisation. 

• Border expansion in a dimension of time confinement – 

accessibility of culture at different times of the day and night, 

which opens up a new dimension of perception and cultural 

experience. 


22 23

The theory 

exists that at 

the base of 

communication 

between any 

two people is: 

you for me – me 

for you. There 

is no such thing 

as disinterested 

communication. 

That would be 

the highest 

level of 

creativity, 

if we were all 

able to talk 

about clear 

things in clear 

language. 

” 

The newest modern 

technologies help 

interest groups 

incorporate into a 

common cultural 

process and promote 

the accessibility of 

the field of culture 

to each and every, 

which relates to the 

expansion of borders. 

We live in a time that could be described as waking up from the globalisation. 

Liberalism that stimulated it is going out of fashion. Different crises - rise of fuel 

prices, the growing food prices, climatic threats, the looming regional conflicts 

– are waking us up from the dream (nightmare) of globalisation and we feel that 

everything must change: economy must become environment-friendly, industrial 

production – science-consuming, food – healthy, lifestyle – sustainable, politics 

responsible and the society – cohesive. The globalised markets will have to 

contract and regain a part of their rooted-ness and local-ness. 

We are a fairly diverse society. The new solution, 

creativity, is in the search for common points of contact. 

Creativity isn’t in ethnic difference, but in the coming 

together and creation of a new world. 

Development is born in the depth of the individual, but 

it also springs from the collective spirit. If one of these is 

missing, development leaves much to be desired. 

forms of interaction 

• In recent years the consumption of culture in Riga has increased. 

Research indicates that the majority of Riga’s inhabitants are satisfied 

with the level of possibilities available to them to attend cultural 

events, but the tendency towards a transitional society that resulted 

in alienation, disassociation, loss of social ties, has completely excluded 

cultural instruments such as new cooperation forms. 

• Creativity through the idea of border expansion will promote 

wide cooperation between individuals, city areas, suburbs, generations, 

towns, regions, countries. Riga, with its human capital and 

infrastructure, will promote the creation of this form of cooperation. 

Cultural events are a self-evident part of Riga’s programme 

for the ECC project, however, the main goal is to trigger a process 

in which the consumers of culture would also be willing also to 

take an active part. Thus, the main task is to create new forms of 

interaction to help involve new audiences. 

• Making use of the potential of creativity, imagination and cooperation, 

it is possible to create networks around Riga, including 

individuals, institutions, businesses, towns and countries in 

search for forms of cooperation, creating the possibility of new 

cooperation forms through new infrastructure facilities or breathing 

life into existing ones. 

• It is important to achieve a change of focus from the consumption 

of culture to participation, from a passive consumerism 

to a change in attitude towards any kind of creativity. This includes 

a re-evaluation of values in society, which means a search for new 

forms of interaction. 

• The desire for expression is typical to creativity, as well as the 

need for appropriate forms of expression. It provides further impulse 

to seek interaction with partners sharing similar interests, in order to 

find an audience for one’s skills and their evaluation. Support for 

new forms of cooperation plays a cruical role in stimulating creative 

skills within each and every inhabitant of Riga, making creativity the 

most significant force driving Riga as the ECC. 

• Developing forms of culture based within the audience, on 

mutual communication and political intention rather than on 

material, spatial or artistic media typology, creates a platform for 

participation. The epicentre of the meaning of a work of art or 

cultural process as such shifts from the object to a new type of 

experience that it provokes. The dialogue between the audience 

and the artist acquires the status of a work of art, participation 

becomes the deciding factor in the creation of culture. Similarly 

to Umberto Eco’s definition of the principle of an open work of 

art, which states that a work of art is only finished when it comes 

into contact with the audience, the involvement of society in the 

cultural process reveals a new cultural dimension. 

• Successful interaction is a vital component for the positive 

development of a multicultural and civil society. Culture, in this 

situation, is a tried and tested device in promoting dialogue between 

cultures and civil society. 

• Ethnocentricity creates a symbolically restricted space. Due 

to Riga’s ethnic specifications, the possibility of dialogue between 

various ethnic groups exists through border expansion and creativity 

as a value, thus promoting an exchange of ideas, developing 

society’s receptiveness towards different cultural experiences. 

• Research shows that it is possible to develop a culture of philanthropy 

in Latvia, which would help overcome the tendency towards 

mutual isolation between various sections of society and provide the 

opportunity for the majority of inhabitants to fulfil their human capital. 

• To prosper, a city needs ideas and the will of individuals, synthesis 

of thoughts and cooperation. New products and services 

are created not only through individual efforts but also as a result 

of cooperation. It is necessary to provide opportunities for enterprising, 

creative people to try something new together. 

• The contemporary public space, which serves as a platform 

for interaction, is often identified more as a psychological rather 

than a physical construction of space. The public space is also 

defined as a politicised social product, which cannot be separated 

from conflicting social relations that are created by specific 

societies at specific moments in history. 


24 25

• Latvia has strong informal social networks (family, friends, 

acquaintances). Taking into account the high level of trust in these 

networks, they can be used as a significant resource for the promotion 

of forms of creative participation, and the public bringing 

to life of these forms in a new format that is beneficial for development 

of the city and society. 

• Global economic tendencies create a need to promote global 

cooperation and Riga, as the most significant Baltic transit point, 

can serve as an excellent bridge of global cooperation between 

similarly orientated creative groups and individuals elsewhere in 

Europe and the world. 

• With the implementation of the “Mobile Centre” principle, Riga, 

as European Capital of Culture 2014, becomes a kind of a Greek 

agora, where the most diverse scale of interaction of cultural ideas 

and exchange of thoughts takes place. The new cultural infrastructure 

facilities (the National Library and the Contemporary Art 

Museum), construction of which has already begun, will become 

a part of European and global information circulation processes, 

making Riga the location for new ideas, testimony of excellence, 

developing types of cooperation forms that would not be possible 

without these facilities. 

26 27

iga’s programme 2014 

Culture reacts to everything that is happening, especially to 

surprising and unexpected processes. For this reason we apply 

the legal term force majeure in the title of our programme 

to provoke unexpected art developments, to create and record 

new qualities of culture born in the interaction of different 

fields, to find unusual solutions to customary cultural activities, 

in a surprising manner to rediscover generally known 

facts about ourselves, our city and the environment that we 

live in and to help everyone to find unlimited inner possibilities 

for creative manifestation. 

The programme of events that Riga offers for the project of the 

European Capital of Culture 2014 is based on the ideological 

key principles of Kult[rix]. After several months of creative discussion 

with the participation of a diverse circle of experts 

from different fields, Riga’s programme for 2014 has acquired 

the title force majeure. 

28 29

The world in which we live is full of change, in constant movement 

and development. At times it seems as though it is dragging at 

a snail’s pace and nothing is happening, at others we find ourselves 

at the epicentre of a whirlwind, which catapults us at 

an inconceivable speed several steps or several lives ahead. 

Looking back at the messages left by history or taking a glimpse 

at personal experience memory registers, we have to admit that 

very often the most powerful impulse that projects us towards 

positive change is an invincible force or power, which unexpectedly 

transforms the usual course of events and puts the usual 

system of values to the test. 

This invincible force hits us without warning and influences both 

global processes and the progression of historic events, as well 

as the otherwise common and unnoticeable everyday events of 

every individual. We identify the epicentres of these invincible 

forces on the map of history as collisions created by humans or 

by nature – revolutions, ecological phenomena, economic convulsions. 

The urban philosopher Paul Virilio, commenting these 

manifestations of invincible force, concludes that without clashes, 

without the discharging of pressure, further progress is not 

possible and that the potential for collision is already encoded 

into the progress of mankind itself. 

For most people the term force majeure, which is usually found 

in the un-translated French version, probably conjures up associations 

with agreements drawn up by lawyers, where the impact 

of an invincible force annuls whatever was agreed upon before. 

Force majeure acts as an unconquerable power, which transforms 

the order of things and many things are no longer how 

they used to be. 

In the current situation, which marks the end of the era of total 

rationality and opens up the path to new opportunities and 

challenges, the term force majeure seems very appropriate for 

characterising the situation in culture. Unexpected, but at the 

same time predictable, accumulating and expanding over an 

extended period of time from various relationship, communication 

and social tension congestions, inflated by the problems 

faced by nature on our planet, from abandonment to consumer 

euphoria and from differing cultural messages, for which no 

common translation has yet been found. Force Majeure releases 

a gigantic flow of energy and, transforming it into creative potential, 

surprising and unexpected revelations are possible. 

Force Majeure is a catalyst and provoker of cultural events. As a 

candidate for the status of European Capital of Culture 2014, Riga 

– a city with a rich history of events, multi-cultural environment 

and wide range of cultural traditions, is ready for a new challenge. 

The challenge of being constantly in transformation. Upward 

transformation. To strengthen the belief that culture can become 

an invincible force that works as an instrument of salvation, a 

survival kit, a springboard for new and bold ideas, which helps 

transform the world and allows us to look at it from a different 

angle. Riga’s 2014 Force Majeure will strengthen the conviction 

that culture can change the lives of people and cities and improve 

them, that culture is the soundly credible and invincible force 

that has the ability to direct change into a positive channel, fear 

into challenge and hasardous joy, uncertainty – into trust in the 

creative spirit. 

Your Kult[rix] 

30 31

programme guidelines 

and structure 

12 34 56 

amber vein 

thirst for the ocean 

• human conversation, the projection of 

feelings onto the immensity of the universe 

and its existential mysteries 

• the relations between mortal, temporal, 

ephemeral man and the riddles of eternity 

• human relations with the essence of the 

world 

• the trajectory of human creation, the 

sense of the individual path 

• the spiritual vertical, human striving 

towards the sublime, the unknown, and the 

undiscovered 

freedom street 

• ‘explosions‘ of ideas stimulating receptivity 

and cultural dynamics 

• the relations between culture and force 

majeure 

• encounters of ideas and discussions, 

the battlefields of culture and the dream of 

a universal culture 

• the history of power, destruction and 

renewal 

survival kit 

• a return to basic truths and skills, to the 

fundamental human needs of the future 

• discovering the seemingly impossible in 

oneself 

• mastering new skills and know-how, 

gaining experience, experiencing new 

feelings 

• the urban dweller discovers fire again – 

the rural returns the town 

road map 

• private and public space in the urban 

environment 

• a brand new physical and mental circulatory 

system for the city, new and active 

centres in local neighbourhoods 

• the anthropological textures of local 

space, spaces in the town which have 

been forgotten or are unseen due to historic, 

social or political reasons 

• the marginal at the centre of attention 

• the accessablity of singular spaces 

in the cities, neighbourhood lore, local 

memory 

riga carnival 

• an invitation to dash into a giddy dance, 

the frenzy of games in a colourful carnival 

• traditions and festive rites from a fresh 

point of view 

• the diversity of cultures and cross-cultural 

dialogue 

• a carousel of joy – event after event 

• contemporary communication, new cooperation 

networks and the opportunities 

they offer 

• European cultural cooperation 

networks 

• new interdisciplinary cooperation 

• distinctive achievements with global 

significance in science and culture 

Events: 

Events: 

Events: 

Events: 

Events: 

Events: 

International conferences and exhibitions, 

multimedia events in urban environments, 

cinema, concerts. 

Exhibitions, art and music campaigns, 

theatrical tours, literary readings, open-air 

cinema, digital laboratories, creative trade 

fairs. 

Creative workshops, seminars, research 

projects, interactive events with an ecological 

bent, art in the public space, pleins 

airs, fairs, competitions, talent shows, performances, 

discursive events. 

Excursions, bicycle routes, open house 

days, interdisciplinary events, creative areas 

in the urban environment, circus performances, 

events, performances in atypical spaces, 

anthropological documentary films. 

Festivals, seasonal rites, concerts traditional 

and non-traditional, interactive 

games. 

Interdisciplinary expeditions, presentations 

of the distinctive, international photography 

campaigns. 

32 33

34 

thirst for the ocean

thirst 

for the ocean 

Yearning for the ocean is a yearning for eternity. Human speech, 

the projection of feelings onto the immensity of the universe. 

The existential mysteries are reflected in the human. The ocean 

of cognition is both perceived reality and the human to his or 

her self. These mysterious relations between temporal, ephemeral, 

mortal human beings and the mysteries of eternity – the 

history of the all – cannot be settled once and for all. These are 

possibly the most enduring – and at the same time the most 

dynamic – relations in human life. 

Approaching the ocean of consciousness, cognition and the unknown, 

the human is alone, without ancestors, children or home to 

back him or her up. The relations with the essence of the universe are 

the relations of the vertical to the horizon. Latvians live on the coast of 

the Baltic Sea, linked to the oceans only by the North Sea. Kārlis Skalbe, 

one of Latvia’s foremost lyric poets, in his philosophical fairy tale “How 

I Sought the Girl of the North” and in his first poems, writes dreamily 

of the sea despite having seen only Alauksta Lake at the time. Human 

yearnings, dreams, and longings for transformation and for the new 

are ambivalent. In their temperament, they bear resemblance to a craving 

to merge, to adapt and to dissolve in the primordial motherland. 

The ardour with which people strive for new horizons resembles the 

obsession to create. The spiritual dimension is as vital as the experience 

of the senses and the rhythms of consciousness and the subconscious. 

Thirst for the ocean embrace not only the promise of distant 

horizons (Dullais Dauka, the daft but heroic creation of the writer 

Sudrabu Edžus, strode toward the horizon to find out what was on 

the other side) but also a craving for unfathomable depths (the great 

Latvian poet Rainis: ‘Where did you find such stupendous words? – 

I stared out to sea for some time’). 

What does it matter if the Baltic Sea is composed of slightly salty water 

in which few species swim, needing to adapt to water that is neither 

truly sweet nor really salty? Is that where musings on Latvians being 

adaptable begin? Does the shallowness of the sea determine the 

depth of yearning for the ocean? For Skalbe, the lake was enough. 

Thirst for the ocean is part of the trajectory of coming into being. It is 

unique for each individual. Latvians, thirsty for sunlight, saw signs in the 

play of the sun upon the waters, taking that path in their folklore and in art. 

What is beyond the horizon? Where does the ocean end? Is your 

freedom – the freedom you search for but must make for yourself – to 

be found there? Does it reflect your standing by the sea, vertical against 

the horizon? Or is the ocean as infinite as your being? Strangely, 

no one competes with you in walking this road. No one opposes you. 

Everyone for himself – the archipelago of the Baltic Sea. 

36 37

the book, 1514-2014 

Massys, Quentin. Der Goldwäger und seine Frau. (1514) 

‘I stare at the textual field on my friend’s screen and I am unpersuaded. 

Indeed, this glimpse of the future–if it is the future– 

has me clinging all the more tightly to my books, the very idea 

of them. If I ever took them for granted, I do no longer. I now 

see each one as a portable enclosure, a place I can repair to to 

release the private, unsocialized, dreaming self. A book is solitude, 

privacy; it is a way of holding the self apart from the crush 

of the outer world. Hypertext – at least the spirit of hypertext, 

which I see as the spirit of the times – promises to deliver me 

from this, to free me from the ‘liberating domination‘ of the author. 

It promises to spring me from the univocal linearity which 

is precisely the constraint that fills me with a sense of possibility 

as I read my way across fixed acres of print.‘ 

Sven Birkerts, The Gutenberg Elegies 

The opening of the new Latvian National Library building is 

planned for 2013. It will be more than just a significant European 

cultural event in architecture – Riga will be the European book 

capital in 2014. After moving to its new premises, the Latvian 

National Library is going to organise a large-scale book exhibit 

“The Book 1514-20014“ (Grāmata 1514-2014), dedicated to 

humanity’s history in reading over the past 500 years. Many 

unique books will be brought to Riga. An international conference 

“The Content of the 21 st Century” is also planned. Sven 

Birkerts – the American writer and literary critic – has been invited 

to be the patron of the conference. He happens to be the son of 

the architect of the most significant building to be built in Riga in 

the years since the restoration of independence - the new National 

Library. The theme of the conference will be the history of reading. 

Among the participants expected are the Nobel Prize laureates 

in literature V .S. Naipaul and Imre Kertész; Harold Bloom, one of 

the world’s leading literature critics; the linguist Noam Chomsky; 

the philosopher Alexander Piatigorsky; the writers Umberto Eco, 

Tatyana Tolstaya, Václav Havel, and Jānis Krēsliņš; the founders 

of Google, Larry Page and Sergey Brin, and other luminaries. 

The conference will take place at the same time as the opening of 

the exhibit “The Book” 1514-2014 

1514 is unique in the history of the European book. It is the age 

when the printed book has already stepped out of its cradle 

(incunabula in Latin). The next era has begun with its brightest 

signs – the high Renaissance and the Reformation. The book 

loses the features of a manuscript and new traditions in printing 

and publishing emerge – it is the time of the appearance of title 

pages, illustrations (engravings), printed works in local languages, 

printed music scores, etc. 1514 is the very special year that marks 

the border between the passing and the coming ages. 

Hartmann Schedel – the author of the “World Chronicle” (1493) – 

dies in 1514. Notably, it is in this year that the Abbot of Trittenheim 

Johannes Heidenberg publishes his inventory of books printed 

since Gutenberg’s invention came about, abate Tritemio 

scrive la Cronaca Irsaugense che reca importanti precisazioni 

sull’invenzione di Gutenberg. This year brings forth several outstanding 

works by his contemporaries. At least six (!) books by 

Erasmus of Rotterdam are published (Parabolarum and others). 

It is very likely that the manuscript of Till Eulenspiegel was being 

prepared by a typesetter to be printed in the following year. 

Also in the year 1514, Copernicus mentions his work on developing 

the description of heliocentric system in the manuscript 

“Small Commentaries” (Commentariolus) that he distributes to his 

friends. Several engravings by the distinguished Albrecht Dürer 

appear (Melencolia I, Der heilige Hieronymus im Gehäus). The 

books of John Rastell also should be mentioned, as well as the 

papal bull of Leo X (1475—1521) and the letter of England’s King 

Henry VIII to the Pope. 

The range of books in 1514 includes classics (at least nine works 

by Cicero, three by Ovid, five by Plautus, two by Pliny, four by 

Virgil, as well as works by Aristotle, Horace, Plutarch, Ptolemy 

and Seneca), the famous Biblia Poliglota, and Avicenna’s Flores 

collecti superquinque Canonibus quos adidit in medicina (Lyons) 

as well as works by the Renaissance master Boccaccio and by 

Joannes Eckius (Johann Eck) – the future ardent antagonist of 

Martin Luther – who writes about the coming years. This is one 

of the brightest years in the era’s art of printing. 1514 sees the appearance 

of books printed by Aldus Manutius (1449/1450—1515) 

in Venice (Scriptores rei rusticae), the Athenaeus of Philippus and 

Lucas Antonius Giunta in Florence, Cicero’s letters to Atticam, 

Johann Froben (c. 1460—1527) sheltered and published Erasmus 

38 39

1514, becoming the pastor of the congregation in Limbaži. The 

Czech translator Pavel Stoll discovered that some of the songs 

Ramm is renowned for translating were written by Jan Hus. The 

Moravian Brethren movement that would be hugely influential 

among Latvians in 18 th century southern Livonia (now Latvia) was 

inspired by Hus. The book Christi ab incarnationis by Jan Hus 

was printed in 1514 by Weissenburger in Landshut. Also in 1514, 

the manuscript of Дзесяціглаў was completed; Frantsisk Skarina, 

born in Vitebsk and acquainted with Riga Baltic Germans, would 

publish it in Vilnius in 1522. 

A few hundred publications from 1514 are held in the collections 

of national and university libraries. The Latvian National Library 

maintains close contact with the keepers of these rare volumes. 

The library of the Duke of Courland, for example, is currently in 

the National Library of Finland and was formerly at the University 

of Helsinki. The Latvian National Library intends to locate other 

copies of works published in or connected to 1514, appropriate to 

the exhibition in the new library building in 2014. The exhibition will 

also tell of other ancient libraries that existed five centuries ago. 

There is no doubt that 2014 will see the publication of a host of 

books across the globe – many more than were printed in 1514! 

In cooperation with the finest publishing houses in Europe, an exhibition 

of the best books, atlases and albums printed in 2014 is 

also being planned. 

Bitwa pod Orszą 

in Basel, Henri Estienne (1460?—1520) printed Arithmetica decem 

libris demonstrata in Paris, Wynkyn de Worde worked in London. It 

was in 1514 that Aldus Manutius introduced the use of blue paper. 

The first book in Arabic letters was printed by the brothers De 

Gregori Fano in Italy, and Erhard Oeglin produced the first 

Hebrew typesetting in Augsburg in this year. A Torah was printed 

in Constantinople, and Ottaviano dei Petrucci completed the publication 

of the eleventh series of scores in Venice. 1514 also saw 

the introduction of “+“ and “–“ signs. 

It is also held that the first book printed in Polish appeared in 1514 

rather than 1515 as commonly believed. Soon after victory over 

the Russians at Smolensk, a letter of Sigismund I to Pope Leo X 

was published. 

With regard to Riga, it should be noted that this is the year the 

printer Joannes Badius Ascenius produces the “Danish Chronicle“ 

of Saxo Grammaticus (c. 1150-1220). This history of Denmark is 

one of the most important sources on the early history of what is 

now Latvia. The “Saga of Hadingus“ tells of a Danish Viking and 

his blood brother, who make war upon the Couronian chieftain 

Loker. The Couronian leader defeats them and captures them. 

Escaping, Hadingus craftily seizes a city on the Daugava, taking 

its chieftain hostage and asking for the chieftain’s ransom in gold. 

In the Saga of Frodi, raids on the Baltic region are described. 

