Gunars Saliņš - Sākums - Kuldīga

IN THIS ISSUE
Gunars Saliņš (1924-2010) shed the
mortal coil this summer, to go, as Latvians
say, Beyond the Sun. We feature a selection
of his poetry, followed by remembrances
and words of homage from his fellow writers
Baiba Bičole, Kārlis Vērdiņš, Jānis Krēsliņš,
Sr., Uldis Bērziņš and Sniedze Ruņģe. Saliņš
was a central figure of the Hell’s Kitchen
group of Latvian exile artists and writers,
who, in the 50’s, 60’s and 70’s, never
lost touch with their Latvianness even while
drawing inspiration from the loud cosmopolitan
contrasts of New York City. Never
before published photographs by Gunārs
Janaitis show Saliņš and artist Fridrichs Milts
revisiting Hell’s Kitchen on a very grey day
in 1989. In the poem “Eat of me, drink of
me” (translated into English by his daughter,
singer Laila Saliņa), Saliņš speaks of a place...
where one no longer treasures / mere trifles
and farewells, / but only death’s pleasures.
LITERARY COMMENT. Poet and translator
Ingmāra Balode (“I Do not Write Obituaries”)
pays eloquent homage to Saliņš and
also to another exile poet, Olafs Stumbrs
(1931-1996), whose earthly remains were
interred in his family plot in a cemetery in
Rīga last summer. ••• In a separate article
Balode comments on the life and art of
Kurts Fridrihsons (1911-1991), as revealed
in his personal letters to his wife from a Soviet
labor camp (1951-1956), selected and
published by Gundega Repše, one of Latvia’s
foremost prose writers. ••• Having,
in the previous issue, reviewed the attitudes
of Latvian writers in the West toward the
writings of their colleagues in Russian-occupied
Latvia, Eva Eglāja-Kristsone, in part
VIII of her serialized study of Latvian cultural
contacts across the Iron Curtain during
the Cold War, looks at official Soviet attitudes
toward exile literature. ••• Rolfs
Ekmanis comments on a voluminous collection
of studies on literary and cultural contacts
among the three Baltic nations, edited
by Benedikts Kalnačs at the University of
Latvia Institute for Literature, Folklore and
Art. ••• How to teach history to secondary
school students − didactically, so as to
strengthen national identity Or analytically,
so as to develop critical thinking Aldis
Austers reports on current practice in Latvia
and in other countries in Europe, and
recommends discussion of reform. •••
Mummery − celebration involving elaborate
masks and costumes − is an important
part of Latvian folk custom. Juris Šlesers reports
and comments on a recent study of
the subject by Aīda Rancāne.
VISUAL ART. Interviewed by Sarma Muižniece-Liepiņa,
our art editor Linda Treija reveals,
among other things, that, as of this
fall, she has been elected Chair of the Association
of Latvian Artists in America. •••
Three of Linda’s paintings are reproduced
in color as well as an abstraction by Jānis
Kalmīte. Black and white photographs by
Uldis Briedis commemorate the renewal, 20
years ago, of national freedom in Latvia. Six
full-figure character portraits of ordinary citizens
of the town of Kuldīga are from a set
of 40 taken by Modris Rubenis, also some
20 years ago. According to Vilnis Auziņš,
Head of Latvia’s Photography Museum, Rubenis’
documentary photography, underappreciated
during Soviet rule, is now finding
popular acclaim in a touring exhibit organized
by FotoForma. The cover design by Indra
Ekmane depicts participants at the 10 th
Latvian Youth Song and Dance Festival in
Riga, July 2010.
MEMORIES AND ACTUALITIES. Uldis Siliņš’
memoir of life in Displaced Persons Camp,
Alt-Garge, Germany in 1945, “Looking Back
with a Smile”, contains excerpts about camp
life from the British and German press. •••
Rolfs Ekmanis in his appreciation of Tony
Judt (1948-2010) accents the British-born
historian’s prediction that the 21 st century
will be neither the Chinese, nor the American
Century, but the Century of Europe, also,
Judt’s view that the US, in order to survive,
must move towards a more egalitarian European
model. ••• The Marginalia section
contains the usual kaleidoscopic compendium
of news shorts, carefully selected to be
relevant to all Latvians the world over. •••
The featured discussion in the Kiberkambaris
section, “Stockholm Syndrome and
George Soros”, tries to come to grips with
the fact that Latvia has been and continues
to be subject to powerful foreign influences,
some for the worse, and some for the better.
BOOK REVIEWS. Ilze Jansone’s Insomnia, a
novel that promotes understanding of homosexuality
in contemporary Latvia – reviewed
by Aina Siksna • Leons Briedis’ collection
of poetry Viļņi tuksnesī (Waves in
the Desert) – Juris Silenieks • Lidija Dombrovska’s
novel Aurorā pa Austrāliju (Australian
Travel by “Aurora”) – Juris Silenieks
• Vilis Vītols’ Savējiem: Pārdomas, pieredze,
atziņas (To My Compatriots: Reflections, Experience,
Observations), lessons on how to
live right – Astra Roze • W.G. Sebald’s Austerlitz,
translated from the German by Silvija
Ģibiete – Heini Dubre • Journal of Baltic
Studies ( J u n e 2 0 1 0 ) – G u n d a r s Ķe n i ņ š K i n g s .
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