12.09. - 17.10.2020

Annual international contest exhibition of MuseumLV gallery and cultural centre Grata JJ “GRATA BALVA” opens its doors to visitors and artists for the third time. Back in the spring, despite all the difficulties of the situation, more than 150 artists received an invitation from the gallery to prepare their works for the contest on theme “#artifact#fifthcivilization”. Professional artists from Latvia, France, Estonia, Lithuania, Russia, Belarus, China and England expressed their wish to take part in the project. Unfortunately, due to the current situation, the works of foreign authors could not arrive, therefore this year more than two hundred works of Latvian artists were supplemented by works of foreign colleagues from the fund of previous exhibitions of GRATA BALVA.

The GRATA prize is actually two prizes from the MuseumLV gallery fund, 500 Euros each. Representatives of the MuseumLV gallery choose their nominee based on the principle of a long-term, fruitful relationship between the gallery and the author and present the GRATA prize at the opening ceremony of the contest exhibition. Friends and colleagues of the Grata JJ cultural center, who have expressed their wish to support any of the participants in the competition, also award their prizes. The fate of the second GRATA prize is determined by the visitors of the exhibition, who can vote for their favorite works or art objects during the entire duration of the exhibition. The “Audience Choice Award” is awarded to the winner after summing up the results at the opening ceremony of the next exhibition at the gallery. In order to preserve the format of a fair vote, all paintings and art objects are presented with numbers without mentioning the names of the authors. Each spectator has the opportunity to award his vote to the work he chooses by indicating the number of the work on his ticket directly in the gallery, or online, by marking a photo of the work on the web page of MuseumLV and Grata JJ in the section “Blog – Grata Balva 2020 – works”. Authors’ works in other techniques and materials will also find their place in the exhibition, and moreover, each participant can exhibit one or two more thematically relevant works in order to enrich the personal context. A complete catalog of works is available at the MuseumLV web page, and all works are available for purchase. The sponsor of the GRATA award is company Grata Eco House, manufacturer of ecological houses. This year all the involved artists have been provided with canvases - either square - 40x40 cm or round – 40 cm in diameter. These are the artworks that will be judged.

“#artifact#fifthcivilization” is the name and theme of the contest exhibition of the 2020. The swift synergy of fundamental and applied sciences gives rise to various theories regarding the origin of the Universe, the formation of the planet Earth, the emergence and development of intelligent life and the possible civilizations that have existed before ours. How can we know if we are the first reflective creatures that live in this remote place – on the Planet Earth, which is situated in the Solar system, in the Orion sleeve of Milky Way galaxy, part of our Local galaxy group within the Virgo cluster, which is part of Laniakea superclaster within the Pisces-Whale supercluster complex, all that being a part of the Perseus-Pegasus Galactic Filament... Will we have the chance to find the answer to this question about our birthright within our lifetime? Or perhaps we are on a threshold of the next stage of our development, where completely different tasks will present themselves? We can not know the history of tomorrow, nor can we know what role we may assume within the next 24 hours. Only today is obvious, and only today we have the possibility to create an artefact to prove our existence in the history of our home and to leave it to our future selves, be it an identification mark, a sign of presence, a vivid stroke or a watercolor image. We define the day we live in and thus we proceed to the day called tomorrow, and claim our right to have another happy day on this planet. According to Marx Wartofsky, “an artefact is for the evolution of culture what a gene is for the biological evolution”.

We are grateful to friends and colleagues of the MuseumLV gallery and Grata JJ cultural center: sporting goods store chain “Sportland” and art supplies stores – Galerija “M6”, “Radošo Darbu Galerija”, “Vilhelms” and “Vilori”, who expressed a desire to support the participants of the competition with their prizes.

The exposition is located on both floors of the MuseumLV gallery.
The entrance ticket costs 5 euros, the reduced admission is 2 euros.

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Artwork catalog


Cultural center Grata JJ, art gallery MuseumLV
FACEBOOK: MuseumLV un Grata JJ
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Phone no.:
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Working hours: Tue. – Fr.: 11:00 – 19:00, Sat.: 11:00 – 17:00
Andreja Pumpura str. 2, Riga, LV – 1010

It is difficult for nowadays ballet addicts to comprehend that one of the most famous ballets in the world, the themes of which can be heard everywhere, was not accepted and was even considered a failure on its premiere at the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow on March 4, 1877. Julius Vaclav Reisinger's initial choreography was revived by another ballet master Marius Petipa, who invented many novelties. This performance, staged at the Imperial Mariinsky Theatre in St.Petersburg in 1895, after the composer had passed away, has become a ballet classic.