The first book in Latvian is printed in 1525. The first library 

was established a year earlier. Both of these events are linked 

to Nikolai Ramm, the pastor of the Latvian congregation at St. 

James’s Church in Riga – he arrived in what is now Latvia in 

The dawn of the electronic age, digital environments and digital 

libraries has led some to dub our era the Second Coming 

of Gutenberg. The technical environment that affects information 

flow, knowledge, cultural values and the dissemination of ideas 

has changed as radically as it did five centuries ago. Handwritten 

manuscripts were replaced by printing, just as the computer keyboard 

has shifted the world of words now. Drawing met engraving 

– today computer graphics of all kinds come into play. The printing 

press took the place of the scriptorium – the great ‘scriptorium’ 

today is the World Wide Web. The king, however the Content, is 

still king. 

What: International conference and exhibition. 

Where: Latvian National Library. 

When: Exhibition throughout the year; conference in April. 

Concept author: Andris Vilks, Director of the Latvian National 

Library. 

Organisers: University of Latvia; Latvian National Library. 

Danorum Regum heroumque Historiae, Paris 1514 

40 41

sound 2014 

The art of sound, by contrast to music, 

which is a consecutive distribution 

of sound in time, is an ‘architectonic’ 

intervention in the environment. This 

project offers a guide in today’s urban 

jungle of the world of sounds, thinking 

of new forms and manifestations of the 

interaction between sound, architecture 

and space, vitalizing and enlivening 

forgotten spaces in innovative and 

untraditional ways. 

Modern technologies help the art of sound 

erupt. At the core it is placement, the musicalization 

and execution of the environment. 

Creating a composition for city 

chimes, for example. Trees and buildings 

can be equipped with sound effects. You 

can play around with urban sounds. Just 

as well autonomous sculptural pieces can 

be created in open space. Sound and light 

shows have become very popular. 

It is also possible to get to know the inaudible 

urban sounds by unarmed ear. It can 

be done with a specific technique. For example, 

the sounds of an electromagnetic 

field or of an empty room – creating a composition 

out of them. There are performers 

who operate with inaudible sounds onle. 

The German artist Christina Kubisch or 

Danish artist Jacob Kirkegaard work with 

very sensitive microphones to record the 

sounds of the northern lights, of ice and 

of the abandoned zone at Chernobyl. The 

recorded material can be turned into beautiful 

compositions. 

The art of sound can be created in special 

spaces, creating performances particularly 

for that space. For example, in 

churches, castle ruins, in shops or at the 

train station. A sound ’architecture’ can be 

created, changing the sense of the space. 

It is possible to interactively play with the 

frequencies of sound. For example, using 

the Geiger counter, which measures human 

radiation and converts it into a sound 

(Finnish performers Tommi Gronlund and 

Peteri Nisunen). 

Within this project there will be a sound 

art exhibition where single objects will be 

created especially for and inspired by a 

selected space. The concept of force majeure 

manifests as the impossibility to escape 

and dissociate oneself, as the urge to 

express the current and to reflect on reality 

– to be present. The nature of the art of 

sound can accomplish that as perfectly as 

it can co-operate with the existing environment 

and create a new one. 

Within the project the art of sound will be 

present in the city environment, using and 

intensifying the existing elements of that 

environment. At the same time the artworks 

of sound will be created for special 

spaces. The performances of the sound 

artwork or innovative music along with new 

music concerts (dancing and listening music) 

will show that the boundary between 

music and art of sound is a mere convention. 

The art of sound will become more 

accessible to more people. 

What: Sound art exhibition. 

Where: Urban environment and unconventional 

exhibition spaces. 

When: September. 

Concept authors and organisers: Skaņu 

mežs – Viestarts Gailītis, Zane Dātava, 

Ernests Ansons, Renāte Auziņa, 

www.skanumezs.lv 

Cooperation partners: NUMUSIC 

festival (Stavanger, Norway), 

Transmediale Festival (Berlin, 

Germany), ZKM (Karlsruhe, Germany), 

SpongeArteContemporanea (Italy), 

Jauna Muzika (Lithuania), and others. 

sacred music 

from sunset to sunrise 

Everyone has experienced a moment 

of clear night without any cloud in the 

sky or any wind blowing. Suddenly the 

skyline dissolves and you cannot tell 

which of the stars are just reflections 

in the ocean and which ones shine in 

the sky. The ocean starts to breathe 

in time with the universe on the night 

of the sacred music concert in Dome 

Cathedral, in the Dome Garden and 

Dome Square. 

The Dome Cathedral complex can provide 

an exclusive concert, which can be enjoyed 

from three different perspectives. In 

the Dome Cathedral there is a concert for 

those who want to experience the acoustic 

arches of the Cathedral. There will be 

a specially designed zone in the Dome 

Garden where the concert will be broadcast 

on big screens and good acoustics 

are guaranteed. Original special effects 

will be created by the lighting design. In 

Dome Square, the atmosphere will be 

more open/democratic. In the city environment 

the concert can be enjoyed by freely 

moving about, choosing specific compositions 

or certain performers in the concert. 

The musical heritage of Western Europe 

is as boundless as an ocean. The programme 

of the concert will be structured in 

the form of an archway rondo - internationally 

well known large-scale compositions 

are combined with original pieces and organ 

solos. 

At midnight Rachmaninoff’s Vigilia will be 

performed. The programme may include 

Bruckner’s, Kodai’s or Mendelssohn’s 

Te Deum, and the Urtrehtas Te Deum of 

Handel. There are plans to commission a 

work by Pēteris Vasks as well as to invite 

Gidon Kremer and Kremerata Baltica and 

internationally known solo artists from 

Latvia and abroad. 

What: Concert. 

Where: Riga Dome Cathedral, Garden and 

Dome Square. 

When: August 

Concept authors: Māris Ošlejs, State Choir 

“Latvija”. 

Cooperation partners: The Dome Cathedral, 

composers, Latvian and European soloists. 

42 43

eaming riga 2014 

Our ancestors believed that light is a 

substance and that it can be poured, 

cut into pieces, stuffed into a sack, or 

collected in a Castle of Light… that 

one can build bridges from light and 

that light can be given to others as a 

present. This conviction is nicely illustrated 

with a funny story about people 

who built a house without windows 

and then tried to fill it with light using 

buckets and sacks. 

The festival of light “Beaming Riga” (Staro 

Rīga) keeps proving the enduring truth of 

our forefathers in artistic ways – light becomes 

the material of artwork just as paintbrushes, 

colour, canvas, stone or bronze 

have been media for art. In the year 2014, 

all of the themes of the programme will be 

touched upon, but the festival will primarily 

be dedicated to the theme “Thirst For The 

Ocean”. 

As the sea may dream of becoming an 

ocean, the Riga Canal wishes to be as 

great as the Nile or the Amazon, and each 

fountain in the city – as swift as a torrential 

mountain spring. The festival of light 

“Beaming Riga” has enough resources to 

fulfil these dreams at least for few days. 

Powerful light and sound effects will transform 

the waters of the city – the fountains in 

the Vērmanes Garden, the Esplanade and 

the Opera Square, and also in the Riga 

Canal, bringing to life fantastic sights on 

an incomparable experience. 

“Freedom Street”, one of the themes in the 

Riga programme, is a very important artery 

for the city. The festival of light “Beaming 

Riga”, being a recent and ambitious process 

in the urban environment, plans to 

bathe the street in coloured light and 

video projections. The street will be one 

of the routes of the festival – overlooked 

elements of architecture, buildings and 

particular details of the urban environment 

as well as previously concealed inner 

courtyards will be unveiled by the artists 

of the “Beaming Riga” festival. The avenue 

opposite the Cabinet of Ministers, the Riga 

District Court building, the Central Library, 

a typical Art Nouveau building, the Daile 

Theatre, the Vidzeme marketplace, the 

New St. Gertrude’s Church and Air Bridge 

are just a part of the wide range of interesting 

sites on this street. The latest technologies, 

a broad range of lighting systems, 

video and real fire will turn Freedom Street 

into the artery of the festival. 

The “Road Map” will help one find one’s 

way to “Beaming Riga” performances in 

the Riga neighbourhoods. For example, 

festival artists will create light performances 

and installations in the parks of Āgenskalns 

– in Arkādija Garden, the Youth Garden, 

Small Arkādija’s Garden, Māra’s Garden, 

Meteor Garden and Victory Park. The play 

of light will uncover the Neogothic buildings 

of Pauls Stradiņš’s Clinical Hospital. 

A very special show will be awaiting at 

Māra’s Pond, where with the help of light 

and projections an illusion of the historical 

building of the Māra’s Mill will be created. 

This mill was the first known building in 

Āgenskalns and the Pārdaugava area of 

Riga and is mentioned in historic chronicles 

from 1226. 

Everyone has heard stories about the 

legendary Amber Room – one of the biggest 

treasures from the castle of Catherine 

I, Peter the Great’s wife. The Amber Room 

was lost during the World War II and no 

one has succeeded in finding it. The light 

festival “Beaming Riga” will let one find the 

Amber Room in Riga – inside the Railroad 

Station tunnel. 

The Old Town – the oldest part of Riga – 

will turn into a maze during the “Beaming 

Riga” festival. The narrow streets disguised 

by lights will confuse even the true Old 

Riga experts and make them look for the 

right way out. Then the “Survival Kit” will 

be of good use! 

A whirl of events will await the spectators 

at Dome Square. “Riga Carnival” – in a 

sequence of moving light projections on 

the walls of the buildings surrounding the 

square, the history of the city will be presented 

- the past, the present and even the 

future. 

What: Multimedia light installation festival 

in the urban environment. 

Where: Sites throughout the city. 

When: November 14–18. 

concept authors: Diāna Čivle, Mārcis Gulbis, 

Guntars Kambars (www.staroriga.lv). 

Organiser: Riga City Council, Department 

of Culture 

44 45

adio riga online 

The “Radio Riga Festival” offers a 

chance for every resident of Riga to find 

a concert to his or her taste and to meet 

their favourite musicians in person at a 

concert venue that is near to them and 

accessible. In cooperation with Latvian 

Radio, the music most loved by the people 

of Riga will be heard all over Europe. 

re:visited 

Can you follow everything that happens 

in the world and feel yourself involved in 

great events and processes? Perhaps 

the world could be brought to us… to 

show what is most recent, fresh, and important, 

let us join the common context, 

and become part of the great ocean of 

art. The most significant and newest artwork 

from the most prestigious art biennials 

of the world will be in Riga. 

Within this project it is planned that a selection 

of the newest artwork will be brought to 

Riga in order to introduce Riga residents to 

the latest trends in contemporary art. This 

The “Radio Riga Festival” will gather famous 

musicians in Riga - those who began 

their musical career in Riga but gained 

fame and glory in the greatest concert halls 

of the world: conductor Mariss Jansons, 

cellist Mikhail Maisky, singers Elīna 

Garanča and Egils Siliņš. We will hear their 

voices in several concerts at the Latvian 

National Opera, the Great Guild Hall, and 

the Dzintari Concert Hall. The special feature 

of this festival is the live broadcast of 

the concerts to all European countries provided 

by Radio Latvia. 

The main event of the festival is the concert 

of the Bavarian Radio Symphonic 

Orchestra conducted by Mariss Jansons. 

Symphony concerts, vocal symphonic music 

concerts as well as opera productions 

will be staged in Riga and at the Dzintari 

concert venue with the participation of the 

Latvian National Symphony Orchestra, the 

Liepāja Symphony Orchestra, the Estonian 

Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Lithuanian 

National Symphony Orchestra, the State 

Choir Latvia, the Latvian Radio Choir, the 

Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir 

large-scale exhibition will be composed 

of the most noticeable objects selected 

from the most significant art biennials. It is 

a commonly known fact that art biennials 

serve as indicators of the art process, they 

reveal new trends and present young and 

promising authors. 

The most prestigious biennials of 2013 

will be surveyed – the 55 th Venice Biennial, 

the 4 th Athens Biennial, the 13 th Istanbul 

Biennial, the 12 th Lyons Biennial. Usually 

only a small circle of professionals and 

interested people manage to visit all the 

mentioned biennials and keep track of the 

development of contemporary art processes. 

This project would bring a selection 

of the latest outstanding artwork to Riga, 

and the Kaunas State Choir. The chamber 

music and choral music concerts will take 

place in the Small Guild and in cultural 

centres in the vicinity of Riga. 

Jazz music concerts will be held in Riga’s 

suburban cultural centres with participation 

of musicians from Latvia – Māris 

Briežkalns Quintet, soloist Intars Busulis, 

“Riga Groove Electro” with soloists Jolanta 

Gulbe and Deniss Paškēvičs, Silvesteri 

Orkesteri and “City Jazz Bigband”; from 

Lithuania – Dainius Pulauskas Group, 

“Kaunas Bigband”; as well as from Estonia 

– “Guitar Weekend Trio”, “Nordic Sounds” 

with Villu Veski. 

What: Festival. 

Where: Riga and environs. 

When: June. 

Concept author: National Concert Agency. 

cooperation Partners: Ministry of Culture, 

Riga City Council, Department of Culture, 

Latvian Radio, municipalities. 

and would serve as a unique apportunity 

for cultural education that would make 

the international contemporary art scene 

accessible to the general public in Riga. 

What: International exhibition . 

Where: Riga Art Space or other large 

exhibition hall. 

When: April - July. 

Concept authors and organisers: Latvian 

Centre of Contemporary Art. 

“2annas” 2014 

No idea or event can last without 

an inner drive or a wish to express 

something. Therefore, when selecting 

films for the “2Annas” competition 

programme, we search for works with 

an individual and unique signature, 

creativity, aesthetic and technical performance 

corresponding to the artistic 

idea. Above all, we crave the feeling 

that without creating this film, the filmmaker 

would not be able to fulfill him/ 

her-self or even live on. These works 

are created by some invincible force 

which is an inner urge to express oneself 

intellectually and spiritually. 

The aim of the project is to popularise the 

films of young European and international 

filmmakers as an alternative to multiplex 

mainstream cinema products. It is an 

opportunity to see the development of 

in the begining 

was the word 

Man possesses a natural urge to name 

the ongoing – the felt, seen, heard and 

experienced. By explaining and defining 

it, what is experienced materialises, 

coming into existence. 

The central idea of the project is based on the 

scriptural description of the beginning of the 

universe. By analogy it is transferred to culture, 

especially to literature, which precedes 

developments and describes the atmosphere 

before the events actually take place. Words 

and language create a rhythm, challenging 

the music. The motets are distinctive with a 

sacred form and contemporary content; in 

French the word mot means “word”. 

Baltic films as an art form and place their 

trends in a global context; to platform 

the works created in the Baltic region by 

creating an appropriate environment - a 

platform for developing new ideas and cooperation 

projects. 

In 2014, the festival “2Annas” will take 

place for the 19 th time. From being a youth 

film competition, has grown into a noteworthy 

international event amongst students 

at film schools all over the world, for 

European creative alliances, and for new 

film directors. It has become a stellar event 

in Latvian cinematography. 

The festival programme includes an international 

competition, a Baltic short film 

competition, special programmes, and 

educational audio-visual lectures, music 

and audio-visual performances. 

The festival offers debut films made by 

the young professional filmmakers – the 

In the framework of the project, 8 known 

foreign poets create contemporany sacred 

texts, 8 acknowledged foreign composers 

create motets. The multimedial premieres 

of the original pieces will end the “Sacred 

Music Festival” and lead into the “Poetry 

Days”. 

What: Concert of original work, festival. 

Where: St. Peter’s Church. 

When: Beginning of September. 

concept Authors: Inga Bodnarjuka, Ieva 

Vītiņa, Māris Ošlejs, Māris Sirmais, Ieva 

Kolmane. 

cooperation Partners: Latvian Writers 

Union, State Choir Latvija. 

representatives of national cinematography. 

It also enables us to enjoy the latest 

trends in European films. The magnetic atmosphere 

of the festival stimulates the exchange 

of ideas between Baltic and other 

European young cinema enthusiasts and 

will help the new directors on their journey 

to the professional level. 

What: International short film festival. 

Where: Cinema K.Suns, Cinema Rīga, the 

Riga urban environment. 

When: May 25—31. 

Concept authors: Viesturs Graždanovičs, 

Mārīte Lempa, Dana Indāne, 

www.2annas.lv. 

Organisers: Centre of Creative Learning 

Annas 2 and Virtual Studio Urga. 

cooperation Partners: Hannu Pro. 

46 47

48 

freedom street

freedom street 

When a ruling power changes, and in European history this 

has usually happened after a revolution or war, the first 

thing that power does is to change the names of streets. 

Freedom Street, within the context of the Riga as European 

Capital of Culture programme, is not just the story of a 

street. Freedom Street is a symbolic stage, a system of 

signs, a tale of history and wars, which we can say only 

ended yesterday, even though perhaps a whole century has 

elapsed. 

The “Freedom Street” programme which refers to the centenary 

of the 1 st World War, is intended as a story of collisions, which people 

who live in any city in any place in the world experience. Riga’s 

history is one such space for collisions, where echoes of global 

historical events can be found. Over the entire course of the 20 th 

century Riga has found itself in postwar-prewar relationships, or 

loser-winner relationships, but the local people’s memories of historical 

events have not been inherited – they are alive and real, just 

as in the consciousness of many Europeans. 

Freedom Street has experienced a lot. Power and war have always 

sought acknowledgement in this street, changing or not changing 

its name. Freedom Street is the axis of the city of Riga, the main 

street (Via Magna), which has been called Large Sand Street, 

Aļeksandrovskij buļvar, Petrogradskoje šosse, Revolution Street, 

Adolf Hitler Strasse, Lenin Street and finally – Freedom Street once 

more. In 2014 the street will regain its historic names in the form 

of artistic events along its entire length, above all stressing the 

invaluable virtue of freedom and democracy. 

Freedom Street is the stage for the history of global power. It 

is the story of one European city’s and its inhabitants’ relationship 

with power – invincible and at the same time overcome. The 

1 st World War, which dates back 100 years before 2014, and its 

consequences, in the interpretations of many European historians 

ends around the time when Riga’s main street retrieved its 

name of Freedom. In 1914, Riga was one of the group of cities 

that formed part of the indisputable European prestige, which, 

together with the 1 st World War, Europe lost, leaving indelible consequences 

in the consciousness of Europeans. Riga, in war-time, 

has always been drawn in between other powers. And Freedom 

Street is also this type of axis - between East and West, between 

other powers. Freedom Street has experienced several wars – 

First World War, Second World War, Cold War, Singing Revolution, 

August 1991 putsch. Many military forces have entered and left 

Riga via this street. War has its reflections in the cultural code of 

Europe, which has also defined cultural mobility, destroying and 

commanding resurrection anew. It has always exploited the city 

for its own gains, demonstrated itself in the main street of any 

European capital city. In a way, for Riga, the 1 st World War ended 

in 1991. 

Prewar and postwar periods have taken European culture, homes, 

places, people, generations, stories, memories, monuments and 

spirit, facilitating progress and always – on someone’s account. 

Freedom Street is a stage for both destruction and renewal. The 

feminine and the masculine. Collisions and war never end, they 

just continue the search for fresh forms of acknowledgement. The 

greatest philosopher on freedom in the world, Sir Isaiah Berlin, was 

born in Riga and taken for walks by his nanny on the Esplanade by 

Freedom Street (then - Aļeksandrovskij Buļvar). Paradoxically, his 

childhood promenade place, the Esplanade, during his lifetime 

and later, became the location for military parade rituals. Freedom 

is a symbol and a value, which becomes these things precisely 

as the result of an invincible force (force majeure). When Berlin 

was asked whether the focus of his thoughts was influenced by 

the fact that he was born in the Russian province of Riga during 

its period of sophistication and peak period of development and 

after leaving Riga experienced the revolution in Petersburg, he 

replied that this was undoubtedly true. A place always leaves its 

imprint. Freedom is this city’s captive name. 

Freedom Street continues to be the symbol of power of its time. 

Where once radios were manufactured people now exercise, 

where once matchsticks were made people now shop and go 

to the cinema, the place where once people who thought differently 

were captured is now abandoned and awaiting the decision 

of the powers that be, where once stood a statue of Lenin 

now stands a Christmas tree, where once the statue of Peter I – 

now the Freedom Monument. “Freedom Street” is the story of the 

bonds of love between the street and the calculations of power 

over a period of several centuries. “Freedom Street” is the scene 

of tragedy, theatre, rural and urban events, politics, art, travel, arrivals, 

departures, transit passengers and motor vehicles, markets 

and philosophy. 

The 1 st World War and its traumatic nature in the consciousness of 

Europeans initiated a new wave of monument construction. The 

monument became a new form of 20 th century European history 

and ideology. In Riga, as one of the settings of war, monuments 

have always battled and been the ritualistic embodiment of the 

combat between ideas, the fruits of the writers and re-writers of 

history, the embodiment of the consciousness of the winners 

and the losers. When the 1 st World War broke out monuments 

were evacuated from Riga. Amongst the evacuated monuments 

were the statues of Peter I and Barclay de Tolli, J. G. Herder’s 

bronze bust and the bronze adornments of the Victory column. 

Some of the monuments were lost during evacuation (Barclay de 

Tolli’s statue), the statue of Peter I sank together with its boat, and 

after the war the adornments of the Victory column were never 

returned. 

The battle of monuments has always continued in Riga, initiating 

arguments as to what should be pulled down and what erected. 

Out of all the monuments evacuated during the 1 st World War, only 

the bronze bust of the German thinker and Lutheran minister in 

Riga, J. G. Herder returned to its place. Herder was the one who 

was driven by the conviction that no universal truth exists, but that 

different cultures have different answers to various principal questions, 

which themselves vary for different cultures. Every culture 

has its centre of gravity, its point of reference; there is no cause 

for one culture having to fight another. Herder was the one who 

considered that adherence to a culture unites groups of people. 

