08.01. - 03.02.2015

Galerija "Māksla XO"

Elizabetes iela 14, Rīga, LV 1010

Ivata Laure "Reykjavik Stories"

The idea for “Reykjavik Stories” was conceived in Iceland during a one and a half month stay in Reykjavik’s International Artists’ Residence.

Whilst there, I met many different people, but mostly artists. The time we shared was very inspiring and remained in my thoughts long after my return to Latvia.

I had a wish to immortalize this experience by way of an inter-disciplinary art project.

The concept is based on literary texts contained in the note book which reflect what happened to me or events which I simply imagined to have happened. Events which brought back memories, causing different recollections to which I wanted to give shape through visual art. Importantly these works of art are not literal illustrations of the stories. The objects and stories are not identical in number and the images roam freely, visiting each other’s world.

The stories are about ordinary people, about their lives, the paths they have taken, their chosen goals and the dreams they have dreamed. It is a vision looking at the past, present and future which does not lose its topicality in the course of time. There are several layers of information to the stories and I am especially pleased about the presence of world – famous Latvian  artists. In a strange way it makes one believe that nothing is impossible for anyone. Not in vain was Riga chosen to be the European Capital of Culture in 2014.

The thoughts and feelings expressed in these stories whose protagonists come from different nations are nonetheless common and universally understandable.

Iveta Laure, 2015.