lv

LCCA Declares 2015 the Year of Hardijs Lediņš

To commemorate and assess the contributions of multi-media artist Hardijs Lediņš (1955-2004) to Latvian culture, LCCA has declared 2015 to be the Year of Hardijs Lediņš. In marking the 60th anniversary of the birth of this classic of Latvian avant-garde music and art, the LCCA is collaborating with artists from various creative fields as well as contemporaries of Hardijs Lediņš, organising a number of cultural events throughout the year that accentuate the most imporant stages in the multi-faceted work of this legendary artist.

Called the “patriarch of multi-media”, Hardijs Lediņš was an extraordinary person, who came onto the Latvian art scene at the end of the 1970s. He shaped and greatly inspired a broad field of alternative culture, following processes of world culture that were relevant at the time and integrating them in the artistic environment of Latvia in an original way. Together with his like-minded contemporaries, Hardijs Lediņš made musical recordings, performances, actions and interventions, which revealed a language that was innovative for the time and had not been expressed. Among his most important works, one could mention the work of NSRD (Nebijušu sajūtu restaurācijas darbnīcas) (Workshop for the Restoration of Unfelt Sensations) and the already legendary Walks to Bolderāja, the exhibition “Vējš vītolos” (Wind in the Willows), the performance “Dr. Enesera binokulāro deju kursi” (Dr. Enesers’s Binocular Dance Courses) in the Botanical Garden of Salaspils, the Aptuvenās mākslas (Approximate Art) exhibitions, as well as the “Tranzwelt Telefon Konzert”, in which music was played simultaneously from six cities around around the world, and the opera “Rolstein on the Beach”, among others.

Hardijs Lediņš is one of the most dynamic sources of influence for following generations of artists – in referencing his creative legacy, people are continuing to interpret his music, system of images and visual language, and have also continued the tradition of the walks to Bolderāja. In marking the year of this anniversary, the LCCA has chosen to turn broader attention on this unique individual and accentuate Hardijs Lediņš’s role in Latvian culture by showing his equally weighty role when compared to the accepted canon of important figures in Latvian culture.

The opening event of the Year of Hardijs Lediņš will take place on January 22nd. Within the framework of this event, the “Hardijs Lediņš Cafe” will be opened in the Upe Record Store (Vaļņu iela 26) and feature literary readings. There will also be several musical performances in the music club Nabaklab. This year’s programme will feature reconstructions of the NSRD’s most famous performances, a walk to Bolderāja, “Dr. Enesers’s Binocular Dance Courses” in the Botanical Garden, several contemporary art exhibitions devoted to Hardijs Lediņš, a documentary, literary readings, disco/lecture room, multi-media performances, concerts, expeditions and actions in parts of Riga and neighbourhoods that were significant in the life of artist. The events of the Year of Hardijs Lediņš will be collected and published in a publication that will be supplemented with stories of his contemporaries.

The events programme has been created by the Latvian Centre for Contemporary Art. The curators of the events are Solvita Krese and Diāna Popova. The Latvian Centre for Contemporary Art has carried out research for a number of years on the creative legacy of Hardijs Lediņš. The Hardijs Lediņš Archive is located in and managed by the LCCA. With the help of the LCCA, the novel “ZUN” by Hardijs Lediņš and Juris Boiko in 2005. In 2009, the exhibition (The Length of Time and Atmosphere of Place) took place in the Intro Hall of Riga Art Space, which dealt with Hardijs Lediņš’s position as an architect. A number of his works have been included in group exhibitions organised by LCCA.

The cultural programme Year of Hardijs Lediņš is financed by the State Culture Capital Foundation, the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Latvia, Creative Europe Programme of the European Union and the AB LV Charitable Foundation.

Read more