Riga is the battleground for these differing cultures, with a dream 

of universal culture. The “Freedom Street” programme, within the 

context of European Capital of Culture, will be the location for the 

encounter of ideas and discussions, where monuments, ideas 

and truths from various periods will fight amongst each other, 

and will take over the pedestals of past and present monuments. 

Poetry battles, concerts, theatre performances, exhibitions at the 

foot of the Freedom monument, by the statues to the greatest 

20 th century Latvian poet Rainis and the statue Barclay de Tolli, 

monthly artistic events at the former location of the monument 

to Lenin – creating living, physically accessible monuments free 

from ideology, against which no-one has any objections. The 

“Freedom Street” programme will include rituals of regret, truce, 

commemoration and forgiveness in the form of culture. 

The European Capital of Culture “Freedom Street” programme 

will reclaim premises that haven’t been available to the general 

public, but whose historic existence is directly linked to the 1 st 

World War. In 1915, with the approach of the First World War frontline, 

Riga’s factories and manufacturing plants were evacuated 

to Russia. The evacuation mainly affected Riga, where 59% of all 

Latvia’s enterprises, employing 79% of all workers, were concentrated. 

Evacuated enterprises included the wagon manufacturers 

Fenix, Russian-Baltic wagon factory, shipbuilders “Lange and 

Son”, the largest rubber plant in Russia Provodņiks, and the factories 

“Unions” and “Felzer and Co”. The evacuation of factories 

and manufacturing plants incurred huge losses for Latvian industry 

and for Riga in particular. Thirty thousand wagons were used 

to transport machines and machinery, raw materials and means of 

transport, church bells and copper roofs at a value of 186 million 

roubles. Some of these manufacturers were located directly on 

Freedom Street. In 2014, these former factory territories will be 

transformed into locations for cultural events. 

The “Freedom Street” will be an explosion, with reference to 

Professor Jurij Lotman of the Tartu School of Semiotics, who compared 

culture to an explosion, accentuating its dynamic, open 

and unpredictable nature. 

Today, the pillars of an old bridge that can be seen on the River 

Daugava next to the Railway Bridge remind us of the war-time explosions 

that destroyed bridges during the First and Second World 

Wars. The task of the European Capital of Culture programme is 

to seek out the “explosions” of thought and culture that stimulate 

its openness and dynamics. In the place of the exploded bridge 

artistic campaigns will symbolically construct a cultural bridge 

over the River Daugava to the National Library, where the world’s 

semiotic experts will discuss the relationship between culture and 

invincible force at a conference. 

50 51

zeppelin 

Scientific innovations have always 

served in the war industry. One of the 

signs of the time of the First World War 

was t he dirigible, which in L at via is k nown 

as the Zeppelin. The “Zeppelin” will 

become the symbol of the “Freedom 

Street” part of the programme. 

In 2014, the symbol of the “Freedom Street“ 

programme will be a dirigible flight, whose 

inventor Count General Ferdinand Zeppelin 

is closely connected with Latvia. In 1889, 

he announced the patent for his invented 

airship or dirigible balloon. At the beginning 

of the 20 th century Count Zeppelin was 

a regular visitor to Vecgulbene, because 

he was married to Izabella, the daughter 

of the owner of the manor named Wolf. 

Very soon German manufacturers saw the 

potential of the invention and began to finance 

further improvements for the use of 

the ship. Germany was preparing for war 

and this provided profit opportunities for 

manufacturers. Zeppelin’s invention was 

adapted for bomb carrying. In the summer 

of 1915, when Courland had already been 

captured, the Germans built five reinforced 

bearslayer’s battle 

by the daugava 

In the classics of Latvian literature and 

cinema “Bearslayer” is the symbol of 

the eternal battle for freedom. This 

work, which is rooted in Latvian mythology, 

incorporates the eternal polarity 

of the good and the bad. 

One of the culmination points of the 

“Freedom Street” programme will be the 

restoration and demonstration on one of 

Riga’s bridges of the legendary and, for 

concrete hangars to house the airships in 

Vaiņode. At nightime they lifted off with 

their bomb consignments and flew to 

the Russian positions. In 1915, one dark 

October night, German dirigibles, which 

are commonly known as Zeppelins, took 

off from Vaiņode and flew over Riga and 

dropped a bomb consignment onto the 

crossing of Marijas and Avotu streets. 

After the First World War – Latvia’s initial 

period of independence – all five hangars 

in Vaiņode were dismantled and installed 

in Riga, where the Central Market 

is now located. The anticipated dirigible or 

Zeppelin flight over Riga is intended to be 

a symbolic event, a reminder of the bond 

between power, science and technology 

in European culture. The Central Market 

hangars would become a location for 

European Capital of Culture events – in the 

context of war and market relations. 

War and market relations are of equal 

value to war and science relations. Within 

the framework of the European Capital of 

Culture programme it is intended to orga-nise 

an international creative industry 

annual market in the pavilion of the Riga 

Central Market. At the weekend, creative 

Latvian cinematic history, significant film 

“Bearslayer” (1930, director Aleksandrs 

Rusteiķis), which has been entered into 

the Latvian cultural canons of cinema. 

“Bearslayer” is the first notable achievement 

of national cinematography and, 

for its time, an innovative union of a 

large-scale production and historic document. 

A restored copy is being made for 

this silent movie. The National Chamber 

Orchestra Sinfonietta Rīga, in cooperation 

with the composer Kristaps Pētersons, 

who is composing music for the silent film 

“Bearslayer”, will perform the live accompaniment 

of the film at a special cinema 

concert by the Daugava. 

industries will fill the former 1 st World War 

military object with products that have 

been created as an alternative solution to 

the power of global economics and consumer 

culture, demonstrating solutions to 

the relations between culture and changes 

in power. 

The Kult[rix] dirigible will also be like a 

singular antenna for impulses from ECC 

event locations. The dirigible will digitally 

capture and process the physical and 

energetic field information of ECC events. 

In cooperation with the media, the public 

will regularly receive the ECC’s energetic 

impulses. 

What: Installation in an urban environment 

and digital laboratory, Creative industry 

annual market. 

Where: ECC event locations, Central 

Market. 

When: All year. 

Concept authors: Riga’s ECC task group. 

Organisers: Riga Central Market in 

cooperation with creative industry 

representatives. 

What: Film, concert and multimedia event. 

Where: Banks of the Daugava or on one of 

its bridges. 

When: August. 

Concept authors: Kristīne Matīsa, Agnese 

Zeltiņa, Kristaps Pētersons, Gundega 

Šmite. 

Organisers: National Film Centre of Latvia, 

Riga Cinema Museum, Union of Latvian 

Composers. 

Internet resources: www.lks.org.lv, 

www.nfc.lv. 

52 53

noisy neighbours 

Clashes of power, conflict zones are 

an inescapable part of the reality of 

the contemporary world. Rebellion and 

conflict are the norm, unavoidable, regardless 

of which part of the world we 

are in. The presence of direct or indirect 

conflicts and collisions leaves an 

indelible mark on the consciousness 

and actions of people. 

museum of legacies 

Legacies are the things to which stories 

belong, for which people create 

legends. Legacies are the things, 

which help people to orientate themselves 

in the world. Wars, fires, changes 

in values destroy legacies, but it is 

not within the power of any invincible 

force to destroy everything. There are 

legacies that are more powerful than 

any force, which, because of their 

stories, help us survive, making the 

story about oneself, the city, country 

and the world even bigger. Everyone 

inherits legacies from generation to 

generation, to which he allocates his 

For the 2014 “Poetry Days” the intention is 

to invite participants from the world’s conflict 

zones. Conflict zones will mean not 

just countries where there are real conflicts 

or real war activity zones, but also countries 

where intolerance towards culture, a 

high level of prejudice and cultural conflict 

can be observed, for example Turkey and 

Greece, England and France, the Balkan 

countries, Spain and Catalonia, Georgia, 

Russia and the USA. The short-term goal 

on which the choice of guests will be 

based is to prove that culture can overcome 

various conflicts and is above and 

beyond the rifts between different nations, 

even war activity. The long-term goal of the 

project is to promote cross-border activities, 

break stereotypes and initiate a closer 

look at the different cultures of the world. 

The “Noisy Neighbours” programme intends 

to include guest poet public readings, 

as well as a master class combined 

with a seminar, where all interested parties 

with or without prior experience in literary 

activities will be able to participate and 

gain skills, advice and inspiration from 

professionals from other countries. Open 

own story and which have influenced 

the life of his family, his personal life. 

Legacies make it possible to restore 

time. 

Several centuries ago every country dweller 

who crossed Riga’s border had to bring 

with him two cobblestones, from which 

Riga’s streets were made. Everyone arriving 

at the European Capital of Culture will 

be asked to submit to the exhibition personal 

items with a historic legacy. The location 

of the exhibition is planned in one of 

the former Freedom Street factories – VEF 

or in the territory of Riga Wagon Factory. 

Together with this large-scale project, 

which will run for the entire ECC year, an 

exhibition is planned in the Museum of the 

lectures are also planned at the University 

of Latvia and Latvian Academy of Culture, 

during which students and other interested 

parties will have the opportunity to meet 

foreign poets, find out about current events 

within their cultures, develop discussions 

and exchange information. 

What: Poetry readings in an urban 

environment, masterclass, seminars. 

Where: Esplanade, Academy of Culture, 

University of Latvia. 


Concept authors: Inga Bodnarjuka, Ieva 

Kolmane, Uldis Bērziņš. 

Organisers: Latvian Writers’ Union. 

Cooperation partners: Latvian Literature. 

Centre, Ventspils International Writers’ 

and Translators’ House. 

History of Riga and Navigation “Stories of 

100 objects from the museum collection 

about Europe”. The exhibition would display 

100 legacies from the museum collection, 

which have an outstanding historic 

or artistic value, or value linked with the 

identity of Riga inhabitants. 

What: Exhibition. 

WHERE: VEF or Riga Wagon Factory 

territory. 

When: January. 

Concept authors: Inese Zandere, Museum 

of the History of Riga and Navigation. 

Organisers: Museum of the History of Riga 

and Navigation, Occupation Museum, 

War Museum, LU Faculty of History and 

Philosophy. 

rupture 

War is the biggest of barbarisms, the 

supreme sin, war is a man’s world, war 

is something which cannot be framed. 

War is the object of 20th century artistic 

reflection, which is inextricably 

linked with Europe’s historic trauma 

and collective experience. War is the 

rupture of the evolution of mankind or, 

maybe evolution is the rupture of the 

progress of war? 

The Latvian National Art Museum Exhibtion 

Hall Arsenāls, which was historically built 

and used as a military depository in the 

19 th /20 th centuries, in 2014 will become the 

location for a large-scale exhibition, which 

will mark out artists’ views and positions 

theatrical collision 

boulevard 

Freedom Street is the location of the 

stage for collisions of war. During the 

1 st World War monuments and factories 

were evacuated from here, which 

never returned to their places after the 

end of the war. Culture has always reacted 

to political and historic events, 

creating a kind of space for tension in 

the forms of drama and theatre. 

In 2014 the Daile theatre on Freedom 

Street and untraditional premises for the 

theatre environment – 1 st World War evacuated 

factory territories, will become the 

locations for European theatre guest performances. 

Over the course of the year the 

guest performance programme will offer 

six of the world’s most prominent artists 

theatre performances, relating to collision, 

male-female and conflict solutions, and the 

prewar-postwar theme. The programme 

regarding the war theme. The exhibition will 

provide an insight of the museum collection 

– Grosvalds, Kazāks and others, 

Anselm Keefer, Shirin Neschat, Nedko 

Salakov –, and will offer contemporary 

artist interpretations (Imants Lancmanis, 

Sandra Krastiņa, Ilmārs Blumbergs, Katrīna 

Neiburga, Krišs Salmanis, Miķelis Fišers), 

as well as present the works of internationally 

recognised foreign artists. 

The intention is to supplement the exhibition 

with historical materials (photographs, 

interior elements, weapons, etc) from the 

collections of the Latvian History Museum, 

Latvian War Museum and Museum of the 

History of Riga and Navigation, which 

would allow for a more detailed characterisation 

of the period and appeal to a broader 

range of society. The planned exhibition 

will be selected by the curators of the 

Latvian New Theatre Institute, putting the 

accent on the contemporary tendencies 

and quality of guest performances and 

their place within the context of European 

theatre art and at the same time encompassing 

the needs of various groups of society. 

In 2014 the intention is to invite artists 

such as Christoph Marthaler (Switzerland), 

Alain Platel (Belgium) and Krzysztof 

Warlikowski (Poland) to bring guest 

performances to Riga. Parallel to each 

guest performance the LNTI will develop 

educational programmes, film sessions 

and lectures, during which talks and discussions 

will take place regarding theatre 

art in a wider discourse. Geographically, 

the guest performances will encompass 

the Freedom Street trajectory of Riga territory. 

The implementation of this type of 

programme will confirm that Riga is the 

place for regular, high-quality projects in 

the field of contemporary theatre. 

will propose an original view through the 

prism of the theme of war, which will mark 

out the collision of forces, position the 

events of war as the catalyst of an era or, 

on the contary, as an irreparable rupture of 

the regular course of history, illustrate the 

differences in the interpretations of events 

by men and women, as well as reveal and 

demonstrate many other viewpoints, from 

which it is possible to look at significant 

events in our history. 

What: International exhibition. 

Where: Exhibition Hall Arsenāls. 



National Art Musuem in cooperation with 

the Contemporary Art Centre. 

What: Theatre guest performance 

programme. 

Where: Daile theatre, VEF (State 

Electrotechnical Factory), Riga Cinema 

Studio, Riga Wagon Factory territory. 

When: Begins in February. 


New Theatre Institute. 

Cooperation partner: Daile theatre. 

54 55

un for freedom 

Running as a national sport grows 

more popular every year. The annual 

Nordea Riga marathon participant 

numbers are increasing and various 

other runs and marathons are being 

organised in Riga and beyond. As a 

gift to Latvia for her 90 th birthday a relay 

“Run! For Latvia!” was organised. 

Runners can also be seen every day 

more and more often in the city’s parks 

and on its streets, just exercising. A 

run is in its way an attempt to conquer 

time, prove that historical time is acquirable 

in an illusory manner. 

propaganda 

Because of its geopolitical situation 

Latvia has always been the stage for 

various European political ideas, upon 

which political campaigns vibrate, influenced 

by the most diverse currents, 

ideas, movements, tendencies and 

historic turning points. Power, for work 

with the masses, chooses the most diverse 

tools— including art. 

Since the renewal of Latvia’s independence, 

5 parliamentary elections have already 

taken place and in total, an independent 

Latvian parliament has already been 

elected 9 times. Every time elections approach 

a certain tension can be observed 

amongst political powers; promises are 

made, publicity campaigns created. The 

intended project would demonstrate the 

development of political ideas and the instruments 

used by them over the century 

up to today. The intention of the exhibition 

“Political propaganda history in Latvia” is 

to gather political posters and party political 

posters that have been created before 

the establishment of the Latvian state, 

during Latvia’s initial independence and 

after renewal of Latvia’s statehood. It 

is intended to demonstrate all political 

campaigns and pre-election publicity campaigns 

in chronological order, confronting 

artistic facts with real historic events, which 

the campaigns feature, thus developing 

both a collection of serious historical 

material and bringing a smile to the faces 

of exhibition guests regarding the role of 

propaganda tools or campaign posters in 

the 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 become 

participants of an unprecedented event. 

Everyone who feels sporty has the opportunity 

of becoming the co-creator of 

an event celebrating the anniversary of 

the declaration of the independence of the 

Republic of Latvia. In turn, all Riga inhabitants 

– of being the spectators of an unprecedented 

city performance. Instead of 

the usual concert for the anniversary of the 

declaration of the independence of Latvia 

a run will take place – a “Run For Freedom” 

along the entire length of Freedom Street. 

In its way this will be a run through Freedom 

Street and at the same time the history of a 

European street, where various periods of 

Latvian and European history will be outlined 

at various sectios of the run. 

The start will be at the Ethnographic Openair 

Museum and the route – along Freedom 

Street to the Freedom Monument. Total 

length of the run — 11 kilometres. 

What: Marathon. 

Where: Freedom Street. 

When: May 4 th . 

Concept authors: “Untitled” Ltd. 

voice from the past in 

eisenstein’s birthplace 

Provocative proof that Europe’s and 

Latvia’s mental space always has 

been and is united: an opportunity 

to be convinced that Latvian cinema 

classics have worked and thought on 

a global level. A review of classic films 

in their black and white tonality like a 

voice from the past seem to contrast 

with the contemporary multi-coloured 

city environment, but at the same time 

surprise us with the topicality of eternal 

problems, which makes us think 

about intransient values that will still 

be significant in the distant future. 

One of the world’s most distinguished 

cinema directors Sergej Eisentein is from 

Riga, and he proved that outstanding cinema 

language is compatible with undisguised 

propaganda. His film “Battleship 

Potemkin” is recognised as one of the alltime 

20 best films. Cinema, since its beginning, 

has always served as an instrument 

of power, searching for means of artistic 

expression between terms dictated by 

power and artistic and human protest. Riga 

inhabitants are characteristic with their particular 

attitude towards cinema and their 

characteristic cinephilia has arisen from 

a restricted access to the European cinema 

culture heritage during the Cold War 

and the search for their identity in national 

cinema. 

The films will be shown in an urban environment 

- large-scale open-air sessions on 

open-air screens on city squares, in parks 

and beyond. It will be the border expansion of 

cinema’s territorial consciousness and interaction 

between selected works of European 

cinema classics (European Cinema Greats) 

and the restored Latvian cinema heritage 

(Latvian Cinema Greats). This project is also 

an opportunity for the expansion of time 

borders — unlike usual cultural events, the 

most favourable time for open-air cinema 

sessions is in the evening hours of dusk, 

when cinema projections with their appeal 

and particular magic would attract young 

people and other groups of society. 

In 2008, the State Agency National Film 

Centre of Latvia began work on the restoration 

of the Latvian cinema heritage and plans 

to finish the restoration of about 100 films by 

2014. Of the renewed films it will be possible 

to make the most precise selection, which 

will interplay with European cinema classics 

and will provide an insight into the best examples 

of our cinema culture heritage. 

The Riga Cinema Museum and the 

National Film Centre of Latvia propose a 

conceptual selection of European Cinema 

Greats – demonstrating one film from 

every European country (for example, 

Michelangelo Antonioni from Italy, 

Sergei Eisenstein from Russia, Jean-Luc 

Godard from France, Louis Bunuel form 

Spain, Andrzej Wajda from Poland, Aki 

Kaurismaki from Finland, Ingmar Bergman 

from Sweden, Vera Chytilova from the 

Czech Republic, etc.). In 2014, they would 

all meet for the first time in Riga and take 

their places next to the pearls of Latvian 

cinema classics. 

What: Open-air cinema sessions. 

Where: City squares, suburbs. 

When: June-September. 

Concept authors and organisers: Riga Cinema 

Museum, National Film Centre of Latvia. 

Cooperation partners: Danish Cultural 

Centre, Nordic Country Information 

Centre, French Cultural Centre. 

56 57

then and now 

Stop. Look. Become acquainted. 

A city changes rapidly: already returning 

after one month’s absence it seems as 

though everything has changed. In turn, 

if you find yourself on the spot, it seems 

that nothing whatsoever has changed, because 

the changes have been so serenely 

smooth, gradual. The aim of the photo 

exhibition “Then and Now” is to capture 

these changes, creating photo installations 

– stands, where one and the same 

part of the city can be observed and the 

changes taken place at various times over 

the centuries. Placed by the specific object 

– square, building or street section, these 

installations will demonstrate how it was 

here then, allowing for comparison with 

how it is now. 

postwar generation 

The postwar generation is free of the 

traumas that pursue previous generations. 

They convert the neuroses and 

memories of previous generations in a 

creative manner, which, at the same time, 

is a protest for anything that is not free. 

Within the framework of the European 

Capital of Culture it is intended to organise 

artistic and cultural space in locations 

that are linked with the relationships of 

power and war themes, organising concerts, 

exhibitions, performances, etc. The 

idea of the use of these locations – culture, 

which doesn’t sacrifice itself to power, resists 

it and doesn’t conform, being itself at 

war with everything conventional. Līgatne 

Examples: 

Freedom Monument 

Before the 1 st World War the spot where the 

Freedom Monument, built in 1935, is currently 

located was occupied by the Peter I 

bronze statue. During the times of Soviet 

Latvia trolley buses ran round the monument. 

Live traffic created serious damage 

to the monument and therefore, when 

traffic on this part of the street was finally 

closed in 1990, with the renewal of independence, 

the monument was in need of 

serious restoration. Restoration work was 

terminated in 2001. 

Freedom and Elizabetes Street crossing 

During the Soviet times Lenin’s statue 

flaunted itself on this spot. For several years 

now at Christmas this place is adorned by 

a Christmas tree but during various Riga 

festivals – appropriate design formations. 

underground training area, Salaspils nuclear 

reactor site, Daugavgrīva fortress, 

Irbene radio locator are all planned to become 

European Capital of Culture locations 

for alternative cultural processes, involving 

various Riga sub-culture groups in the 

process, such as grafitti artists, alternative 

music festival organisers, unpublished philosophers 

and literati, independent theatre 

groups, proposing the transformation of 

these locations into multi-cultural spaces 

with the name of Postwar generation. 

What: Art and music events. 

Where: Līgatne underground training area, 

Daugavgrīva fortress, Irbene radio locator, 

Salaspils nuclear reactor. 


