“Fragments of our sun” – that’s the name of the exhibition of works by the students of the Cēsi Art School, which was opened in the “Cēsis” concert hall in Vidzeme.
The works presented in the exhibition are special. They are the same ones that were part of the environmental object “Our sun” when celebrating the centenary of the Bank of Latvia. It was visible for several months in Riga at the main entrance of the Latvian National Art Museum.
Last spring, the National Art Museum of Latvia (LNM) and the Bank of Latvia invited students of art schools to participate in the competition “Our world, our future”, representing their thoughts in a drawing. “The idea of the organizers was to turn the drawings created by the children into gilded spatial labels, so that at the end of the competition, with the help of the artist Artūrs Analts, they would create a single installation ‘Our sun’,” says Digna Bicāne, a teacher at the Cēsu Art School.
“The students of our school also comprehensively reflected the vision of the future generation of the country and the essential basic values: family, friends, love, homeland, nature, health and peace of the planet. This is what we all want to see and feel. When we opened the exhibition in Cesis on February 24, our Estonian neighbors celebrated their country’s 105th birthday, it was overshadowed by Russia’s brutal war in Ukraine, where Ukrainians are fighting for their freedom and values. The exhibition “Fragments of Our Sun” reminds us of what is important. We can all feel like the sun is shining, because we live in free Latvia. May no one ever dare to try to take away our freedom, our values. May we never have to lose our lives defending our homes,” shares D. Bicāne’s thoughts.
Out of the 369 works selected by the jury used in the object “Mūsu saule”, 28 were created by children and young people of Cēsu Art School. Their authors: Katrīna Rone, Elizabete Elpere, Nikita Ivanovs, Adriana Yushkova, Aleksandr Salnits, Evelina Ozola, Nikola Yulia Muktāne, Unda Marie Baruna, Emilija Darta Caunīte, Amanda Asne, Ksenia Undra, Emilija Frida Java, Paul Dreibants, Valerija Pospyelova, Ance Peleke – Liela, Renārs Kaminskis, Viktorija Lesčik, Sara Rubule, Rachel Karpiković, Simona Anna Bernava, Rinalds Bogdanović, Marta Mežak, Daniels Žogla, Sabīne Pavasare, Rūta Bisniece, Made Vecā, Melinda Groskopf, Paul Baijers.
Teacher Digna Bicāne says that each winner of the competition receives a spatial tab of their drawing as a prize. Well, when the exhibition at the National Art Museum of Latvia has ended, the works of the students of the Cēsi Art School – the golden fragments of the great “Our sun” – are in Cēsis and can be viewed by the public.
After the exhibition, each tab will return to the student whose drawing was part of “Our Sun”. On the back of the tab, you can read the gratitude of the President of the Bank of Latvia, Mārtiņš Kazāk, dedicated to the young artists: “The environmental object “Our Sun” created by the artist Artūrs Analts decorated the main facade of LNMM during the exhibition “Signs of Values” dedicated to the centenary of the Bank of Latvia…. Thank you for your drawing – it, along with others, was an important part of “Our Sun”. May bright ideas continue to be born and you meet like-minded people along the way, with whom you can create great things together!”
Teacher D. Bicāne admits that the opportunity to receive her work for participating in the competition means a lot. “Each year, dozens of children’s drawing contests are held in Latvia. Regulations are written, goals, tasks and criteria are set. At the end of the regulations, it is usually written – the works will not be returned to the author, that is, the submitted works will not be returned to the children. Of course, everyone can imagine what happens to them afterwards.”
