| Programme | Local Development and Culture |
| Selection | Open project |
| Competition title | Atklātais konkurss “Atbalsts profesionālās mākslas un kultūras produktu radīšanai bērnu un jauniešu auditorijai” |
| Donorstate/international project partner | K:13 (former Kompani13), Norway (https://www.kompani13.no/) |
| Project national Nr. | EEZ/2021/1/13 |
| GrACE project Nr. | LV-LOCALDEV-0010 |
| Contract No. | 4.3.1-12-3 |
| Contract Date | 15.12.2021 |
| Project title | Art Activism: Take Part, Take Care. PARTICIPATORY ART EXHIBITION & INTERACTIVE PERFORMANCE |
| Project promoter | NGO "I-DEJAS MĀJA" (I-DANCE HOUSE) (https://i-deja.lv/) |
| Start of project eligibility | 15.12.2021 |
| Project end | 15.12.2022 |
| Total eligible costs | 126 550.00€ |
| Grant financing | 107 567.50€ |
| National co-financing | 18 982.50€ |
| Project status | Completed |
| Project goal/description | The participatory art event and exhibition Art Activism: Take Part, Take Care is about politics in our everyday life, about skills and knowledge on how to raise a sustainable society and be a responsible part of it. Reflecting on the historical side of social activism - rising of labour unions in Latvia, the event will take place in the House of Free Trade Union Confederation of Latvia / Latvijas Brīvo arodbiedrību savienība (LBAS). This is the biggest non-governmental organisation in Latvia, which protects the interests of professional trade union members and employees on the branch and inter-branch level. From the very beginning of the establishment of trade unions, the cultural program has been a part of their activities. One of the most celebrated phenome-non of the cultural and educational program of trade unions all around Europe, is the Free Theatre movement. Drama section courses in Riga held in 1920-1930 resulted in the establishment of the semi-professional Workers' Theatre. Inspired by the aes-thetics and spirit of the modernist kind of Riga Workers' theatre, this art event presents participatory art exhibition, interactive theatre production, free dance classes, seminars and discussions.
The ecosystem of contemporary art in the Latvian cultural environment is often formed in the form of interventions - exhibi-tions, theatre and dance performances find places to create events and an environment suitable for creative processes. The PARTICIPATORY ART EXHIBITION & INTERACTIVE PERFORMANCE is an interactive exhibition and performance events created by contemporary art, dance and theatre professionals in the building of the Trade Union House (Riga, Bruņinieku Street 29-31) with the participation of theatre company Teater K:13 from Bergen, Norway.
The idea of exhibition is based on a study of the cultural activities of the Latvian People's University, trade unions and workers’ clubs in Riga, the semi-professional Riga Workers' Theatre at the beginning of the last century. This historical ma-terial in the exhibition will serve as an example of good practice how less privileged groups of society gain their own
stage by uniting and self-organizing. The exhibition will offer a history lesson and creative participation to learn about an in-volvement in politics and art activism. The exhibition will consist of contemporary art installations by professional artists and will be integrated in the public area of the Trade Union House - entrance hall, stair-cases, corridors. There will be historical materials and artefacts about Riga Workers’ theatre integrated in the installations. The main task of the exhibition is to ask questions about participation and its forms today. Attendants will be provoked to create futuristic visions of their own lives. There will take place an interactive performance created by theatre directors of theatre K:13 from Bergen, Norway. Attend-ants will be involved in the process of interactive theatre to provoke expression of political attitudes and after unveiling the theatrical situation to discuss it.
The program of the exhibition will include a seminar and workshop for drama teachers on interactive theatre methods in work-ing with adolescents, free dance classes held by pedagogues of I-DEJAS MĀJA as well public lectures. The possibility of real-izing personal initiatives, involvement in social processes is not equally accessible to everyone. Art activism and the art of par-ticipation are democratically shaped forms of contemporary events. When we talk about social inequality and about ways to re-duce social disparities, about national and racial hatred and about politically correct and inclusive attitudes, the matter is - who is talking? Are the less well-off involved? Are young people gaining a voice? Participation matters. Active or passive, in the minority or in the majority, we all participate in politics.
The results of the project:
The purpose of the cooperation is to realize a cultural product connected to the exhibition «Art Activism: Take Part, Take Care!» The cultural product will be an interactive performance for young people.
K:13 will take part as a co-creator of the interactive performance for young people. The theatre performance will be developed based on the elements and themes of the exhibition. The interactive theatrical parts will take place in the art venue, led by two Latvian actors. Within the project, a group of drama teachers will be introduced to the methods of interactive theatre and will involve their students in the creation of the show as a focus group. The theme of the interactive parts will be developed in close collaboration with the exhibition creator Sanita Duka, and her results of the Master of Art research. The performance will take place inside the exhibition in the venue of Trade Union house. It is planned to transfer it to one of the independent theatres in Riga as part of the repertoire and offer it in the “School Bag” program.
K:13 uses a performing technique based on audience involvement – that consciously blurs the borders between actors and spectators. This method is used to ensure that the participants are involved in the development and happenings in the performance and that they create their personal approach to the performance theme/problem. This creates an awareness and lets participants get to know more about themselves and their environment, when faced with certain situations. It is also within K:13´s vision to develop democratic attitudes, to investigate micro- and macro social and ethical – moral problems through theatrical forms. In working with children and young people, the theatre is an effective tool to develop a deeper understanding of important humanity problems. |
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