Organisers: Skaņu mežs (Sound Forest), 

Orbīta. 

Daile theatre 

The Daile Theatre acquired its home – 

architect Marta Staņa’s designed building 

on Freedom Street, only in 1997, but what 

was here before – an old Riga construction, 

was taken down when building the 

Daile theatre. 

Air Bridge 

The Air Bridge is the first viaduct in Riga and 

it was built over the railway tracks in 1906. 

At the foot of the bridge is the Freedom 

Street tram depot, which could tell us how 

the appearance of public transport has 

changed over the years. Behind the depot 

the former premises of the “Red Star” factory 

currently await reconstruction. 

What: Photo exhibiton in an urban 

environment. 

Where: Freedom Street. 

When: May-September. 

Concept authors: Untitled Ltd. 

opera valentīna – 

the story of the atlantis 

sunk in riga 

In 2014, the staging of a new Latvian 

original opera, Valentīna, will take place 

at the Latvian National Opera. It will 

be the story of a legendary character 

in Latvian and European cultural life 

– cinema and theatre expert Valentīna 

Freimane, whose personal life story 

is closely linked with European and 

Latvian historical events. She is known 

as the Atlantis sunk in Riga, who, 

as a young girl fleeing from Fascist 

Germany, found herself in Riga, losing 

all the dreams she had at the beginning 

of the 1930’s in Berlin. Her family perished 

in the Holocaust. Having grown 

up in the Berlin cinema and theatre environment, 

in the Soviet times Valentīna 

Freimane became a teacher of Western 

culture and cinema for several generations 

of Latvians. 

Already in 2007, the Latvian National Opera, 

in cooperation with joint-stock company 

Kolonna Board Chairperson Ieva Plaude 

and the Cēsis Art Festival, announced a 

Latvian original opera competition, whose 

aim was to promote the development of 

the Latvian opera genre, creating largescale 

compositions for production at the 

Latvian National Opera. The Latvian original 

opera idea competition, which was 

won by the composer Arturs Maskats with 

his opera Valentīna has ended, and the 

implementation of the idea is planned in 

2014. The creative team of the new production 

includes libretto author Marts 

Pujāts, playwright Margarita Zieda and 

director Viesturs Kairišs. Together with the 

premiere of Valentīna, the National Opera 

would also demonstrate the documentary 

film about Valentīna Freimane by German 

cinema director Rosa von Praunheim, 

which he began work on in 2009. 

WHAT: Opera premiere. 

When: 2014 Latvian National Opera season 

- October. 

Where: Latvian National Opera. 

Concept authors: Latvian National Opera. 

Organiser: Latvian National Opera. 

58 59

survival kit 

Luxury replica | Andris Eglītis 

60

survival kit 

In extreme situations a person reveals the seemingly impossible 

about himself. The “Survival Kit” section of Riga’s 

programme invites you to investigate the arsenals of knowledge, 

skills and values at our disposal that could be useful 

in various different situations and circumstances or, on 

the other hand, prevent life from passing by – in mastering 

new talents, cultivating skills, gaining experiences and 

emotions. 

The “Survival Kit” could be seen as a return to basic truths and 

skills, or as a return to future basic needs in a person’s life, throwing 

oneself into a journey full of adventures in the IT jungles, coming 

into contact with world climate changes and surviving the 

economic crisis in an inventive manner. By fusing tradition with innovation, 

we acquire a new resource, instrument and experience, 

which show us the right path and help us to implement the plans 

conceived. The boundary between the trivial things in everyday 

life and global events is lost, because sometimes a trivial gesture 

can change the advancement of the world. The meadow flowers 

picked before Midsummer Day become a medicinal ointment, the 

amber thread acquired in a small laboratory provokes a revolution 

in medicine, experiments with new technology present solutions 

for obtaining new energy and adressing ecological problems. 

The contemporary need of city-dwellers within this understanding 

of force majeure is to know the old story of ‘how to make fire’: how 

to milk a cow, how to knit a sock, how to effectively collect and 

use energy, etc. Thereby, the theme ‘the rural returns to the city’ is 

not a contrast, but the ‘survival kit’ of the person of today, where 

knowledge, attitude and emotions stand next to the relatively 

pragmatic skills of everyday life. It is the ‘travel bag’, containing 

a symbolic loaf of bread, as well as spiritual wisdom that is both 

eternally young and as old as time. The travel bag will contain the 

single match with which a fire must be lit, just like in scout camp, 

as well as a couple of books which might have changed your life 

and become trusted travel companions. It may also contain a 

secret talisman, evidence of a mystical experience that at times 

helps more than rational arguments and sensible advice. 

The “Survival Kit” is an invitation to unleash the creative spirit that 

lies dormant within every individual, at times serving as a test, 

as a trial of our thinking and behavioural capacity, our ability to 

quickly analyse situations and take extraordinary decisions, to 

achieve surprising results with minimum resources, to find witty 

and innovative solutions. 

Joseph Beuys in his time asserted that anyone can be an artist. 

He also defined the so-called social sculpture, meaning that 

society as a whole is regarded as a work of art, with every individual 

contributing to its construction with his or her creative potential. 

In his way, Beuys changed the trajectory of artistic development, 

inviting us to merge life with art, with everyone interacting 

and becoming creative. 

What can an artist do in this situation? Develop audacious experiments 

and surrender to creative explosion, using the current situation 

for his own benefit. If it is not an appropriate time for heroic 

narratives and large-scale representative events, one can turn to 

daily quests for poetry, footnote comments, spontaneous demonstrations 

and interventions. With minimum resources one can 

obtain surprising results, bring to life witty ideas with DIY (do-ityourself), 

arte povera, ready-made resources, the help of performances 

and campaigns, making use of Fluxus strategies. 

The “Survival Kit” is an invitation to develop life in the way that we 

wish to see it, just like with minimum resources surprising works of 

art can be created. Everything is in our own hands. The universal 

‘survival kit’ recipe might be as follows: 20% bravery, 20% knowledge, 

10% endurance, 10% resourcefulness, 40% creativity. 

63

handbag-balcony 

The balcony – a Riga inhabitant’s ‘handbag’ 

or object of investigation that reveals 

the lifestyle of a city-dweller, as 

well as being a reminder of the flowergrowing 

& presenting traditions typical 

to Latvia and promoting idea of gardens 

in the very heart of the city, about the cohabitation 

of nature with urban space. 

By involving, for example, the residents of 

Freedom Street, we will become familiar 

with contemporary culture and the lifestyle 

of today in Riga, simultaneously creating a 

common visual image of the street. 

Within the framework of the event the residents 

of Freedom Street and other streets 

(inhabitants, institution workers) will document 

(photograph, film) their own and/or 

their neighbour’s balconies, thereby forming 

a collection of visual evidence that any 

interested party will be able to view, using 

internet resources (eg. www.draugiem.lv, 

www.serde.lv). Each photograph, evidence 

of today’s history, will be exchanged 

for flower or herb seeds and the Riga ECC 

festival flag. By planting the seeds in a pot 

on a balcony, the balconies on Freedom 

Street (and other enthusiasts involved in 

the project) will provide a colourful touch 

to the culmination of the festivities and be 

distinguishable by their flowers, and flags. 

Flowers are not the only thing that can be 

grown on balconies to add colour, but teas 

and herbs may also be planted, thereby 

promoting the balcony as a city-dweller’s 

garden, chemist’s, etc., that is permanently 

close by and an essential component of 

daily life. The event will promote a feeling 

of community involvement, as well as encouraging 

us to think about the interaction 

of nature and urban space, about the antagonism 

between the countryside and the 

city and the necessary balance that is an 

essential element of our ‘survival kit’. 

Before project implementation an educational 

and informative campaign will be 

carried out in the mass media, reaching 

out to the target audience and involving 

inhabitants in the project. 

What: Investigative, aesthetically ecological 

project aimed towards the participation 

of society. 

Where: Buildings with balconies 

on Freedom Street. 

When: March-September. 

Concept authors and organisers: 

Interdisciplinary Art Group Serde, 

www.serde.lv. 

weaving marathon 

Weaving marathon – the popularisation 

of the traditional skill of weaving 

and its contemporary interpretation. 

The old becomes the new, the unusable 

– useful, the forgotten – practical. 

Traditional culture – a guarantee of an 

environmentally friendly future. 

Weaving marathon on the street inside the 

shopping centre “Galerija Centrs” – with 

the aim of getting into the Guinness Book 

of Records with the longest rag rug, which 

could then be presented to the European 

Parliament. Over a month as many weaving 

looms as will fit will be set up inside 

the shopping centre. Each inhabitant and 

guest of Riga will be invited to contribute 

– to bring a piece of old clothing, cut 

into strips and with the help of a weaver, 

weave it into the communal rug himself. 

children’s festival 

“come and join in” 

How can children and young adults 

find their bearings in the wide array of 

options and find something they like 

doing in their free time and, maybe, 

even their future career? 

At the end of May, institutions in Riga that 

offer interest-related education will organise 

several events demonstrating the variety 

with which children occupy their free 

time through different forms of expression – 

singing, dancing, relaxing, playing sports, 

building, assembling, sewing, drawing, 

modelling, etc. At the end of August, open 

door days will be organised by the institutions, 

but on the first Saturday in September, 

at the start of the new school year, they will 

The basic principle behind the rag rug is to 

think about ecology and the huge supply 

of second-hand items, commonly known 

in Latvia as humpalas, sent from Europe to 

Latvia. We propose an original exchange 

– old clothes for lovingly woven rag rugs. 

In parallel to the weaving marathon workshops 

will be organised – artistic and 

amateur interpretations connected to the 

skills of weaving, embroidery and knitting, 

involving textile and fibre artists (for example, 

Pēteris Sidaris, Egīls Rozenbergs and 

others). As a result, knitted items, textiles 

and souvenirs from plastic and other modern 

fibres will be created. By organising 

master workshops and screening a video 

documentary demonstrating the skills of 

craftsmen met on expeditions organised 

by Serde and inviting artists to demonstrate 

a creative approach to the use of 

material, we invite city-dwellers and visitors 

to think of the best ways of using skills and 

take up residence in Vērmanes Garden. 

During the event, children will be offered 

creative workshops and a concert, as well 

as opportunity of taking part in many different 

campaigns and activities. 

What: Creative workshops, events programme, 

concert in Vērmanes Garden. 

Where: Vērmanes Garden, 14 institutions 

of interest-related education and primary 

school Rīdze. 

When: End of May and end of August, 

early September. 

Concept author: Māra Vilciņa. 

Organisers: Riga City Council, Department 

of Education, Youth and Sport, Division of 

interest-related education. 

Cooperation partners: 14 institutions of 

interest-related education and primary 

school Rīdze, NGO’s that provide interestrelated 

educational programmes. 

contemporary materials more inventively 

and to create their own souvenir. 

What: Interactive event with an ecological 

approach. 

Where: On the ancient Riga street in the 

trading centre “Galerija Centrs”. 

When: May. 

Concept authors AND organisers: Ilga 

Reizniece, Interdisciplinary Art Group 

Serde, www.serde.lv. 

Cooperation partners: Professionals, artists, 

craftsmen and amateurs, studios of 

weaving and traditional applied art, State 

Agency of Intangible Cultural Heritage. 

64 65

city laboratory 

A city is usually a polygon of creative 

ideas, a stage for topical events, an 

indicator and catalyst of change. By 

reacting to the changes in Riga’s urban 

space and its social texture with 

art resources we can test scenarios of 

city development and propose strategies 

for creative survival. 

In autumn 2009, The project “Survival Kit” 

will begin a large-scale demonstration of 

contemporary art in Riga’s public space, 

which will continue to develop and expand 

up to 2014. The city will become a 

type of laboratory and polygon of ideas. 

Every year, attention will be paid to current 

events and problems of the time, while following 

the city’s development trends, both 

planned and spontaneous, as well as the 

changes in the city’s social environment. 

Currently to how this year artists are being 

invited to react to the situation caused by 

the economic crisis by creating their work 

in empty shop premises and the city’s central 

shopping streets, using the DIY strategy 

and offering attractive solutions for 

beating the crisis. 

50 artists and groups of artists from Latvia, 

Europe and other countries are invited to 

take part in the “City Laboratory”. Artists 

would create work within the context of the 

location and its particular issues, which 

would be based on the actual problems of 

the time and address a wide section of society. 

Within the framework of the project, 

objects of art, installations, video and 

photo documentaries, interactive provocations, 

performances and campaigns would 

take shape. Many of the projects would develop 

in cooperation with local inhabitants, 

city planners and various social groups. 

They could serve as testing platforms for 

future scenarios of city development and 

communication models between different 

ethnic and social groups. The “City 

Laboratory” would be supplemented by 

discursive events (film reviews, presentations, 

joint breakfasts and discussions, 

tours of ‘untamed’ places, etc), as well as 

seminars and creative workshops, at which 

artists, architects, city planners and local 

inhabitants would come together. 

What: Exhibition, campaigns, performances, 

discursive events, seminars. 

Where: Riga city environment, untraditional 

exhibition sites. 

When: September, various activities already 

in the period from 2009–2013. 

Concept authors and organisers: 

Contemporary Art Museum 

Cooperation partners: Iaspis (Sweden), 

FRAME (Finland), eipcip (Austria), Lentos 

(Austria), Zachenta gallery (Poland), 

MACBA (Spain). 

fitness for fit 

An educational programme for curators 

of performing art festivals is an initiative 

that takes a completely new direction to 

the training of festival curators, based 

on thought and an unusual approach 

to organising art festivals. A new challenge 

for the materialisation of thought 

in the performing arts, developing as a 

result of international cooperation. 

The International Association “Festivals 

in Transition” (FIT) unites eight innovative 

contemporary theatre festivals from 

eight European countries. The Association 

has broad experience in organising various 

international educational and artistic 

projects. The Association is developing a 

new international project uniting the processes 

of education and creative practice, 

inviting its participants not just to learn 

but also to carry out practical work in the 

chosen sector. The participants are 24 

other riga dancers’ 

festival 

curators with previous experience from different 

European countries. 

What/where/when: 

2011 – Management Academy, intensive 

training in practical management, production 

and co-production, acquisition of 

finances, local and international cooperation, 

etc. 

2012 – 8 seminars at various European festivals 

throughout the whole year. Seminar 

topics: art and ecology, science, biotechnology, 

festivals, sociology, art and the 

city, globalisation, politics, the individual, 

art and sustainability. 

2012–2013 – 8-10 of the best curators will 

begin work at different festivals throughout 

Europe. Two of them will take up employment 

at the New Theatre Institute of 

Latvia (NTIL) and take part in the creation 

and organisation of the performing arts 

programme for Riga – European Capital 

of Culture. A summer camp will also take 

place in this year – the curators involved 

in all the practical work will meet with the 

largest dance performances of the previous 

years will be performed, as well as completely 

new dances that received awards in 

the 2009 New Dance Creation Competition. 

world’s most progressive and talented artistic 

festival managers. 

2014 – programme of performing arts in 

Riga – European Capital of Culture. As a 

result we acquire a new and creative generation 

of performing arts festival curators 

in Latvia and Europe, as well as a team of 

curators in which NTIL employees and curators 

from other European countries work 

together. As a result a unique programme 

specifically created for Riga - the European 

Capital of Culture emerges, created by 

the cooperation of the leading European 

festivals. 

Concept authors/organisers/cooperation 

partners: International Festival of New 

Theatre Homo Novus, New Theatre 

Institute of Latvia (Riga), festival Spielart 

(Munchen), Warsaw Theatre Festival 

(Warsaw), International Theatre Festival 

Divadelna Nitra (Nitra), Exodos Festival 

(Lubljana), London International Theatre 

Festival LIFT, Baltic Circle Festival 

(Helsinki), “4+4 Days in Motion” (Prague). 

art + communications 

In 2014, the “Art+Communications” festival 

will put matters of social ecology on 

the agenda, addressing the mutual relations 

between modern society and the 

technological environment created by it. 

The current global crisis with its different 

local expressions demands new ideas 

and attitudes in all sectors – from design 

to manufacture. Issues of sustainable, 

alternative and ecological ways of using 

technology become increasingly relevant. 

The festival will strive to examine the role of 

artists in resolving socio-ecological issues 

and the potential provided by the cooperation 

of artists, scientists and specialists in 

technology in creating the society of the 

future. 

In the festival programme of introductory 

events the organisation of creative workshops 

is expected, audiovisual performances, video 

lectures/film programmes and a small exhibition. 

Within the framework of the festival an 

interactive installation in Riga’s public space 

is envisaged, as well as a grand scale international 

media art exhibition, international 

art and science conference, a programme of 

audiovisual performance and video lectures 

and programme of films. 

What: Festival. 

Where: RIXC Media space and Spīķeri, 

Riga’s city gallery. 

When: Introductory programme – April, 

festival – October, exhibition – October, 

November. 

Concept authors and organisers: RIXC producers 

group (Rasa Šmite, Raitis Šmits 

and others), http://rixc.lv. 

Cooperation partners: Laboratory of Art 

Research, University of Liepāja. 

By inviting non-dancers to dance the challenge 

is twofold: not just to learn how to 

dance, but also to step onto a large stage 

together with experienced dancers. 

Dancing traditions in Riga are strong – dozens 

of dance groups exist, but the number 

of dancers can be measured in thousands; 

once every 5 years the Latvian Nationwide 

Dance Celebration takes place and the 

Riga Dancers’ Festival has also become a 

stable and annual tradition, in which dance 

groups specifically from Riga participate. In 

the Grand Performance of Latvian dance 

this year, 1809 dancers from 53 Riga dance 

groups will take part. Dances from the 

However, in spite of that there are still people 

who have never danced and when invited 

to do so, reply ‘I don’t dance!’ The aim 

of “The Other Riga Dancers’ Festival” is to 

specifically invite those people to dance 

who have not danced before, to create a 

dance group of non-dancers. 

The group formed will be challenged to 

learn a dance within one month, proving to 

themselves first of all, that there is no such 

thing as an impossible challenge. The performance 

of the newly-formed group will be 

included in the concert “The Riga Dancers’ 

Festival 2014”, alongside the programme 

prepared by experienced dancers. 

What: Campaign-concert. 

Where: Arēna Rīga. 

When: May. 

Concept author: “Untitled” Ltd. 

Cooperation partners: Institutions of the 

Riga City Council, Department of Culture, 

amateur dance groups of the city of Riga. 

66 67

living pictures from 

domestic scenes 

of centuries 

How have we survived through centuries? 

Where is our – Riga inhabitants’ 

– strength hidden? The answers may 

be sought in the testimonies of history, 

skills and knowledge, which we have 

known how to use and preserve. 

The history of Riga will be demonstrated 

in a theatrical manner at practical workshops, 

where anyone may step into a specific 

period of time or character, such as a 

baroness, washerwoman, smithy, cobbler 

and others. 

A staged environment conjures up Riga 

with scenes from the 17 th century and then 

transports us through the ages up to today. 

The multicultural environment rooted in the 

events of Riga’s history is marked with its 

different social groups - Latvians, Russians 

and Hebrews, rich and poor, ordinary inhabitants 

and aristocrats. The ‘survival kit’ 

of each of these ethnic and social groups is 

quite different. What is important for one is 

not always seen as suitable by the others. 

This is confirmed by different eating traditions, 

festivals, clothing, customs, songs 

and jokes. A person cannot live from bread 

alone. At times long-forgotten wisdom or 

an old joke helps save us from seemingly 

hopeless situations. 

What: Theatrical performance with practical 

activities. 

Where: Museum of the History of Riga and 

Navigation, National Museum of Art, or the 

Mentzendorff’s House, or the House of the 

Blackheads, Latvian Ethnographic Open 

Air Museum, the Centre for Children and 

Young Adults Rīgas skolēnu pils. 

When: May. 

Concept authors: Dina Liepa, Valdis Egle, 

Ināra Jankovska – Rīgas skolēnu pils 

www.rsp.lv. 

Organisers: Riga City Council, Department 

of Education, Youth and Sport, Division 

of Interest-related education, Rīgas 

skolēnu pils. 

Cooperation partners: Museum of the 

History of Riga and Navigation, the 

Mentzendorff’s House, National Museum 

of Art, Latvian Ethnographic Open Air 

Museum, Association of Latvia’s Castles, 

Palaces and Manors, the school and 

museum of Vendem (Holland), Rostock 

Centre for Children and young adults 

(Germany). 

teaching talents 

with no boundaries 

Within their lifetime, each person acquires 

knowledge, skills and values. 

Everyone has a talent – a field in which 

they excel. Talent draws out creative 

energy, and can be useful as a “survival 

kit” in many different conditions 

and situations. 

The creative festival “Teaching Talents 

With No Boundaries” invites city dwellers 

from different countries to come together, 

with one thing in common – teaching, but 

also something that is different – their 

talent. Talent helps us to creatively resolve 

different situations in life both on a daily 

basis and to resolve future tasks. 

By watching and taking part in the displays 

of different talents, members will be able 

to understand their significance today. It 

could be the ‘survival kit’ in each person’s 

‘travel bag’, to be passed on to future 

generations. 

The festival’s aim is to promote the creative 

activities of teachers, as well as their selfinitiative 

and self-expression. Teachers 

demonstrate their talents. Potential types 

of participation: drama, vocal art, musical 

performances, poetry, recitations, dance, 

folklore, applied art, fine art, photography 

etc. During the festival, demonstrations of 

creativity, talent shows and performances 

will take place. In 2013 the festival will take 

place in Riga’s partnership towns, but in 

2014, the best participants will meet in Riga 

at the joint talent festival “Talent Knows No 

Boundaries”. 

What: Displays of creativity, talent shows, 

performances. 

