Opening of Poetry Days, Contemporary Pottery and “Sheet Music Planets” in Ventspils / Article

The opening event of the Poetry Days, an amazing exhibition of ceramics and the concert of “Sheet Music Planet” – all this week is recommended by the representative of the public media award “Kilograms of Culture” Toms Treibergs.

Poetry is coming!

“Rainis hangs on the wall, / Poetry Days are here again” – we can hear this kind, satirical two-line at the beginning of September, because this is exactly the holiday season for poets and coolers. On Friday, September 3, the now legendary cultural debarker “Noass” will take place Poetry days opening readingwhich will participate Marija Luīze Melke, Andris Kalnozols, Ingmara Balode and Edvins Raups. Mary’s work in the field of literature is already stamped with a certain time stamp – she represents the generation of so-called “young authors”, in whose ranks we can “write down” poets such as Raimonds Ķirķis and Kirils Ēcis.

Marija’s – or, as she is called in a more informal expression – Melķe’s poetic handwriting has certain similarities with Inga Gaile’s bold and uncompromising reading.

The name of Andris Kalnozols during the last year is most closely connected with his great, albeit heterogeneous debut novel “Calendar Invites Me”, but Andris has not missed the poetry muse either. We met Ingmar and Edwin have already strengthened their status as poets with pedestals belonging to the ancient Greek temple, giving readers the opportunity to read the works of Adam Zagayevsky and Federico Garcia Lorca in the reproduction of their translations.

The reading will be followed by a joint opening ceremony together with the contemporary art festival “Survival Kit” – a performance of the artist Ieva Balode and the disco “cut” by the poet, musician Artūrs Puntes and the head of the Latvian Center for Contemporary Art Solvita Kres. Admission to the event with a certificate confirming vaccination or Covid-19 disease.

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A Call to the Sheet Music Planets

The choir of Ventspils Music High School “Sheet Music Planets” can call itself the winner of several international competitions. Conductors Rudīte Tālberga and Anitra Niedre will celebrate the 10th anniversary of the self-directed association with a festive concert “If You Are Next to Me”, in which songs by Latvian composers will be performed.

For several years now, the singer Daumants Kalniņš, who is currently popular in Latvia, has been friendly to young people.

The songs of guitar player, teacher and composer Kaspars Zemītis after the Christmas concert at the Livonian Order Castle are often included and performed in the choir’s concert programs. With the participation of both artists, two concerts in the concert hall “Latvija” will feature songs from Daumants Kalniņš’s concert program “Heart of Joy”, as well as Kaspars Zemītis song cycle choir and electric guitar “Waiting for Light” and other compositions.

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Contemporary ceramics: Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia

Given the travel difficulties caused by the Covid-19 infection, I was almost thirsty for the powerful art experience I had been looking for in European art museums and galleries so far. Therefore, my pleasure was even greater when I saw the joint exhibition of potters from the Baltic States, which in cooperation with the Mark Rothko Daugavpils Art Center is organized by the Museum of Decorative Applied Art and Design of the Latvian National Museum of Art. Of course, with the involvement of specialists from Estonia and Lithuania.

Ceramics – it seems that hearing this word, everyone could evoke their own associations, not to mention Latgale clay and another traditional example of style. Then this is the opportunity to completely overthrow your views on the art of ceramics.

For example, have you seen a clay object printed with a 3D printer? This is exactly the example at the exhibition “Creo ergo sum”, the composition translated from Latin means “Radu, hence I am”. This exhibition will have to spend quite a lot of time, and it is a good idea to formulate and give to potential visitors. The greatest success of the exhibition is in the diversity of the selected authors and the approaches they represent. Allegorical offers alternate with monumental, technically complex ceramic works, thus varying the required amount of attention from the viewer’s field of vision. Thinking, following and simply rejoicing – such an enjoyment of art is by no means self-evident, so I strongly encourage anyone who wants to “detach” from the everyday structured rhythm and join the unpredictability of creativity to get involved.

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