At the end of September, the first mural painting in the Smiltene region was unveiled on the wall of the Smiltene Culture Centre, Gaujas iela 1. The mural On Remembering was created by the artist Luīze Rukšāne, inspired by a photograph taken in 1910, which captures the Lake Teperis, which is popular with the people of Smiltene.  The murals in the regions of Latvia have been created with support of the European Economic Area financial instrument.

The mural which adorns the town centre of Smiltene was created by the artist Luīze Rukšāne with an intention to evoke and direct the viewer’s attention to photography as a carrier of memories. “Today, we live in a world full of images, where we often capture things meaninglessly. I am emphasizing what was a new way of remembering a hundred years ago, but has now become a part of the way how we remember,” says Luīze Rukšāne. In earlier times, people’s homes could have various formal portraits of ancestors or relatives – paintings or photographs. The portable camera meant that the fleeting moments of everyday life – vacations, gatherings – could be turned into pictures and collected in a photo album. In addition to marking the emergence of a new type of photography, this era also established an unprecedented way of remembering events. The artist’s mural is a tribute to a photograph capturing the landscape of Smiltene, taken more than a century ago. The photograph serves as a snapshot of an ancient reality, which the artist interprets by placing details in the frame of the painting that originally have not existed either in the real landscape or in the photograph.

“This monochromic work of art is the second mural of the series adorning Latvian municipalities. It is a pleasure that people show interest, ask questions and want to talk about their impressions whenever there is an activity nearby a façade. Together with colleagues from the foundation Mākslai vajag telpu we plan to open three more murals in other cities and towns of Latvia by the next summer,” says Elizabete Pavlovska, head of Ziedoņa klase (Ziedonis class).The mural in Smiltene is one of the five large-format works of art created by educational direction Ziedoņa klase (Ziedonis class) of Imants Ziedonis Foundation Viegli in cooperation with the foundation Mākslai vajag telpu (Art Needs Space), under the auspices of the project supported by the European Economic Area Financial Mechanism with an aim to educate children and youth in contemporary art. The first work of art unveiled in the project was the mural “Kopā”/“Together” by Zīle Ziemele, which adorns the wall of Talsi Art School.

Imants Ziedonis Foundation Viegli , Ziedoņa klase is implementing a project “Me, A Human Being in the World”, A Tool for Fostering Contemporary Culture Processes (project No. EEZ/2021/1/28) with the support of the European Economic Area Financial Mechanism for the period 2014–2020 programme Local Development, Poverty Reduction and Cultural Cooperation, awarded under the open call Support for the Creation of Professional Art and Cultural Products for Children and Youth.

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