Where: Riga’s Centre for Education and 

Informative Methodology, www.riimc.lv 

When: 2013–2014 in Riga and the 

partnership towns, November 2014 - 

culmination in Riga. 

Concept authors: Riga’s Centre for 

Education and Informative Methodology, 

www.riimc.lv. 

Organisers: Riga’s Centre for Education 

and Informative Methodology 

www.riimc.lv. 

Cooperation partners: Riga’s partner 

towns. 

68 69

ancient sign – 

ancient riga 

If we imitate the environment in which 

our ancestors once lived, can we imagine 

their understanding of the world, 

their way of thinking and feeling? 

Just as in childhood, by putting on a 

knight’s mask, we can practically feel 

the horse’s back. By learning longforgotten 

skills and roaming along the 

ancient settlement paths with the experience 

of today, we tie the past and 

the present into a knot. 

On the site of ancient settlements on the 

Esplanade or the green territory of Zaķusala 

(Hare Island), an ancient settlement is being 

explanatory dictionary 

of the sciences and 

esoteric sciences 

Both the material and the esoteric 

world with their laws are an invincible 

force that man tries to explore 

and reveal. Attempts to understand 

the world’s conformity to natural laws 

is the eternal impulse in a person’s 

life, which also allows for the perception 

of the preconditions of individual 

existence. 

Within the framework of the project, close 

cooperation will take place between artists 

and scientists to create works of art 

together, based on scientific experiments, 

attempting to explain the so-called obvious, 

but unbelievable. The artist’s point 

of view and vision would be connected 

to experiments of physics and chemistry, 

established, made up of wooden buildings, 

the tents of craftsmen and traders, training 

ground of ancient combatants, games, 

competitions, trading, animals, etc. In one 

of the fields, international competitions in 

axe throwing and archery are taking place, 

or contests between masters of trickery with 

fire. Ancient craft workshops allow visitors 

to try their hand at pottery, forging, leatherwork, 

weaving etc. Viking ships are moored 

in the River Daugava. 

In the market place haggling is going on, 

goods are praised in turn with jesting. 

Alongside ecological products, traditional 

Liv and Latvian items may be bought – 

blankets, socks, forged items, wooden 

carvings, etc. Culinary competitions take 

place and food prepared according to ancient 

recipes may be sampled. 

as well as elements of other sciences, in 

trying to explain the events of the world 

around us. 

In the public parks of the city of Riga, 10 

objects – stained glass windows – will 

be installed. In each of these a scientific 

experiment model will be displayed. The 

models will be created by groups of scientists 

and artists. Scientists and artists from 

Latvia and abroad will be invited to take 

part in the project. 

What: Exhibition in the public space. 

Where: Vērmanes Garden, Kronvalda 

Park, Esplanade. 

When: May. 

Concept authors: Inga Bodnarjuka, Gints 

Gabrāns, Aigars Bikše, Kristaps Gulbis. 

Organisers and cooperation partners: 

Art Management and Information Centre. 

In parallel, the game “Unravel the tale of 

Riga” is played, with the opportunity of 

guessing and uncovering various facts 

and details from the history of Riga. The 

game is constructed as a series of tasks, 

also partly as an orienteering game, a test 

of resourcefulness and knowledge with 

anagrams and secret texts. The winners 

are awarded amusing prizes. 

What: Ancient skills in the open-air, market, 

competitions. 

Where: Esplanāde or Zaķusala. 

When: Summer. 

Concept authors and organisers: Julgī 

Stalte, the Riga Group of the Liv Union. 

literary food rations 

The “Survival Kit” contains the literary 

values of Latvia, Europe and the world 

that will be ‘read’ throughout the year. 

Each country will create spiritual food 

rations from their country’s literary baggage. 

From the literary works of their 

country, writers will select and create 

a unique ‘survival kit’ of literature that 

could help man to overcome existential 

conditions, and face everyday problems. 

Regular literature readings are anticipated, 

in which prose-writers from Latvia of different 

generations and nationalities will 

environment unites 

The surrounding environment is one 

of the components forming a person’s 

personality. This project is a challenge 

to people to create their own environment 

in which they live, making the 

common city-environment their own, 

investing their own work, ideas and energy. 

To show how it is done and invite 

others to participate. 

The “Design For All” movement throughout 

Europe promotes the tidying of the 

environment and an understanding about 

the involvement of different social levels 

and social groups in creating a tidy environment, 

which also facilitates their 

inclusion in the social circuit. Within the 

framework of the “Design For All” programme, 

creative workshops, seminars, 

conferences and a competition to improve 

the city environment are organized. 

Designers and architects from abroad, 

for example, the French Association Bruit 

du frigo, are involved in developing individual 

creative workshops and the issue 

of the urban environment. 

take part, as well as authors from abroad. 

Writers will read their own works and those 

of their colleagues, including the classics. 

It is planned to invite not just writers to perform, 

but also authors involved in poetry, 

journalism and other sectors of art, who, 

for example would be involved in events like 

“Short Breakfast Story” or “Long Stories for 

Evening Sittings”. 

The events will reveal the newest works and 

trends in literature developing in Latvia and 

Europe; will promote an interest in Latvian 

literature to a wide audience; allow visitors 

to compare works of Latvian literature with 

interesting examples from abroad; will give 

the opportunity for different generations of 

Initially, designer and architect groups in 

Riga’s catchment areas will carry out a 

survey to determine the issues that need 

resolving. Society is involved through various 

surveys, for example, about the necessity 

for footpaths, waste bins, information 

boards, lighting, public transport stops, 

children’s playgrounds and other issues. 

Based on the results collected, an appropriate 

solution will be sought. 

Every month for one weekend, an educational 

and practical creative workshop linked with 

design will take place in one of the catchment 

areas, led by designers, revealing ways in 

which anyone can change the surrounding 

environment with minimum resources. 

A street drawing competition will be organised 

in which new designers and graffiti 

artists, as well as local inhabitants will be 

invited to participate. Such cooperation 

promotes an understanding by the inhabitants 

of catchment areas about the 

broad range of options for humanizing the 

environment. 

A travelling Latvian design store 

“DesignDrive” will be unveiled, displaying 

writers to perform with readings of new and, 

mostly, unpublished works or their fragments. 

Writers’ debates about the role and 

position of literature in Europe are planned. 

What: Literary readings. 

Where: Riga’s cafés, small theatre stages, 

artist premises, museums, etc. 

When: January – November 2014 (twice a 

month), culmination in December 2014. 

Concept authors: Jānis Oga, Marika 

Papēde, Arita Gutāne, www.literature.lv. 

Organisers: “Latvian Literature Centre “. 

Cooperation partners: European literature 

centre network Literature Across Frontiers 

and European Writers Unions and others, 

www.lit-across-frontiers.org. 

and selling items by new designers. The 

campaign will take place in parallel to various 

cultural events or in catchment areas 

near department stores and at annual markets, 

assembling a new target audience 

and acquainting the greater part of society 

with design. 

What: Creative workshops, campaigns, 

seminars, art in the public space. 

Where: Riga city environment, catchment 

areas, cafés and clubs, recreational and 

shopping centres, young adult informal 

meeting places. 

When: April-October. 

Activities already begin in 2010. 

Concept authors: Design Innovation Centre 

in cooperation with Design Information 

Centre, www.dic.lv. 

Organisers and cooperation partners: 

Design Innovation Centre in cooperation 

with Design Information Centre, unions 

of new designers, “Tasty”, “Rijada” 

and “Directdesign” and others., nongovernmental 

youth organisation Sinergy 

fonds, Latvian and Russian schools from 

Pļavnieki, trading centres “Rimi”, “Jysk”, 

Health centre Pļavnieki, Children’s social 

care centre Pļavnieki and others. 

70 71

72 

road map

oad map 

The greater part of mankind lives in cities. The conditions created 

by the urban environment form the dense weave of everyday 

rituals and participate in forming the signification of private 

and public space. A city is not only made up of buildings and 

carriageways, but rather by containers of meaning, flows of 

information, language grids and vectors of varied pressure. 

Cities are like living organisms that can grow dynamically 

and aggressively, as well as being helpless, confused and 

diminishing. They can be led by the dynamics of the explosive 

development of ‘generic cities’ (Rem Koolhaas) grounded 

in the pragmatism of capitalism. Or, it might be the global 

city defined by Saskia Sassen, in which the local is found in 

constant interaction with the global. It may be assumed that 

a city grows by itself. 

The language of a city is determined by the urban rituals, navigational 

signs and gestures that are integrated and brought to life 

in the complex social network. Cities create a multitude of platforms, 

offering a common living space for individuals of different 

cultures and identities, activating the transformation of the private 

and public space, catalysing the collision of differing positions 

and nursing the spirit of resistance. 

Just as in the recipe of a refined dish meal, a multitude of ingredients 

blend together in the language of the city, the proportion 

determining each city’s unique flavour. The “mental” cartography 

of Riga is formed by the historical architecture of the Old Town, 

the Jugendstil of Albert Street and the pavilions of the Central 

Market - the former zeppelin hangars. It is also formed by the urban 

archaeology of Soviet times, the so-called “high-rise areas” of 

the city, allotments in the city centre, the annual trek to Bolderāja 

by the members of the Unprecedented Sensations Restoration 

Workshop, the Art Day demonstrations in the station tunnels, the 

creative dynamics of Andrejsala and Spīķeri, the silhouettes of 

the Sun Stone building and the Ministry of Agriculture, the 9 th May 

gatherings by the Victory Monument and singing people returning 

from the Song Celebration on the night-time trams. 

“Road Map” is an alternative plan, which allows everyone to find 

his or her own Riga, hidden under the city facades and found in 

the minds of people – a Riga that has passed, forgotten due to 

new historical, social and political grounds. “Road map” is a plan 

and at the same time a detour from the usual sights observed by 

tourists. The road map idea is the integration of inhabitants in the 

creation of new routes that would not just be roads in the physical 

and direct sense. They would reveal and create a new circulation 

system for the city. “Road Map” incorporates short-term 

and long-term objectives. The short-term objective is to open up 

original city locations for cooperation and accessibility, neighbourhood 

stories, memories and events. The long-term objective 

is to develop Riga as a city with many active centres, each one 

standing out with its unique character and originality. 

“Road Map” invites local inhabitants, city researchers and guests 

to seek their own Riga, not by confronting the city centre with its 

suburbs, but trying to find and highlight the specific local features 

and unique atmosphere of each place. 

At times the inhabitants of the suburbs live a completely parallel 

life to the city centre. These are people for whom going to the city 

centre once a week is to “go into town”, whose daily lives are spent 

moving around within the borders of catchment areas, from work 

to the shop and from the shop back home, and whose evenings 

are spent working on the allotment or chatting to the neighbours 

in the yard. The suburbs are also occupied by the inhabitants of 

the so-called high-rise areas, who crowd into the public transport 

shelters to travel to the city centre and return to their homes late in 

the evening, and therefore never finding out who lives in the next 

door apartment. 

“Road Map” tries to address the inhabitants of the suburbs and 

outskirts of Riga, surprising them like a force majeure in their familiar 

paths from the shop to their home, and by integrating into 

the various forms of the area’s infrastructure, trying to address the 

section of society that might never wander into an art gallery or 

museum or attend any other alternative cultural event, and involve 

them in the processes of culture. 

Marginal territories are drawn into the centre of attention and 

the anthropological texture of the local environment becomes a 

source of inspiration for well-known directors. Instead of “Hamlet”, 

the “Tales of Bolderāja” are produced, the inhabitants of high-rise 

blocks unnoticed until now, become the heroes of books and the 

inhabitants of buildings are invited to find out more about the different 

cultural traditions of their neighbours and discover a new 

dimension of experiences. Road map invites you to find out more 

about each other and get to know each other better. Torņakalns 

goes visiting Ķengarags and the Centre visits Purvciems. 

Guests to the city who wish to look at Riga from another angle are 

also invited to head for the suburbs, to see what happens outside 

the representative part of the city centre and to get to know its 

‘secret places’. It is an invitation to go on a psycho-geographical 

journey, similar to the flâneur formulated by Walter Benjamin, succumbing 

to seemingly aimless wandering around the city or using 

the dérive method favoured by situationists, which describes the 

spontaneous propulsion through various zones of the city. 

“Road Map” in these journeys serves as a guide, as a type of 

compass that is pointed towards a different Riga each time. 

These might be excursions that illuminate the different segments 

of Riga’s history – the Soviet period in Riga, communal apartments, 

interiors, air raid shelters, the industrial heritage of Riga, 

old factories, specific architecture and manufacturing facilities, 

Hebrew Riga, a city that has arranged itself around more than 40 

islands, Bohemian Riga, design city, a cyclist’s Riga, etc. “Road 

Map” not only invites you to get to know previously little known 

parts of the town, but also to briefly open the door to rooms where 

people are not usually allowed, such as water towers, weather 

stations, the backstage of theatres, etc. 

Poetry, music and city noises that transform into the art of sounds, 

literature that allows you to take on the role of a book character 

and see the city with different eyes, are all instruments used for 

the exploration of the city and the search for unusual viewpoints. 

Local libraries, interest-related educational institutions, local cultural 

centres and schools wake up as vital epicentres for culture. 

New creative platforms are also created, which for a time come to 

life as testing laboratories in various city quarters and, with the cooperation 

of artists, actors and musicians, together with the local 

inhabitants, create a new Riga – a city whose main and invincible 

force will be culture. 

74 75

film 

force majeure. riga 

The documentary made by a team of 

9 European documentary film producers, 

will be a tale about Riga as Riga 

itself would never see it, and a tale 

about Riga as the world has never 

seen or heard it. It would be the first 

21 st century anthropological film collection 

about Riga that has the potential 

to be shown at documentary film 

festivals and in cinemas, as well as on 

television throughout the world. 

By nature, the Riga inhabitant is active, 

educated and loves the cinema, but more 

as an observer. He becomes curious when 

a film is shot at the start of the 21st century 

when the film camera is no longer 

something exclusive, because anyone can 

film themselves and their surroundings 

using their mobile phones and show it to 

the world straightaway; we have arrived 

at the inflation of documentary pictures. 

Slow and rooted in reflection, documentary 

cinema is a contemporary alternative 

that Latvian inhabitants in their time have 

learned about through their school of documentary 

cinema: Ivars Seleckis “Sidestreet” 

(Šķērsiela), Herc Frank’s “Older by 

ten minutes” (Par desmit minūtēm vecāks). 

The poetic documentary cinema style of 

Riga has entered European history as evidence 

of fearless cinematography. 

“Force Majeure. Riga” is a project that 

will be developed by 9 documentary film 

makers recognised in Europe, including 7 

European documentary film directors together 

with Latvian documentary cinema 

classics, Ivars Seleckis and Herc Frank, with 

each one creating a story about a specific 

part of Riga, group of inhabitants, social 

or cultural phenomenon, encompassing 

as wide and diverse geographical, social 

and cultural territory as possible. The film 

project would take shape over three years 

and see Latvian socio-anthropologists cooperating 

with the most striking European 

documentary film producers¸ cameramen 

and Latvian producers. The aim of the 

project is to make use of cinema not just 

as an art form, but as a partnership form, 

with the Latvian socio-anthropologists involved 

carrying out field studies as part of 

the project in various parts of Riga, offering 

the European producers material for 

a documentary anthropology of man and 

location, on condition that the producers 

and socio-anthropologists involve a wide 

range of Riga inhabitants in creating the 

film, revealing their life stories, lifestyles 

and historical and contemporary nuances. 

It is planned to involve well-known European 

film directors such as Andreas Veiel from 

Germany, Arunas Matelis from Lithuania, 

Heddy Honigman from Holland, Viktor 

Kosakovsky from Russia, Nicholas Philibert 

from France, Jorgen Leth from Denmark, 

Molly Dineen from Great Britain, Herc Frank 

and Ivars Seleckis (Latvia). Each director 

would create a 15 minute long documentary 

film as part of the documentary film project 

Force Majeure. Riga. 

The film’s premiere would take place 

in September 2014 during the “Baltic 

Documentary See” forum, showing the film 

in special screenings in those parts of Riga 

where the film project was filmed. The result 

of the film, Force Majeure. Riga will be 

an international art and science project – 

several new documentary films created by 

professional anthropologists together with 

the best directors and cameramen in this 

genre. The films are meant for Latvian and 

international audiences, which in autumn 

2014, in addition to screenings in Riga, will 

be shown at film festivals worldwide, distributing 

it to foreign television. The project 

would in its way be a type of testimony of 

an era, creating a new type of cinema at 

a time when there is talk of the simplification 

of cinema language - with involvement 

and a love of cinema typical of the Riga 

identity. 

What: Anthropological documentary 

cinema. 

When: 2011-2013 film creation, 2014 – film 

premiere. 

Concept author: Student of anthropology 

Gundega Laiviņa. 

Organisers: Latvian National Film Centre, 

“Mistrus Media”, Environmental Film 

Studio, Juris Podnieks Studio. 

76 77

alternative city guide 

To find the city within the city. To go 

on psycho-geographical wanderings 

and get lost in one’s city, discovering 

a completely different, as yet unknown 

place. Accompanied by an experienced 

guide, an urban guru, discover the city’s 

hidden zones, sneak behind the lining 

of the city and get to know the local 

folklore. 

Cities as labyrinths of meaning and polygons 

of adventure have always tempted 

not just curious inhabitants but also city 

guests. Not in vain has the movement of 

city diggers and waders recently developed; 

the wish to discover the city from a 

different angle has been activated. 

One of the thematic lines of the activities 

by the Latvian Centre for Contemporary Art 

(LCCA) which over time has been developed 

in several projects, is the city, urban space, 

its mapping and study (“City. Tales about 

Riga”, 2002, re:publika 2004, “Urbanologic”, 

2007 etc). Several thematic tours have been 

organised and a guidebook has been published. 

Therefore, LCCA in cooperation with 

city researchers, experts, artists and other 

creative people will expand the initiated progression 

and organise a cycle of excursions 

to unknown places in Riga, as well as issuing 

an alternative Riga guide. 

These unique excursions will introduce 

the different faces of Riga, reveal the city 

within the city, going on tours along paths 

that have never been included in the usual 

tourist routes. There will be an opportunity 

to discover Soviet Riga, whose imprint can 

still be found on the interiors of several cafes, 

Spilve Airport and others; participants 

will experience the charm of communal 

apartments and drink a glass of tea in the 

kitchen, while listening to the host’s tales 

of former times. Small groups of interested 

parties will be offered exclusive visits to the 

houses of interesting characters. 

Another Riga will be sought, both getting to 

know the multicultural history of the city and 

highlighting its social texture. Guests could 

get to know Hebrew Riga, take a walk through 

the Russian Riga in the Moscow district, visit 

the Grīziņkalns workers’ area and track the territory 

of the Vārnu Street republic. During captivating 

trips, excursions round the industrial 

heritage zones would be offered, which, just 

like a history book, recount the city’s life story, 

confirming that the Ērenpreiss Company, 

design map 

“Design Map” is an alternative plan for 

re-discovering the unknown Riga, industrial 

Riga, the third largest industrial centre 

of Russia in the early 20 th century, the 

manufacturing and design pride of the 

Latvian state and the USSR, the achievements 

of the renewed Latvia. The design 

map will introduce Latvian achievements 

in design in the past and today. 

The design map will show the Riga that 

thinks of its citizens, their comfort, so that 

they all might feel good in their city. Bars 

and cafes with contemporary interiors, historically 

preserved design statements, small 

architectural forms and city environment, 

designer hotels and shops, innovative gastronomy 

and high class service design, a 

new library with its proposed opportunities. 

Places and people that are associated with 

design. The city creates its maps. We offer 

a design map of Riga that includes design 

objects 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 material 

and as an interactive option. Objects and 

places are marked with special symbols. 

Throughout the year, with its culmination 

Ķuze sweet factory or VEF and others are not 

just forgotten trademarks. Many of the excursions 

would be summarised in small guidebooks 

that would be regularly updated and 

form the ‘collected works’ of Riga. 

It is also planned to publish a large alternative 

guidebook of Riga with the participation 

of artists (Ieva Epnere, Līga Laurenoviča, 

Ēriks Božis and others), writers (Agnese 

Krivade, Margita Zālīte, group Orbīta), sociologists 

and others, in its creation. The 

guidebook would be created as a valuable 

interdisciplinary project and would include 

during the “Design Days” in October 2014, 

a string of exhibitions will take place in the 

museums of Riga: 

• Each museum will create an exhibition in 

the museum or exhibition hall about achievements 

in the sector of manufacture and design, 

starting from the Latvian car manufacturing 

industry and VEF (State Electro-technical 

Factory), to porcelain, designer workshops 

(e.g. “Baltara” porcelain in the memorial 

apartment of Romans Suta and Aleksandra 

Belcova, or the activities of today’s most 

well-known designers in Latvia). For the Doll 

Museum this might be creative doll workshops 

for children and professional designers 

in cooperation with the Latvian Puppet 

Theatre and children’s theatre studios. 

• In the largest exhibition halls – thematic 

design exhibitions. 

• In the new Castle of Light an impressive 

display of graphic design that includes book 

graphics, applied graphics – posters, catalogues 

and informative publication graphics 

and other visual forms of communication. The 

history of Latvian graphic design up to today. 

• An exhibition about the creation of 

Latvian manufacturing or industrial design, 

as a base area choosing one of the most 

developed sectors of Latvian manufacturing 

– the furniture or textile industry. The exhibition 

will reflect the development of furniture 

original excursion routes, interviews with 

inhabitants, local folklore, writers’ essays, 

urban poetry, photographs etc. 

What: Guidebook of excursions. 

Where: Starts in March, guidebook 

presented in November. 


