As part of a program on Latvian Radio, the music journalist Orests Silabriedis met with the harpsichordist, pianist, and the recipient of the “Grand Latvian music Award 2017” Ieva Saliete. Their meetings took place first in her hometown Pocelujevka, Latvia, and then in the German National Museum, Nuremberg, which houses a collection of some of the world's most precious keyboard instruments.
Away, an animated feature made entirely by a single Latvian animator, has scooped a major international prize and also been snapped up by entertainment giant Netflix.
A record number of Latvian films and co-productions will participate in the 22nd Shanghai International Film Festival (SIFF) which will be held from June 15 to 24, 2019 in Shanghai, China.
A selection of remarkable art events for this weekend in Latvia.
June 13 saw the opening of outdoor pianos in the neighbourhood of Dzintari, Jūrmala. The three musical instruments, decorated by artists and made for public use, are placed in three different places, which is one place more than last year, reported LSM's Latvian language service.
Latvian animators are busy participating at the Annecy International Animation Film Festival 2019 in France from June 11-14 - with the feature film ‘Away’ (directed by Gints Zilbalodis) part of the Contrechamp competition program and a MIFA Animated Baltics stand, according to a release from the National Film Centre of Latvia .
On June 8, LSM's Latvian language service reported that a tripartite co-operation agreement was signed between the Freedom Monument Lighting Fund, the Riga Monument Agency, and the National Cultural Heritage Administration on the development of the project to illuminate the symbol of national freedom and make its three stars shine even in the dark.
A former pig farm has been converted into a cinema and museum in the Vecpiebalga municipality, bearing the name “Film Farm”. Its founders are a couple, Aina and Aldis Slišanis.
From July 5 to 7, the 6th annual “Sun Festival” invites families to relax in nature and take part in more than 35 different workshops.
In 2013, in an effort to save a narrow-gauge railway running through a peat bog in Baloži from being scrapped, an association was created. This association later established a very special museum located in a train moving through the bog. The museum is run freely by volunteers.
On June 6, the VEF Museum opened an unusual exhibition on the eve of the 100th anniversary of the former Latvian industrial flagship – the State Electrical Engineering Factory (VEF). The exhibition focuses on the lesser known pages in the annals of VEF – technologies that were produced as prototypes for further innovation in the 70's and 80's.
A new Latvian-made documentary film receives its world premiere at the Sheffield Doc Fest on June 8.
For the first time since its inauguration six years ago, the Night of Churches will have a participant outside of Latvia. Together with more than 150 Latvian churches, the Irish-Latvian society of St. Peter's Church, Dublin will take part in the annual Night of Churches. The event will take place this Friday to Saturday (June 7–8). This year's unifying theme is friendship.
On June 1 and 2, the 49th Latvian Folk Applied Arts Fair took place at the Ethnographic Open Air Museum of Latvia. It was estimated that the fair attracted around 40 000 visitors. The number of participants has also grown to 750, a new record, comprised of craftsmen, food vendors, and caterers, whose produce has been rigorously appraised for quality.
A selection of events for this weekend in Latvia.
The popular LAMPA "festival of conversation" has published its program for this year's event, which takes place in Cēsis June 28 and 29.
July 25 will see a new acoustic concert hall named "Latvia" officially open in Ventspils, Kurzeme Philharmonic Association public relations officer Antra Lacberga told the LETA newswire May 27.
The acclaimed Rīga Cathedral Choir School (Rīgas Doma kora skola) is celebrating its 25th anniversary this year, an occasion marked with a special concert held May 25 at Ķīpsala hall in the Latvian capital.
A weekend at the end of May should be full of fun, and indeed it will be, provided you get out from behind that computer screen and do something more interesting instead. Here are a few idea to get you started, all with a family-friendly flavor.
May 17 saw the world premiere of the Latvian director Juris Kursietis' film "Oleg" in the "Director's Fortnight" section of the Cannes Film Festival dedicated to spotlighting young film directors.
This Saturday it's the annual Museum Night in Latvia with museums keeping their doors open throughout the night. But there's also some book- and photo-related stuff that's not to be missed.
Latvia's Eurovision entrant for 2019, the group "Carousel" failed to qualify from its May 16 semi final for the May 18 final of the contest.
This year, the annual contemporary art festival Survival Kit is changing its location, for the first time drawing art lovers to Rīga's left bank, called Pārdaugava. The abandoned Physics and Mathematics Faculty of the University of Latvia on Zeļļu street 25 will serve as the festival and exhibition venue from when it starts on May 23 at 7 p.m.
One of the statistics that Latvians most love to air is the one about how the country has hundreds of kilometers of beaches, and with summer's imminent arrival those beaches are being prepared for the new season.
A documentary on Brussels, a virtual showcase of modern art, as well as a regular flea market is in the program for this week's events in Latvia.
The Žanis Lipke Memorial – a place in Rīga dedicated to the memory of eponymous Žanis Lipke, a noted savior of the Jews during World War II – has been included on the official list of protected cultural heritage, Latvia's official state bulletin reported May 3.
It's another long three-day weekend in Latvia. Here are a few suggested ways of spending it.
The dominant event this weekend is the Big Clean Up (see out story), but there's plenty else to keep you busy if bin bags aren't your idea of a good time. Here are three family-friendly suggestions courtesy of our colleagues at LSM's dedicated children's website.
The cherry trees at Rīga's Uzvaras park have burst into bloom, with residents flocking to enjoy the annual flourish of the cherry blossoms.
Oleg, a movie by Juris Kursietis and co-produced by Latvia, Belgium, Lithuania and France, was on April 23 included among the films represented in the Directors’ Fortnight, a parallel section of the Cannes Film Festival running from May 15 to 25.