Concept authors: Latvian Centre for 

Contemporary Art (LCCA). 

Organisers: Latvian Centre for Contemporary 

Art (www.lcca.lv), Jānis Borgs, Industrial 

Heritage Fund (www.i-mantojums.lv), 

www.urbantrip.lv, www.bradajumi.lv. 

through different periods of time – the work 

of craftsmen, manufacturing opportunities, 

contemporary manufacturing, the training 

processes for specialists in design, technology, 

economics and business management, 

the work of experimental design laboratories, 

new product testing, the path of a 

product from the idea to the finished product, 

showing that good design is one of the 

instruments used for raising the quality of life 

and an added value indicator for goods. 

• Exhibition location – unused premises in 

the city centre or any of the former production 

units. 

What: Displays, exhibitions, seminars, 

conferences. Creative fields in the urban 

environment of Riga. City mapping. 

Where: Riga museums, galleries, exhibition 

centres, educational establishments, design 

bureaus and salons, manufacturers, design 

institutions and internet portals. 


Concept authors and organisers: Design 

Innovation Centre, Design Information 

Centre, www.dic.lv. 

Cooperation partners: Riga City 

Council, Latvian Ministry of Culture, 

Latvian Ministry of Economics, Latvian 

Investment and Development Agency, 

Riga’s museums and exhibition halls, 

businesses, design salons and bureaus. 

78 79

poetry mapping 

Untraditional city mapping, capturing 

streets, courtyards, places with poetry 

and visual image traps. 

Local poets, musicians, video artists and 

computer programmers will participate in 

the project and with the aid of technology 

and visualisation they will create a map of 

Riga expressed in poetry. It is virtual migration 

along the map of Riga in which the 

streets and catchment areas of Riga are 

marked out with control points and poetry 

path itineraries. All the information on the 

map is described in poetry, music and video 

projections. The map will be not only in 

Latvian, but also in Russian and English, 

thereby making it interesting material that 

could present Riga to guests from abroad. 

The “Poetry Mapping” aspires to portray 

Riga from a different viewpoint, namely, 

describing in poetical form what is typical 

of each street, area and location and also 

highlighting the significance of the place 

in the context of Riga’s history and culture. 

“Poetry Mapping” experiments with poetry 

reading and its perception. If poetry is 

usually perceived as vertically readable 

text, then under this project, the traditional 

poetry form is unravelled and explored 

horizontally. 

The ‘poetry map’ of Riga will be created 

both in printed and virtual form. Its presentation 

will take place as a performance 

– a virtual map will be projected on a video 

screen with parallel poetry readings (by the 

authors of the map’s poetry) taking place. 

What: Performance. 

Where: Riga. 

When: September1 st -14 th , 2014. 

Concept authors and organisers: Inga 

Bodnarjuka, Artūrs Punte, Latvian 

Association of Writers, text group Orbīta. 

my catchment area’s 

grand concert 

If a spectator won’t go to the music, then 

the music will go to the spectator. 

It is usual that popular open-air music 

events for young adults take place mostly 

in the centre and that young adults from 

the catchment areas head for the centre. 

With the help of the project “My Catchment 

Area’s Grand Concert”, it is hoped to ‘shift 

the centre’ by changing the habits of local 

inhabitants – taking young adults from 

Zolitūde to Purvciems or to show inhabitants 

in the centre that Riga does not stop 

outside the centre, to bring the cachment 

area’s to life, which will also be interesting 

to visitors to the city. 

“My Catchment Area’s Grand Concert” is 

planned as a body of several events – the 

performances of popular musicians in the 

courtyards of Pļavnieki high-rise blocks, 

dance music night in Zolitūde, Ķengarags 

reggae – anything that might be popular 

and appealing to young adults in 2014. 

12 concerts are planned in 12 cachment 

area’s: 

1. Zolitūde 

2. Ziepniekkalns 

3. Imanta 

4. Purvciems 

5. Pļavnieki 

6. Čiekurkalns 

7. Ilģuciems 

8. Ķengarags 

9. Bolderāja 

10. Mežciems 

11. Vecmīlgrāvis 

12. Sarkandaugava. 

What: Concerts. 

Where: Catchment areas of Riga. 

When: May-August. 

Concept author: “Untitled” Ltd. 

riga’s islands 

and waters 

The project presents the opportunity 

of learning about the more than 40 islands 

of Riga that until now have been 

little known territories, to meet with local 

inhabitants and hear many stories 

from the primary source. 

The project offers an excursion itinerary 

over several days along the islands of the 

lower reaches of the Daugava, getting 

around on foot, by bicycle, yacht and other 

floating vessels. At the stopping points 

along the route participants get to know 

the life of the Daugava islands: 

• Mangaļsala – fishermen and other water 

goers, mode of life, history. 

• Kundziņa island – community, interpretation 

of creative history. 

• Daugavgrīva – sculptors Pauls Jaunzems 

and Imants Polis in Vakarbuļļi, a picnic 

by the Lielupe, swimming in the sea 

and a look into the wealth of Daugavgrīva’s 

nature reserve, lighthouse, Cometfort; 

• Daugavgrīva fortress – a look at military 

history and its creative interpretation; 

• Bolderāja – the historical wooden 

buildings of Bolderāja, unknown parks, 

Textile Park, the former Hertvigs – Peitāns 

worsted production unit; Barracks – riflemen 

– artists – concerts and an exhibition 

in the Bolderāja School of Music and Arts. 

Parallel to this an information centre is being 

opened in the restored netting shed in 

Bolderāja opposite Mīlestības island (Love 

island), which operates as an exhibition hall 

and information centre, organising regular 

trips to the island, creative workshops, film 

screenings and exhibitions. 

Regular excursion routes reveal the industrial 

heritage of the lower reaches of the 

Daugava; known and unknown fortifications 

along the Daugava - Mangaļsala, 

Daugavgrīva, Daugavgrīva fortress, other 

fortifications and fortification remains. 

Military games, exhibitions and concerts 

are organised. 

What: Excursions, exhibitions, 

interdisciplinary events. 

Where: Islands of Riga. 

When: July–September. 

Concept authors and organisers: Bolderāja 

group. 

riga’s hamlet 

The leading European and Latvian 

directors are invited to produce performances 

in untraditional playing 

areas, encompassing the periphery 

and linking performances to specific 

geographical sites of Riga and the 

historical or social aspect. All invited 

artists in cooperation with local artists 

carry out a timely study of the city, its 

geography, history, inhabitants and 

social environment, in order to select 

a theme and focus for their performance. 

As a result, instead of “Hamlet” 

or “The Cherry Orchard”, “Small tragedies 

of Riga” or “Tales of Bolderāja” 

will be produced. 

For spectators, each performance will become 

not just a top-class feast of art but 

also a trip around the city, offering new 

experiences at different levels both for the 

existing theatre audiences and for the widest 

circle of inhabitants. This level of new 

production by artists will also attract the 

interest of international communities. 

Example: Romeo Castellucci and Societas 

Raffaello Sanzio (Italy) create a show – an 

installation in the water tower of Āgenskalns 

or in an abandoned place of worship, 

Rimini Protokoll (Germany) offer their tale 

about Riga’s inhabitants in the Spilve airport 

building, French acrobats and light artists 

from the company Trans Express take 

up residence at the Daugavgrīva fortress 

or the forts of Mangaļsala, environmental 

artist Kristo is invited to create an environmentally 

friendly installation on Mīlestības 

island (Love Island), but Alvis Hermanis and 

his actors inhabit a multi-apartment block in 

Ķengarags with their stories. Parallel to this, 

several smaller forms of theatre, dance and 

circus projects are created. 

The aim of this project is to achieve maximum 

cooperation of artists and inhabitants, 

both in creating performances and 

proposing them to various parts of the city, 

cultural centres and parks, attempting to 

consolidate the most varied communities, 

starting with the family, classroom, artist 

communities, the inhabitants of one street 

and finishing with society as a whole. In 

this programme, special emphasis would 

be placed on performing arts such as the 

travelling circus, muppet and object theatre, 

street theatre and dance, as well as 

interdisciplinary projects. 

What: Theatre, circus shows, 

performances. 

When: Starting in April. 

Where: Untraditional performance 

locations. 

Concept authors and organisers: New 

Theatre Institute of Latvia. 

80 81

iga for all, 

riga for everyone 

Since its foundation Riga has been 

open to representatives of various nations. 

The Road Map invites everyone 

to head on a journey to a personally 

undiscovered Riga – the Riga of other 

Riga inhabitants, increasing his or her 

knowledge with the skills rooted in the 

traditions of other people. 

The scenes of the lives of Riga’s national 

group inhabitants flow together in 

a unified whole and form a joint portrait 

characterised by its fascinating diversity. 

Performances by ethnic minority traditional 

culture groups will take place in the 

riga – at the crossroads 

of europe 

Is it possible to travel around Europe 

in a couple of days? Of course it is! 

This time this time it will be the young 

adults from Riga’s centres of interestrelated 

education who will take care 

of it, having carefully studied cultural 

traditions, history and contemporary 

current events of different European 

countries, they will develop a unique 

inquiry-based creative programme. 

Each interest-related educational institution 

selects its country or region, studies its 

cultural heritage, prepares performances, 

drawings or a photo exhibition etc. On the 

chosen day, Riga inhabitants and guests 

are invited to visit the interest-related educational 

institutions that are open throughout 

the day to offer a creative approach 

to the interpretation of Europe’s culture, a 

historical parts of Riga that are linked with 

the histories of the largest ethnic communities 

and investment in the joint portrait of 

Riga: in the Moscow quarter, Russian folklore 

groups will demonstrate Whitsuntide 

traditions, Polish groups will perform Polish 

songs at the Polish Gate, but on the open 

air stage in Vērmanes Garden, a dance 

marathon of ethnic minorities could take 

place, one after the other demonstrating 

the variety of cultures. 

The ‘survival kit’ of today’s Riga inhabitant, 

alongside the purely pragmatic everyday 

skills, also includes emotions, attitude and 

knowledge about our ancestors who developed 

Riga as we see it today – varied, 

multicultural and unique. Every person’s 

‘travel bag’ contains more or less carefully 

preserved traditions and a lifestyle taken 

journey full of imagination and adventures. 

Any individual visiting a centre of interestrelated 

education, will for a couple of days 

be able to get to know or travel around 

‘Europe’. 

The aim of the project would be not just 

to promote the diversity of European culture 

and motivate the young generation to 

investigate the cultural heritage of Europe, 

but also to promote interest-related educational 

institutions in Riga. 

What: Open door day. 

Where: In 14 interest-related educational 

institutions in Riga and the primary school 

Rīdze. 

When: End of May–early June 

Concept authors and organisers: Gunta 

Andersone, Riga city in cooperation with 

interest-related educational institutions. 

Cooperation partners: 14 interest-related 

educational institutions in Riga and the 

primary school Rīdze, together with their 

cooperation partners from abroad. 

over from our ancestors, native language, 

lullabies, festivals and favourite places in 

the city. This is the supplementation of the 

individual ‘survival kit’ with the skills of other 

nations rooted in tradition. 

What: Ethnic minority festival Latvijas 

vainags in the open air. 

Where: Vērmanes Garden open-air stage, 

Polish Gate (Old Town), the Moscow 

quarter – Maskavas Street, the corner 

of Mazā Kalna Street. This place is 

historically known as Krasnaja gorka. 

When: June 2014. 

Concept authors/organisers: Irina Viņņika, 

Aleksandrs Brandavs, Irina Žuravlova, 

Renāte Miseviča, Irina Vasiļjeva, Ethnic 

minority programme Zelta kamoliņš. 

literary walk 

“get to know your city” 

Literary excursion routes through several 

parts of Riga allow the city to be 

seen through the eyes of book characters, 

to get a sense of different eras 

and situations. 

The excursion routes are based on quotes 

from works of fiction and literary descriptions 

about specific objects on the chosen 

route or about historical events in Riga that 

are linked to a specific excursion route. 

Literary excursions, seeking out the relevant 

works, are led by a library employee 

from Riga Central Library or a professional 

tour guide and during these, professional 

actors are invited to quote the works and 

their fragments. The literary walks not only 

spot the monument 

The bicycle as a method of transportation 

and a sign of an alternative lifestyle, 

also becomes a kind of instrument 

for discovering the city’s history, 

this time looking for one of the most 

voluminous signs of collective memory 

– monuments. 

Monuments are significant witnesses to 

the history of a city and its development 

and with changing times and priorities, 

the attitude towards them also changes. 

Often they are forgotten, but at the moment 

of their erection they were all very 

meaningful. 

The aim of the “Spot the Monument” 

bicycle orienteering game is to draw attention 

to long-forgotten monuments in 

the city, created by different powers and 

introduce Riga, but also provide a glimpse 

into the literary heritage of Latvia and an 

insight into Latvian fiction. 

Potential routes for these walks could be 

through the Old Town, Pārdaugava and 

Grīziņkalns. Connoisseurs of Latvian literature 

might find literary walks interesting 

that are based on specific works, for example, 

“A Visit To The Vārna Street Republic”, 

“Along The Paths Of The “Green land”” (in 

Pārdaugava) and others. 

Literary walks lasting 1–1 ½ hrs would 

be planned for pedestrians (Old Town, 

Grīziņkalns), or as a tour by bus (Pārdaugava). 

By offering literary walks to 

foreign guests, the translation of literary 

work fragments into English and Russian 

should be anticipated, since relatively little 

Latvian fiction has been translated into other 

languages. 

times. The game will invite its participants 

to find 11 Communards, Vilis Lācis, the 

Song Celebration colossus, 1905 monument 

and others. 

The aim of the “Spot the Monument” bicycle 

orienteering game is also to promote 

the bicycle as a method of transportation 

in the city. Compared with other European 

cities, transportation by bicycle in Riga is 

gaining popularity slowly. The infrastructure 

– bicycle paths, bicycle racks – has 

only recently begun to develop. However, 

an increasing interest about this mode of 

transportation is observed. 

What: Bicycle routes. 

Where: Entire city territory. 

When: August. 

Concept authors: x-aģentūra. 

Cooperation partners: Riga’s Agency for 

the Protection of Monuments, Monument 

Agency. 

A small guidebook would be prepared for 

the literary walk routes showing the route 

map, indicating the included objects of 

Riga, as well as a list of the literary works 

and their fragments used during the literary 

walks, and individual significant quotes 

about Riga. 

Quotes from the literary works would be 

placed around the city several city objects, 

announcing some intriguing information 

about the selected locations, as 

well as quotations about historical events 

in Riga, associated with the specific part 

of the city. 

What: Literary excursions. 

Where: Riga urban environment. 


Concept authors and organisers: Riga 

Central Library (RCL). 

82 83

open door day 

One-day transformations offering everyone 

access to places that are usually 

locked. Open, Sesame! 

The idea of “Open Door Day” is a simple 

one. However, this time we want to open 

doors that are usually locked to visitors. 

Who has never thought – I wonder what the 

water tower looks like inside, the weather 

station, backstage at the theatre or the telecommunication 

exchange. To implement 

the campaign “Open Door Day” 30 such 

places, that are usually locked to inhabitants 

and therefore so enticing, will be selected 

and their doors opened to visitors. 

In its way the campaign “Open door day” is 

similar to the already well-known “Museum 

Nights”. Routes will be developed and for 

each place an artistic formation will be 

sought – orchestra concerts, performances. 

However, the objects themselves will be 

the force majeure of the campaign – none 

of these have been developed as publicly 

accessible tourist site and none will ever 

become that in the long-term. These will 

be one day transformations that will reveal 

a world unknown until now to visitors. 

What: Campaign. 

Where: 30 different event locations. 


Concept author: Riga’s ECC task group. 

Cooperation partners: x-aģentūra, 

managers of selected objects, Riga city 

amateur art groups. 

map of creative riga 

Riga is full of various points of creative 

energy, idea geysers, that can convert 

daily events into festivals. Maybe you 

have already noticed a hairdressing 

salon, library or fashion boutique in 

which good films are shown, a café 

in which artists are invited to prepare 

food? If not, we will show you. 

The world is flooded by poor quality, impersonal, 

aesthetically and materially worthless 

products and unified services and 

people live according to the rules of a 

‘throwaway’ society, resulting in a degradation 

of values. In times of personal, economic 

and social trauma the realisation 

often dawns on people and they look for 

the way back to what is real, personal and 

creative. The Society of Design Workers 

believes that Riga accumulates a huge 

creative potential, and therefore proposes 

an alternative road map, which, if followed, 

will take the traveller to the city’s creative 

dimension. The historically powerful 

bolderāja 

The map of creative education institutions 

in Bolderāja outlines the specific 

character of the area and the unique 

atmosphere that is expressed not only 

through the testimonies of history, but 

also through the process of the creation 

of new work and cognition. 

The educational and cultural road map of 

Bolderāja will reveal the opportunities for 

interest-related education for children and 

young adults in Bolderāja. Every day an 

event is planned in one of Bolderāja’s educational 

establishments with a culturally 

educational programme. It will end with a 

joint celebration in Daugavgrīva’s fortress. 

traditions of craftsmanship and applied 

arts are an excellent basis for the development 

of Latvian contemporary design and 

fashion. 

In 2009 project organisers are collecting 

information about extraordinary places in 

Riga – local designer shops, craft workshops, 

cafės, clubs and other creative 

projects – to which friends and acquaintances 

would be taken and that are not 

included in traditional tourist guides, and 

are not widely known to the local audience 

either. Within the project, a graphic map of 

Riga will be published with “Creative Riga” 

objects. The aim of the project is to promote 

the interest of local and foreign audiences 

(read: consumers) in unique, original 

and creative high quality local products 

and services, helping creative industries to 

develop (textile industry and others). 

Before and during 2014, it is intended to 

regularly organise ‘open’ performances 

in Creative Riga objects. For example, 

street fashion shows open to everyone 

near designer shops, inviting musicians 

What: Cycle of events throughout the week. 

Where: ‘Bolderāja’ Children’s and young 

adults’ centre, Bolderāja School of Art 

and Music, Riga’s 33rd secondary school, 

Riga’s 19 th secondary school, Daugavgrīva’s 

secondary school, the seaside nature park 

and Daugavgrīva’s fortress. 

When: May. 

Concept authors and organisers: ‘Bolderāja’ 

Children’s and young adults’ centre. 

Cooperation partners: Bolderāja School 

of Art and Music, Bolderāja Library, 

Daugavgrīva’s secondary school, Riga’s 

19 th secondary school, Riga’s 33 rd 

secondary school, the Young Guards’ 

group Junga. 

to participate, organising food-tastings 

and involving members of the Association 

of Design Workers and other creative 

people. 

What: Performances, informative material. 

Where: Riga, virtual space. 

When: 2009–2014. 

Concept authors and organisers: Society of 

Design Workers 

84 85

86 

riga carnival

iga carnival 

Joseph Brodsky compared the inhabitants of this world 

with a young carousel rider, who is certain that he has 

jumped off his horse at a completely different location to 

the one where he jumped on. Movement creates change. 

People yearn for new experiences, a spiral of development 

upwards. Just like the sun, which walks the same road every 

day, but starts off on its road anew in a different place 

every morning, due to of the revolving of the earth. 

Man is used to identifying movement with change: in places, flora, fauna, 

circumstances, psychological conditions. Everything is revolving, 

event replaces event. The fires of the summer solstice on Riga’s hills 

flicker past his eyes, all the colours of the world flash past here in Riga. 

Our bright carousel never stops, it is always in motion. 

Everyone knows the toy so familiar to children – the spinning top, 

originating in the 18th century. Initially, it served for the excitement 

of grownups. Resembling the motion of the world in miniature – the 

earth revolving around its own axis – it is a synergy of colours, patterns 

and rhythms that promises its spinner a surprising effect – a different 

reality. “Riga Carnival” theme offers the challenge of a positive explosion, 

caused by one’s enthusiastic surrender to the overwhelming 

power of culture. The symbol of this theme is the spinning top, the carousel, 

everything that revolves and generates a head-spinning effect, 

rotating and waiting for lightning to strike from a clear sky. 

always facing new challenges in order to widen the narrow horizon of 

the present and open up the human senses for contact with eternity, 

infusing humanity with a sense of the timeless. 

At all times, festivity participants could be recognised by their costumes 

– putting on festive apparel or dressing up as a different character was 

part of the transgression of everyday boundaries. Within the carnival, 

this also symbolises the switchover of social roles. The Russian literary 

scholar M. Bakhtin considered the carnival to be a particular method 

of maintaining subverted power relationships. It is the playing out of an 

ideal life and of one’s dreams, in which everyone is invited to take part. 

Through the daring to surrender and change, the individual becomes 

part of a circle, one of the ‘chosen ones’. Wonders and discoveries 

await him. The individual discovers him or herself and then makes a 

new discovery of him or herself among others. 

The spinning of the top is an invitation to throw yourself into a dizzy 

dance, the delirium of play, the brilliance of the carnival. It is sparkling 

laughter and merriment, the daring to laugh at yourself and forget yourself 

in a whirlwind of joy. It is a game of fantasy and imagination for 

children and grownups. 

The optimistic, life-affirming nature of festivities stops the clock of daily 

life and heightens human awareness of cosmic, biological and historical 

dimensions of time. Festivities have historically been connected to 

changes in human lives, in nature or in social processes. The departure 

of the old and the arrival of the new act as an impulse for both 

seasonal traditions and individual ceremonies and celebrations, and 

create the particular atmosphere of each holiday. Many forms of festive 

behaviour, rituals and traditions have been preserved over centuries, 

88 89

winter carnival 

In addition to a merry hustle and bustle, 

along with the scent of white snow, 

forests and fields, the approach of a 

colourful and loud group of masked 

revellers also brings blessings to each 

home and family. The “Winter Carnival” 

will be a fun series of events taking 

place throughout the city territory. They 

will unite the carnivalesque traditions 

of various nations with the characteristics 

of a contemporary carnival. 

riga – force majeure 

New Year’s festivities in Riga will ring 

in the year of the European Capital of 

Culture. 

New Year’s Eve – it can safely be said that 

this holiday is celebrated by everyone. The 

collective ringing in of the New Year in the 

Riga city centre has become a stable tradition. 

A countdown of the last seconds of 

the passing year takes place and the New 

Year is seen in with festive fireworks. Joy 

and merriment prevail; everyone joins in 

The idea of a masquerade, based on ancient 

fertility rites, has historically been familiar 

to many nations. For the ancient Indo- 

European peoples, the New Year’s Eve was 

at the beginning of what is now February, 

and within the Meteņi (Shrovetide) festivities, 

the ancient traditions of seeing off the 

old year have been retained. Like all the 

winter holidays, it included going on mummery 

(ķekatas) and visits to neighbours. A 

feast, gifts and giving presents to the mummers 

are also the ingredients of an ancient 

ritual through which it was hoped to gain 

prosperity for the home, health for the people, 

and fertility for cattle and fields. 

Meteņi is the period in February before fasting, 

when meat is not eaten and food is much 

plainer, therefore the table to mark this prefasting 

festival is laid plentifully. The masked 

processions begun on either Miķelis’ Day 

in September or Mārtiņš Day in November, 

wind up on Meteņi, which for Latvians, also 

marks the mid-way point between the winter 

solstice and the spring equinox. Usually, 

masks portray the spirits that their wearers 

want to butter up or affect in some way. 

Mummers, the jolly assurers of fertility and 

blessings, make their last rounds from house 

to house, spreading fertility in every farmstead 

they visit. The masks are the same 

shared songs and dances. The cultural 

institutions of Riga will be open to its townspeople 

and visitors, while events at different 

tastes will offer a diversity of choices for 

groups of friends or families over several 

days, on the basis of the themes outlined 

in the European Year of Culture event programme. 

A videoconference with Riga’s 

cooperation partners in various European 

cities will take place. 

If Riga is chosen to be the European Capital 

of Culture 2014 promises to be a year filled 

with surprising events, unexpected discoveries 

and new experiences for everyone. 

traditional ones – the gypsy, the crane, the 

bear, the billy-goat, the poor man, the Jew, 

women dressed as men and men as women. 

The masks have one purpose – to ensure 

fertility with singing and dancing, and banish 

evil through magical goings-on. 

Maslenitsa is an ancient Orthodox holiday, 

celebrated seven days before the great fast, 

or Lent. For seven days, tambourines jangle, 

the sound of accordions can be heard and 

everyone is dressed in colourful clothing. 

Market stalls sag under the weight of assorted 

delicacies, while pancakes – the symbol 

of the sun – are especially honoured. During 

the maslenitsa period, everyone should enjoy 

themselves, and daily visits to other houses 

or receiving guests in one’s own home are expected. 

To take advantage of the last days of 

winter, everyone must go sledding, ride carousels, 

play games, sing chastushkas (Russian 

folk songs) and endlessly play the fool. One 

of the main types of entertainment is the masquerade, 

where everyone must be dressed 

up to be completely unrecognizable. 

What: Winter carnival. 

Where: Throughout the entire city. 

When: February 2014. 

Concept author and organiser: 

Riga’s ECC task group. 

For this reason, the New Year’s celebrations 

marking the beginning of the year 2014 will 

also be special. A magnificent multimedia 

light and laser show will sketch the vision of 

a future Riga – European Capital of Culture. 

What: Ringing in the New Year and 

programme events that last several days. 

Where: Throughout the entire city. 

When: December 31 st –January 2 nd 20014.. 

Concept author: Riga’s ECC task group 

Cooperation partners: Riga City Council 

Department of Culture, Riga cultural 

institutions and hotels. 

gourmet paradise 

‘Where have we come from? Where are 

we going? And what are we having for 

lunch?’ once asked the Austrian comedian, 

Josef Hader, regarding these 

as the three most important questions 

preying on the minds of contemporary 

man. The growing selection of new 

types of food, services and range of 

eating recommendations means we 

take many individual decisions every 

day. Therefore, a special challenge is to 

drop in on European countries trough 

the ‘kitchen door’ and discover what is 

interesting and practical in the culinary 

propositions of different countries. 

The gastronomy festival is a celebration of 

taste and a journey of discovery into the 

secrets of the menus of different European 

countries. During the festival, presentations 

of food preparation traditions from 

different countries will be demonstrated 

in Riga’s restaurants and special menus 

will be created. It is anticipated that chefs 

will be invited from different countries to 

cirque du soleil in riga? 

Riga is the only city in the Baltic States 

to have its own winter circus. The 

public’s interest in the circus is unflagging 

and spectators await new programmes 

with great anticipation. 

Built more than 100 years ago (in 1888), the 

Riga Circus building stands today as it has 

always stood. Throughout its long life, circus 

performances have continually been shown 

here. Visits to the circus are one of the most 

popular types of family entertainment. 

The Cirque du soleil was created in 1984 

by a group of street artists from Quebec, 

promote a further exchange of experience. 

The closing of the festival is planned 

as a sophisticated culinary experience for 

Riga’s inhabitants and guests. In Kronvalda 

Park (Kronvalda parks) near the Congress 

House (Kongresu nams), chefs will demonstrate 

their skills and offer samples for 

tasting. The chefs will work in the open air 

and during the event, votes will be cast for 

the most entertaining chef, the most original 

serving method and of course, the besttasting 

food. On stage, an auction of the 

chefs’ work will take place. There will also 

be a special category of food preparation – 

dishes from different nations prepared from 

healthy products locally grown in Latvia. 

An Organic Market will take place alongside 

the demonstrations of chefs’ skills. 

The Organic Market – whose initiator 

and patron is Mārtiņš Rītiņš, Director of 

Riga’s Vincents restaurant and president 

of Latvia’s Slow Food Association – in cooperation 

with the Latvian Association of 

Biological Agriculture, takes place every 

year in several places in Riga and has 

earned growing interest from Riga’s inhabitants, 

especially devotees of healthy food. 

and its performances have been watched 

by almost 40 million people in 90 cities 

throughout the world. But not yet in Riga. 

Why not in Riga? 

What/Where/When: To be announced 

following coordination. 

Concept author: Riga’s ECC task group. 

What: Culinary festival and campaigns in 

Riga’s restaurants. 

Where: Congress House square. 

When: June 2014. 

Concept author: Sarma Freiberga, Mārtiņš 

Rītiņš. 

Cooperation partners: Association of 

Hotels and Restaurants in Latvia, Chefs’ 

Club, Latvia’s Slow Food Association, 

Latvian Association of Biological 

Agriculture, x-aģentūra. 

90 91

midsummer night 

bonfires (līgo) 

Not so long ago, the summer solstice 

was a solstice festival for the entire nation. 

This celebration marks the longest 

day and shortest night, it is the day 

when the sun has reached its highest 

point in the sky, when the flow of time 

appears to stop for a moment. To prolong 

the effect of light, bonfires are lit. 

At the 2014 solstice, Riga will invite 

you to celebrate the shortest night of 

the year, to come together and unite 

neighbours from near and far, travelling 

from bonfire to bonfire. 

The origins of the summer solstice celebrations 

reach back into the immeasurable 

past – in the sun cults of the farming 

people. Its origins can probably be dated 

at least to the era of the Indo-European 

community – 4000 or 5000 B.C. In the 12 th 

century, when German crusaders landed 

on the eastern Baltic shores, they were not 

in the least bit surprised by the revelries 

and joy, by the bonfires flickering in the 

dark of night. 

During the 16 th and 17 th centuries on the 

night of 24 th June, Midsummer bonfires 

burned throughout Europe, starting from 

the British Isles and extending as far as the 

Urals. In Italy they were called San Giovanni 

bonfires, in France – the Saint Jean bonfires. 

They are also burned in honour of 

Yan, John, Juan, Hans, Johannus, Ivan 

Kupala and, of course, Jānis. These bonfires 

are lit on the highest hills everywhere, 

but in large villages and cities – in the central 

square. Paris used to have a bonfire on 

each city block, and the King often took 

part in the ceremony by lighting the Saint 

Jean bonfire himself. 

It could safely be said that the summer 

solstice is the most popular Latvian celebration 

– lights, joviality, songs and the 

peak of fertility. Of all the seasonal songs, 

Latvians have more Līgo songs than any 

others – particularly sonorous songs that 

are sung at the midsummer solstice and 

which differ from other folk songs with their 

specific refrains: ‘līgo’, ‘rotā’ or ‘rūto’, depending 

on the region in Latvia. 

It is said that on the night of the summer solstice, 

the sky opens and a fern blossoms 

with golden flowers – those who witness 

this can make a wish and it should come 

true. The flowering fern also has erotic 

significance – to search for the flowering 

fern means to select your other half on this 

fertility night. Above all – Jānis’ mother (the 

hostess) makes cheese and Jānis’ father 

(the host) brews beer. The singing never 

stops. 

In the city squares, there will be opportunities 

to learn about some of the festival 

traditions by going from bonfire to bonfire 

in several locations in the city. Folklore 

and dance groups will involve everyone 

in songs devoted to the shortest night. 

They will also teach various dance steps, 

similar to Riga’s 800 th anniversary celebrations 

in 2001, when tens of thousands of 

people actively participated in a truly uplifting 

emotional experience. Throughout the 

Līgo, also called Jāņi celebrations, an unconscious 

journey through different Indo- 

European traditions will be discovered in 

all regions of the city. 

What: National festival. 

Where: Throughout the city of Riga and in 

Sigulda. 

When: 21 st June 2014. 

Concept author and organizer: Riga’s ECC 

task group. 

Cooperation partners: Folklore groups, 

craftsmen, dance groups. 

the great riga game 

To know and recognise Riga, to rediscover 

it, to be oneself in one’s own 

city. Or to get to know and discover a 

new Riga. An event for inquisitive and 

active people. 

The “Great Riga Game” is an exciting orienteering 

game for grown-ups and children 

and is a traditional activity of Riga’s annual 

City Festival. It is not just recreational in 

nature, but also educational and has been 

developed at several levels. 

In one of these levels, the “Great Riga 

Game” invites its players to orienteer not 

just through the city, but also through the 

centuries. Polish times, Swedish times, 

Russian or Tsarist times, times of the 

1 st song celebration 

for spectators 

Song celebrates a grand day today, all 

of the spectators are singing! 

Chorus singing traditions in Latvia are 

ancient and strong. The Latvian Song 

Celebration takes place every five 

years, and in between – the Youth Song 

Celebration. The choral movement is still 

active even in the years between the Song 

Celebrations. Begun during the festivities 

of Riga’s 800 th anniversary, spectator singalongs 

with choirs have become a popular 

tradition. During Song Celebrations as well 

as other large, urban events. The Song 

unites! 

The main idea behind the “1 st Song Celebration 

For Spectators” is to switch the customary 

roles, bringing the spectator to the 

National Awakening – various stages of 

history and changes experienced by the 

city. To know the pace of history, to recognise 

a period by a characteristic historical 

fact and connect it to a specific place in 

the city – this is a challenge for both old 

and young. 

When did the Calendar Unrests take place? 

Which public place was established in 

connection with the Nystad Peace Treaty? 

Which is Riga’s first water tower? When did 

the ‘good old Swedish times’ begin? 

Because answers to these questions at 

this level will also be accessible on the 

Internet in foreign languages, anyone interested 

in Riga will be able to take part. 

However, it will only be possible to play the 

entire game on the spot, as there are control 

points to be visited and express tasks 

forefront. To place the spectators on the 

main Song Celebration stage platform, to 

allow each spectator to feel and experience 

the simultaneous responsibility and 

elation felt by choir singers during Song 

Celebration concerts. Anyone can become 

a soloist at the 1 st Song Celebration 

for Spectators – the concert director gives 

the microphone to a freely chosen singer 

and the spectator becomes a soloist on 

the Mežaparks open-air stage. 

In order to achieve the full effect of a Song 

Celebration, there are plans to organize a 

spectator rehearsal, thereby providing the 

feel of what it means for a choir to work 

with a conductor, as well as introducing the 

spectator to the evening concert’s repertoire. 

Additionally, concert spectator and 

co-singer rows will be augmented by professional 

musicians and choir singers. 

What: Concert rally after the Great Talka. 

Where: Mežaparks open-air stage. 

to be carried out. 

After visiting the many control points in different 

locations in Riga, the weary players 

will arrive at the Laboratory of Flavours on 

11. novembra Embankment. Taste buds 

will be challenged and delicious prizes 

awarded for correct answers. 

The grand prize will be won by those who 

have completed the full set of tasks at all 

levels of the game. 

What: Interactive game. 

Where: Throughout the city of Riga, 

cultural institutions. 

When: August 2014, during the Riga City 

Festival. 

Concept author and organizer: x-aģentūra. 

Cooperation partners: Riga Central Library 

and its branches, Riga’s museums. 

When: July 2014. 

Concept author: “Untitled” Ltd 

Cooperation partner: League of Riga 

Choirs 

92 93

music inspiration 

landscape 

Europe is diverse. Dozens of countries, 

hundreds of languages and accents. 

Are we so different? Not if we examine 

our roots. Song, one of the most ancient 

forms of human self-expression, leads 

us to the same sources. For example, 

the drone bass has been preserved 

in the Balkans, the Baltics, Georgia 

and the Pyrenees. This unique form 

of singing shows that we, Europeans, 

have a common past, but the process 

of this first international choir festival 

and the response from its participants 

assure us that there will also be a common 

future for new cooperation, at the 

base of which are the open minds of 

people from different nationalities, an 

open smile and the wish to get to know 

one another. 

“Music Inspiration Landscape” seeks uncultivated 

territories, friends not yet met 

and songs not yet sung. The principal 

activities of the international choir music 

festival and competition “Music Inspiration 

Lanscape” will be an international choir 

competition, joint singing, master classes, 

concerts, a day devoted to Latvia’s regions 

and “European Song Day” – an open-air 

concert with a united choir, orchestra, 

soloists and ethnic singers taking part. 

The festival week – with the choirs of different 

countries singing songs of the summer 

solstice, which are very different from each 

other but at the same time similar in their 

essence – will reflect the unity of Europe’s 

member states and strengthen further international 

cooperation through the process 

of cultural exchange. 

“Music Inspiration Landscape” invites us 

to experience the festive joy of the summer 

solstice, as well as the ritual of extending 

the period of light into the night through 

burning bonfires. 

The “European Song Days” event is 

planned at the largest open-air concert 

venue in the Latvian capital of Riga – the 

Mežaparks open-air stage, which is enclosed 

by a pine-tree forest from all sides. 

Beacons will be lit and bonfires will burn. 

Līgo songs will be sung. Meditative silence 

will alternate with ancient songs. With the 

aid of a satellite video, participants of the 

inspiration landscape will be able to follow 

the movement of the sun around the earth, 

until this celestial body returns to us once 

more at sunrise, when it gently brushes the 

tips of the pine trees and the eyes of the 

Līgo revellers. 

The language spoken by Latvians belongs 

to the Indo-European family tree and together 

with the Lithuanian language, it 

forms the Baltic language group. These are 

the only surviving Baltic languages, both 

considerably ancient. In common with, for 

example, the Celts, nowadays the number 

of the Balts can only be counted as a few 

million people, which is what makes the 

opportunity of encountering such lesserknown 

languages and the traditions of living 

collective memories so special. 

What: “European Song Day”, International 

choir festival and competition . 

Where: Countries of the Baltic Sea region, 

EU member states that agree to participate 

in the preparation of festival concerts 

and the development of master classes. 

The main location will be Riga. 

Regions of Latvia, with focus on Vidzeme 

region. The festival’s closing concert 

will take place in Piebalga, where all the 

choirs from the member states will sing 

together. 

When: 20 th to 25 th June, 2014. 

20 th June–Goodday: Festival opening and 

European Dance Evening. 

21 st June – Inspiration day: Mclasses and 

creative workshops. 

22 nd June – championship day: Choir 

competition and choir review. 

23 rd June – solstice celebration: concerts 

in Latvia’s regions and joint concert. 

24 th June – Līgo farawells. 

Concept authors: Agita Ikauniece, Uģis 

Brikmanis, Orests Silabriedis, Diāna Čivle, 

Zanda Ķergalve. 

Organisers: Concert Organisation Ave Sol; 

Riga City Council, Department of Culture. 

It is planned to establish cooperation with 

European Union funds for financing, as 

well as the Riga City Council, the Latvian 

Ministry of Culture and Latvian Ministry of 

Foreign Affairs. 

Cooperation partners: Professional choirs 

from the EU member states and traditional 

art choirs, as well as institutions devoted 

to the preservation of their countries’ 

national cultural heritage and to the 

promotion of amateur group activities. In 

cooperation with partner organisations, 

basic principles will be established, by 

which the master class programmes and 

the criteria and rules of the amateur choir 

competition will be developed. 

94 95

saxophonia – saxomania 

Achingly sensitive phrases, coaxed 

from a shiny instrument by a musician 

on a street corner in Riga’s Old Town, 

come together in a multi-headed saxophone 

joint-choir. 

Today, the saxophone is one of the most 

recognized and revered sources of musical 

sound, a language of communication 

without borders. Could the Belgian musical 

instrument master Adolf Sax, demonstrating 

his newest invention in Paris in 

1842 – the saxophone – have imagined the 

popularity and affection that this instrument 

would gain? Over time, this instrument has 

traversed from military and symphony orchestras 

to cafes, jazz clubs and streets, 

and back to the symphony orchestra and 

solo stage. 

riga hip-hop 

Five days of public workshops led by 

professionals and a grand closing concert 

will help youths to spend their free 

time in a meaningful way, discovering 

and developing their talents, learning 

about the existing programs for afterschool 

art, music, film, extreme and 

other sports. 

The youth organization Avantis, in cooperation 

with the modern music school “Rhythm 

Institute”, will organize the master classes 

of the festival’s first three days. The classes 

will cover various hip-hop culture genres 

– DJ, Graffiti, BeatBox, Break dance, film, 

etc. These master classes will be geared 

towards professionals, in order to develop 

and popularize hip-hop culture in their countries. 

This will also be a good platform for 

future cooperation for the formation of joint 

projects, festivals and exhibits. 

At the same time, it seems that no instrument 

has received such contradictory reviews as 

the saxophone. In the mid-19th century its 

tembre was described as howling, shrieking 

and croaking, but nowadays – as velvety, 

sensitive and elegant... Saxophonist Artis 

Sīmanis, the rector of the Latvian Academy 

of Music, recalls that when he first played the 

saxophone at churches, he was sometimes 

met with a negative reaction. Everyone associated 

the saxophone with entertainment and 

jazz, but now there is a completely different 

attitude — the program “Songs of David” was 

nominated for a Latvian Grand Music Award 

as Best Concert of the Year in 2008. 

The “Saxophonia – Saxomania” music festival 

will present itself, maintaining a perfect 

balance between academic, contemporary 

and jazz music. High class performers 

with interesting and unique programs will 

participate, providing impeccable profes- 

The last two days of the festival will be devoted 

to everyone who attends, and will 

take place at the Grīziņkalns Skate Park. 

The workshops will be open to the public 

and will be free of charge for all youths. 

Attendants will be able to learn more about 

the various hip-hop culture forms - DJ, 

BeatBox, Graffiti, extreme sports, etc. The 

workshop masters will work in cooperation 

with various artists. At the end of the second 

day, a grand closing concert will be 

organized, with the participation of hip-hop 

artists (from Latvia and other countries 

participating in the project). 

What: a hip - hop festival and master 

classes. 

Where: Grīziņkalns Skate Park, Congress 

House. 

When: April 2014. 

Concept author and organization: Avantis, 

“Rhythm Institute”. 

sional concert performances and unexpected 

‘jam sessions,’ some of them in exciting 

group ensembles. The festival will be 

a celebration of sound for music lovers in 

concert halls and churches. It will provide 

excitement in the streets and parks of Riga. 

Musicians will plan joint projects, while at 

the same time, young and up-and-coming 

musicians will gain knowledge in master 

classes. 

What: Music festival. 

Where: Concert halls in Riga and 

throughout Latvia, Riga streets and parks. 

When: February 2014. 

Concept author and organiser: National 

Concert Agency Latvijas Koncerti. 

Cooperation partners: Latvian Ministry 

of Culture, Latvian State Culture Capital 

Foundation, Embassies of Norway, Estonia, 

Sweden and Germany, as well as French 

Cultural Centre in Riga. 

sunny soviet film event 

Several generations in Latvia grew up 

together with Soviet-era, sunny, joyful 

films. Those, who are only in their 

twenties or younger also appreciate 

these historical films and their music. 

Hence, a special film soiree entitled “Sunny, 

Soviet Film Event” will take place at the foot of 

Riga’s controversial Victory Monument, which 

was built to commemorate ‘the liberation of 

Soviet Latvia by the Soviet Army from German 

fascism.’ The film screenings will take place 

at the beginning of May, when celebrations 

are traditionally held to mark the end of the 

Second World War. Thus, time and place of 

this film event were not chosen by chance. 

porta 2014 

“Porta” is a true world music port that will 

bring the sounds of the world to Riga. 

“Porta” is the only regular world music festival 

in Latvia. Throughout the years, good 

cooperation has developed with European 

producers and musicians. Previous projects 

have brought outstanding musicians 

to Latvia from France, Great Britain, 

Norway, Sweden, Germany, Poland, Portugal, 

Austria, Belarus, Georgia and other 

countries. 

Event programme description: 

• For three to four days at the premises 

of Sapņu Fabrika, world music concerts 

will be provided by outstanding European 

world music groups and musicians. 

• Each evening, the concert will feature a 

previously successful cooperation project 

as the main attraction (Georgian/Latvian, 

Moldovan/Latvian, Polish/Latvian etc.) 

• Before the concerts, Sapņu Fabrika 

One of the goals of the film soiree “Sunny 

Soviet Film Event” is to gather together those, 

who usually do not frequent the Victory 

Monument, for this unique cultural event. 

An eclectic public gathers to sit at tables lit 

up by old, Ilyich light bulbs. Quiet conversations 

take place in a jovial atmosphere... 

the audience has been transported back 

into the sunny Soviet film era. The screening 

location, with its particular historical 

background, provides the backdrop for a 

peculiar cultural environment and works to 

restore the feel of long-gone days and traditions. 

Barriers are broken down to the accompaniment 

of Soviet film music. The goal 

of the film soiree “Sunny Soviet Film Event” 

is to create multicultural friendships. 

and cinema K. Suns will show documentary 

films about world folk music and traditions, 

selected in cooperation with the 

Austrian company, IZM. 

• Every day, visitors will be offered traditional 

cuisine from various world nations. 

• Traditional world music master classes, 

presented by several guest groups, will take 

place at the Latvian Academy of Music. 

• During the festival, an international 

seminar will be held for European producers, 

concert organizers, music journalists 

and other specialists of the music 

industry. They will be introduced to the 

Latvian music environment and will attend 

the festival’s evening events. 

• The festival culmination will be a concert 

by world music pioneer, British musician, 

Peter Gabriel, at one of the large 

concert halls in Riga. 

What: Concerts, master classes, film 

screenings, seminars 

Where: Sapņu Fabrika, www.sapnufabrika.lv. 

When: 5 th -8 th November, 2014. 

Concept authors: Gita Lancere, Ilze Apsiņa, 

Film excerpts will be shown on an inflatable 

film screen all evening long – complete 

with songs from some of the most 

outstanding Soviet era films including the 

“Circus”, “Moscow Does Not Believe In 

Tears”, “The Happy Boys”, “Volga, Volga”. 

We hope that there will be much dancing, 

laughter and pleasant conversing. Any 

need to ask how “Sunny Soviet Film Event” 

can change people and the atmosphere of 

the place where they have gathered? 

What: Dance event to the accompaniment 

of film music and film excerpts. 

Where: Riga’s Victory Park (Uzvaras parks). 

When: 1 st or 8 th May 2014. 

Concept author: Mārcis Gulbis. 

Cooperation partners: Cinema archives 

and community organizations. 

www.festivalporta.lv. 

Organizers: Association Pasaules Mūzika. 

Cooperation partners: In Estonia – the 

producers’ association ERP music, 

in Germany – the publisher and 

producers’ association Jaro, in Portugal – 

Management Gateirs de Lisboa, 

in Austria – IZM. 

96 97

in bed with the sun king 

The dramatic art of the Baroque period, 

the inclination to heightened 

contrasts, the propensity for splendour 

and decor, the exuberance, passion 

and dynamics – as opposed to 

the Renaissance ideals of gravita 

riposata (inclination toward rest and 

tranquillity). 

fontage caps, accordion-pleated (frilled) 

collars, lace, wigs and fans will be used in 

accordance with established guidelines that 

have been recorded in today’s reflections of 

Baroque. Stylized painting mock-ups, the 

scenes of which will be a joint creation of today’s 

artists and city dwellers, will bring to 

life the Baroque atmosphere, which comes 

to us today through the poses and gestures 

captured in artworks from times gone by. It 

is with these manifested poses and gestures 

that humans strive to live on in future generations, 

thereby becoming immortal. 

A concert by joint ensembles from various 

countries will take place in the Dome 

Square, along with a costume parade, to be 

concluded with a final dance performance. 

This will include various acted and danced 

Baroque scenes that contain hidden eroticism. 

Richly dressed characters from that 

time provoked greater erotica than the nakedness 

of the Renaissance. Human being, 

who during the Renaissance was anatomically 

beautiful, now acquired sexual beauty: 

under decorous and modest draping was 

living, breathing flesh. 

and balls. Theatrical fashion performances 

with frequent costume changes lasted from 

early morning until late at night. 

From Dome Square in the heart of Old Riga, 

everyone will be invited to continue onward to 

the Rundāle Castle, where the annual Early 

Music Festival concludes with a Baroque opera 

performance and authentic Baroque fireworks. 

What: Music, dance and fashion 

performance. 

Where: Riga’s Old Town, Rundāle Castle. 

When: Mid-July 2014. 

Concept authors and project organisers: 

National Concert Agency Latvijas 

Koncerti. 

Cooperation partners: Latvian Ministry 

of Culture, Latvian State Culture Capital 

Foundation, French Cultural Centre 

in Riga, Embassies of Sweden and 

Germany, Rundāle Castle. 

a different type 

of “vienna classic” 

The words “Vienna Classic” usually refer 

to Austrian classical music masterpieces, 

but in Riga in 2014, they will also 

herald some new and unique musical 

experiences. Along with the classical 

works of such traditional Viennese composers 

as Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven, 

the audience of Riga’s “Vienna Classic“ 

music festival will also get to hear the 

unusual works of three 20 th -century 

Austrian composers. In addition, they 

will be able to watch classic movies 

about various European composers. 

The “Vienna Classic” festival is primarily devoted 

to the music of three Viennese master 

composers – Beethoven, Haydn and Mozart, 

whose works form part of the golden heritage 

of European culture and still captivate 

listening audiences to this day. The festival 

will offer chamber music and orchestra 

concerts in Riga and other places in Latvia, 

as a sign of Latvia’s close link with the rest of 

Europe’s musical culture and traditions, and 

placing Riga squarely among Europe’s other 

musical capitals. Such symphony works as 

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s sunny and 

inspiring Symphony No. 40 or Ludwig van 

Beethoven’s passionate overture about 

Leonora and Prometheus always draw 

crowds wherever they are performed. The 

performance of Georg Friedrich Handel’s 

“Messiah” (revised by Mozart) in Riga’s 

Dome Cathedral promises to be no less 

exciting. This time, the “Vienna Classic” 

music festival’s traditional concert programme 

+ will be supplemented with a 

completely different kind of music from 

Austria, featuring works by the 20th-century 

Austrian composers Alban Berg, Anton 

Webern and Arnold Schoenberg. Berg’s 

“Violin Concerto”, Webern’s “Six Pieces 

For Orchestra”, Schönberg’s “Transfigured 

Night”, “Moonstruck Pierrot” and “Variations” 

for orchestra will provide the audience with 

unusual examples of atonal music, serialism 

and musical expressionism. 

An additional film programme will be offered 

to movie buffs in Riga and all of 

Latvia, featuring several screen works 

about musical composers: 

Frederick Delius – Song of Summer 

(1968), director Ken Russell; 

Marin Marais – Tous les matins du monde 

(1991), director Alain Corneau; 

Georg Friedrich Handel – Farinelli (1994), 

director Gerard Corbiau; 

Jean-Baptiste Lully – Marquise (1997), 

director Vera Belmont; 

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart – Amadeus 

(1984), director Milos Forman. 


Where: Riga, as well as concert halls and 

movie theatres elsewhere in Latvia. 

When: March 2014. 



Cooperation partners: Latvian Ministry of 

Culture, Latvian State Cultural Capital 

Foundation, Embassy of Austria, 

Cinema Rīga. 

The authentic performance traditions of 

Renaissance and Baroque music have 

been cultivated in many countries. Latvia’s 

Early Music professionals and “Early 

Music” festival traditions have brought 

about people’s ever-increasing interest. 

The Old Town of Riga will transform into the 

epicentre of eras long past, where everything 

becomes theatre; even nature, which 

will be allotted a dramatic compositional 

character (complete with artificial cliffs and 

waterfalls). Improvised stages will play host 

to French Renaissance music, Italian and 

Latin-American Baroque. Parades through 

the Old Town will showcase various Baroque 

and Renaissance-era costumes. 

It will be a graceful social game, in which such 

fashion elements as hoopskirts, (skirt)trains, 

Ornate beds were created in Baroque interiors, 

beds that acquired the form of a tent 

made from lavish curtains and draperies, 

thereby practically concealing the wooden 

construction. The traditions of organizing 

showy bedrooms with ornate beds developed 

during the reign of Louis XIV. Waking 

and slumber for the Sun King were accompanied 

by resplendent ceremonies, 

with the royal bedroom transformed from 

a place of relaxation to a celebration hall. 

Gradually, the king’s bedroom began to 

play the role of reception hall. The Sun 

King received his guests while lying down 

or during an intricate dressing ceremony. 

Funds for garments, accessories and court 

interiors were spared no expense. Ladies’ 

wardrobes contained special clothes for virtually 

every occasion, especially for strolls 

“summertime” in jūrmala 

Latvia’s world famous opera soloist 

Inese Galante has demonstrated many 

times that singers with an academic 

education can still provide masterful 

performances in practically any musical 

genre. In 2014, Inese Galante and an 

elite group of world class singers and 

musicians will perform several genres of 

music at the city of Jūrmala’s Dzintaru 

Concert Hall, as well as at other concert 

halls and churches in Riga. 

The annual “Summertime” music festival 

is eagerly awaited each year and in 2014, 

opera singer Inese Galante and pianist 

Inna Davidova will set up a unique musical 

programme as a special tribute to the city 

of Jūrmala. Each year, the festival attracts 

world class orchestras and opera soloists, 

featuring a kaleidoscopic array of chamber 

music, jazz, light music and world music. 

While the festival’s main concerts will be held 

at this resort city’s open-air stage, several 

performances will also take place at various 

concert halls In Riga. Unlike many other musical 

festivals that are devoted to one, particular 

musical genre, “Summertime” stands 

out with the wide array of musical styles that 

can be heard at its concerts. During one unforgettable 

week, opera and jazz masters, 

chamber music singers and soloist instrumentalists, 

as well as choirs, orchestras, 

ethnographic ensembles and vocal groups 

will enthral the festival’s audience under 

Jūrmala’s starry, August skies. 

The Dzintari Concert Hall was one of the first 

open-air concert halls to be built in Latvia. 

Its acoustic qualities have been praised by 

professionals and its open sides (i. e. no 

walls) help it to blend in with the surrounding 

scenery of Jūrmala’s beach dunes and 

park. 

What: Concert series featuring various 

genres of music. 

Where: Jūrmala’s Dzintaru Concert Hall, as 

well as various concert halls and churches 

in Riga. 

When: 2 nd and 3 rd week of August. 

Concept author and project implementation: 

Hermanis Brauns Foundation. 

98 99

from classical 

to avant-garde 

Riga’s International “Baltic Ballet Festival” 

has brought in new impulses to 

the aesthetic development of Latvian 

dance. The festival’s goal is to add 

some missing, yet potentially significant 

themes to Latvia’s dance scene, 

to qualitatively and quantitatively influence 

the dance art scene and to expand 

the art horizons of dance in Latvia. 

The ballet festival’s central events will be: 

A new multimedia project – an original ballet 

performance based on the motives of 

Henrik Ibsen’s play “Peer Gynt” – in cooperation 

with cultural institutions and creative 

personalities from the Nordic countries. 

The basis of the project’s content is 

a reflection of contemporary value scales, 

based on the Norwegian author’s immortal, 

classic work. 

A symphony orchestra concert entitled 

“Ballet music chefs d’oeuvres”. The programme 

will consist of international classical 

and modern ballet music. The vast 

array of ballet music to choose from will 

provide the performing orchestra with 

ample means to further expand the styles 

of music that it plays. 

• Guest performances in Riga by a classical 

ballet troupe from St. Petersburg, 

Russia. The Saint Petersburg ballet school 

and troupe continue to maintain timeless, 

classical ballet traditions and to produce 

superb ballet dancers, whose performances 

are inspiring and provide an uplifting 

artistic experience. 

• Guest performances by outstanding 

modern dance companies from Europe 

and the USA. 

• Festival opening and closing events at 

Riga’s central railway station and in Riga 

city squares. 

• Gala concert with the participation of 

some of the world’s brightest dancing stars 

— a programme of classical and modern 

dance. 

• Latvian dance marathon — a democratic 

dance event with the participation of 

the audience, as well as Latvian modern 

dance groups and invited guests from 

Lithuania and Estonia. 

• Master dance classes for practicing 

dancers, in order to promote the exchange 

of ideas and experience and to expand the 

dance teaching platform in Latvia. 

• Exhibitions on the theme of dance with 

the participation of artists from various 

European countries. 

Where: Riga theatres and concert halls, 

other outdoor venues in the city, as well 

as the Latvian cities of Ventspils, Valmiera, 

Preiļi and Jelgava. 

When: April and September 2014. 

Concept author: Lita Beiris, www.balletfestival.lv. 

Organisers: „Litas Beires Dance Art 

Centre”. 

Cooperation partners: Office of the Nordic 

Council in Riga, Danish Cultural Institute, 

French Cultural Centre in Riga, Goethe 

Institute in Riga, Latvian National Opera, 

Latvian Modern Dance Association and 

Latvian Fashion Dance Studio. 

new music + 

New musical compositions will be composed 

especially for this unique festival, 

incorporating a wide range of musical 

genres ranging from electroacoustic 

to symphony music. These works will 

be created in conceptual cooperation 

between the composers and their new 

partners from the visual and stage arts, 

film, science and other fields. 

In 2008, the Latvian Composers’ Union 

launched the annual “Latvia’s New Music 

Days” festival. Its principal goal is to provide 

live venues for musical works that 

have been penned during the past few 

years by composers from Latvia. The 

range of music performed at this festival 

is very wide, ranging from electroacoustic 

music to large format symphony and 

vocal symphony works. Starting in 2010, 

the festival plans to introduce a more active 

synthesis of various art forms, including 

dance, stage and visual art within the 

framework of the festival. The possibility of 

organizing the “Latvia’s New Music Days” 

festival within the framework of the 2014 

ECC 2014 programme would provide the 

opportunity to continue and to expand this 

innovative festival’s activities. 

Outline of “Latvia’s New Music Days” in 2014: 

• Musical performances in conjunction 

with other fields of art, such as dance, 

stage art, cinematography, visual art, as 

well as science (for example, Latvia’s national 

chamber orchestra “Sinfonietta Rīga” 

is currently cooperating with composer 

Kristaps Pētersons, who is composing a 

musical piece to accompany the screening 

of the Latvian silent film “Bearslayer”. A 

premiere performance, with the chamber 

orchestra performing Pētersons’ work while 

the movie is screened, would be possible 

within the framework of Riga’s ECC 2014 

programme). 

• Performances by some of Europe’s 

most outstanding musical artists, ensembles 

and conductors in the presentation 

of new musical works by composers from 

Latvia (for example, “Ensemble Modern”, 

the Concertgebouw chamber orchestra, 

“Rambert Dance Company”, Heinz 

Holliger, etc.). 

• Along with indoor concert performances, 

the range of concert venues would 

be expanded. For example, in cooperation 

with multimedia artists, ‘musical objects’ 

(electroacoustic music + installations and 

video art) would be created in conjunction 

with Riga’s ECC 2014 thematic framework 

and would be displayed outdoors in various 

parts of the city. 


Where: New Riga Theatre, Cinema Rīga, 

Riga Art Space, Small Guild in Riga’s 

Old Town, as well as a number of nontraditional 

concert venues: Riga airport, 

Riga central train station, shopping 

centre Galerija Centrs, various parks in 

Riga and Port of Riga. 

When: March 2014. 

Concept authors and creative group: 

the composers Kristaps Pētersons 

and Gundega Šmite. Gundega Šmite 

also chairs the board of the Latvian 

Composers’ Union, www.lks.org.lv. 

Organizers: Latvian Composers’ Union. 

Potential cooperation partners: National 

Film Centre of Latvia, Latvian Union of 

Artists and Latvian Science Centre. 

100 101

the opera of goodhumoured 

fantasies 

Any phenomenon has two sides: the 

visible and the invisible, the known 

one and the imperceptible one. Usually 

they do not dwell on the same plane, 

but there are exceptions. And the City 

of Riga is one of such exceptions. In 

Riga there exist two parallel worlds, 

each only surmising the existence of 

the other. We have a chance to change 

this situation and we have to begin 

doing it today. We have to pull down 

several barriers built by language and 

social differences. 

The idea has inspired a large-scale performance 

in Arēna Rīga. It will be a sumptuous 

fantasy show which will combine 

elements of opera, ballet, modern dance, 

circus and athletics. But what is even 

more important, this performance will be a 

teamwork of professional artists and various 

socially vulnerable groups of society: 

children with special needs, street children 

and youth, retired professional actors, 

ballet-dancers and opera soloists who often 

feel forgotten once the prime of their 

lives is over and their brilliant careers have 

come to an end. 

The premises of the Arena allow to expand 

the opera genre into broad spatial terms, 

turning it into a multi-dimensional show by, 

for example, staging the reflections of fantasy 

in Mozart’s Zauberflöte in a new way 

that has not been seen in Riga yet in order 

indirectly to address the most important 

aspect: even if only for a moment to merge 

the realities of our daily lives to change the 

standardized concepts. Such dynamic, 

high-quality show permeated with kindness 

and cordiality will appeal to the cultural 

experience of new audiences. 

A team of high-level professionals will be 

set up to bring to life this grand-scope idea. 

In 1212 the working group of the multimedia 

show will start addressing the potential 

participants, trying to identify them in the 

places of gathering of ‘disadvantage’ children 

and youth in Riga dwelling districts. 

Professional choreographers and teachers 

of music will work with these children and 

youngsters until September 2014 to train 

the potential participants for the show. 

Approximately 1200 participants are expected 

to take part in the show. 

Where: Arēna Rīga, video broadcast to all 

dwelling districts of Riga. 

When: Beginning of September. 

concept author and organisation: Riga’s 

ECC task group, National Concert Agency 

Latvijas Koncerti. 

Cooperation partners: Latvian National 

Opera, Riga Circus. 

Participants: Artistic manager Andris 

Nelsons; soloists Maija Kovaļevska, 

Egils Siliņš, Aleksandrs Antoņenko; 

head of choreographers’ group Mikhail 

Barishnikov; Latvian National Symphony 

Orchestra, professional Latvian choirs, 

children and youth of Riga and other 

participants. 

european christmas 

A Christmas market with culinary wonders 

from various European countries; 

performances by magicians and street 

musicians in Riga’s Dome Square during 

the day; concerts by musical ensembles 

from all over Europe in concert 

halls and churches during the 

evening. These events will signal the 

opening of the “European Christmas” 

festival, which will reveal the colourful 

Christmas traditions of many European 

countries. 

It will look like a picture from a storybook: a 

market square with wooden stalls, staffed 

by jovial people offering Christmas toys 

and roasted chestnuts for sale, with the 

fragrant smell of gingerbread cookies and 

hot wine in the air... This will be a sure sign 

that the “European Christmas” festival has 

been launched in Riga’s Dome Square. 

There, one will be able to learn about the 

Christmas traditions that are practiced in 

many European countries. 

In accordance with English traditions, a 

skating rink will be set up in the market 

square and traditional Christmas carols 

will be sung in Riga’s Old Town squares. 

The world’s most famous Christmas song, 

“Silent Night”, which originated in Austria, 

will be performed in Riga’s Old Town in 

dozens of languages. 

The Scandinavian countries will be represented 

in full force during a mythological 

masked parade – complete with Vikings, 

elves, trolls, goats and devils. The delegation 

from France, for its part, will show how 

to make tasteful store and office decorations 

with apples, paper blossoms and ribbons. 

They will also demonstrate a game devoted 

to the birth of Christ, complete with a manger, 

the Virgin Mary and Joseph, to remind 

us all about the roots of Christianity. 

At the German Christmas market stalls, one 

will be able to try out a glass of traditional 

winter hot wine, along with gingerbread 

cookies, fried sausages and potatoes. 

Glass and wood decorations, wooden toys 

and German Christmas pyramids will also 

be on display. 

Riga has its own, special Christmas legend, 

which states that the practice of decorating 

Christmas trees began in Riga in 1510 

and gradually spread around the world 

to become an enduring Christmas tradition. 

Some Latvians still practice another 

ancient tradition of dragging a log around 

their homestead on the day of the winter 

solstice, thus drawing out all evil, and then 

burning the log in a fire. 

All these European traditions and more will 

be seen in Riga’s Old Town during the day, 

while during the evening, various professional 

musicians and ensembles (“Hilliard 

Ensemble”, the string quartet Euphonia, 

the Riga Dome Boy’s Choir, the baroque 

orchestra Collegium Musicum Riga, the 

Latvian Radio choir, the Estonian bell choir 

Arsis) will perform in a number of concert 

halls and churches. The central musical 

event will be a mixed choir concert, 

in which two to three singers from each 

participating country will join together with 

their neighbouring colleagues to form a 

united, European choir and to sing traditional 

Christmas carols. 

The European Christmas festival will provide 

a splendid opportunity for everyone to 

learn about the Christmas traditions in their 

own and in their neighbouring European 

countries. 

What: Musical and other performances at 

Christmas markets and concert halls. 

Where: Riga’s Old Town, Dome Square, 

concert halls and churches in Riga and 

other Latvian cities. 

When: December 2014. 



Cooperation partners: Latvian Ministry of 

Culture, Riga City Council, Department 

of Culture, Latvian State Cultural Capital 

Foundation, Embassies of Italy, Spain, 

the United Kingdom, Norway, Sweden, 

Denmark, Germany and the French 

Cultural Centre in Riga. 

102 103

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