The plot of the ballet is based on several motifs that have been used in the stage works – in the theatre and the opera before. For over a hundred years, the story of Odette, Odile and Siegfried, where the real and the fantasy merge, demands acting skills and the ability to convince the spectators.

It seems that no other artwork in its time, in Soviet culture space has been so widely popularized: it was performed for important state visitors, parts of it were transmitted on TV when high-ranked party officials died.

Lita Beiris danced her first “Swan Lake” with Alexander Rumyancev in March, 1977. At that time it was common practise that both roles of Odette and Odile were danced by the same ballerina. Two different characters that the actress has to portray on one evening, and, according to the famous ballerina Anna Priede, not everyone is capable of doing it. Beiris did it brilliantly, dancing numerous times both in Latvia and and many places abroad. Both critics and the artist herself consider this role to be the most successful one in her career. Lita believes that this role is the struggle “between love and hate, the good and evil.” There is a special story regarding the guest performances in Lyon, France in 1978. Lita's partner Alexander Rumyancev fell a victim to the cruelty of the regime, and to save the production the famous Latvian dancer Maris Liepa arrived from Moscow. Lita's meeting with the master broadened the horizons and interpretations of characters for her. The perfume, Chanel N05, given as a present by the colleague after the show, still remains ballerina's favourite.

The notion “Swan lake” has its history in the visual arts as well: for some artists this name is synonym to the word “ballet”, whereas for others – the possibility to show their own, new story. In the fairytale's final Siegfried and Odette are drowned by waves into the deep of the lake, while the chosen storyline of the paintings in the exhibition allow free interpretation for the spectator.

Guntars Gritāns, art historian

Ballet Giselle, composed by Adolphe Adam (1803 – 1856), was first performed at the Paris Opera on 28 June 1841, and it was a triumph. The public welcomed it with great enthusiasm and the ballet evokes the same emotions till this day.

Heinrich Heine, German Romantic poet in his novel “Florentine Nights” tells of Wilis – spirits of maidens - brides in Slavic folklore. Having died before their marriage, betrayed by their lovers, they fulfil their wedding dances in the realm of afterlife, full of passion that was denied to them in their real wedding. Duke Albrecht has abandoned a peasant girl Giselle, who has joined the Wilis after her death, and now he faces severe punishment, as Wilis take the revenge by dancing the unfaithful men to death. However, Giselle decides to save Albrecht.

French poet Theophile Gautier transformed this story into a libretto, and the choreography was created by Jean Coralli and Jules Perrot. The ballet rightly acquired it's place in the “golden” repertoire of each theatre.

Lita Beiris's story about the role of Giselle also has its fascinating history. In 1987 she was excluded from the troupe and upcomming guest performances abroad. It is possible that in the previous foreign performances the ballerina had been too free. In any case, most likely there will be no answer to the questions about this past event. The artist used the time she had at home well and in collaboration with her partner Genady Gorbanov, who was not included in the guest performance troupe either, she prepared a new role – Giselle, that was afterwards referred to as Lita Beiris best role. The critic Eriks Tivums compared the ballerina's performance to the scale of the French tragedy actresses. The dancer's resilience, strength of character and ability to rise above resentment sublimed in a great work of art. Beiris partner in “Giselle”, dancer Aivars Leimanis tells in his memories that it was a duo with a strong personality. Meanwhile her partner Andrejs Rumjancevs recalls that when dancing with Lita, “the process of preparing the roles did not pose difficulties”.

Among the artworks in the exhibition that are devoted to “Giselle” there are works that concern both the theme of the story, some having even been created for the particular occasion, as Alvis Pizelis “Giselle”, and others that relay the contraversy of these two realms – light and dark, love and hate.

Guntars Gritāns, art historian

Although Tchaikovsky was always critical of his music and did not trust his own talent, he considered “The Sleeping Beauty” one of his best works. This is the second of his three ballets. The composer wrote the ballet in 1889, and the premiere performance took place at the Mariinsky Theatre in St Petersburg in 1890. Choreographer Marius Petipa's production raised a furore, and since then “The Sleeping Beauty” has seen numerous premieres all over the world and is also included in the principal repertoire in Latvian National Opera and Ballet Theatre. It is one of the cornerstones of classical ballet, and a challenge to every dancer's professionality.

The European folk story, which was made popular by story masters Charles Perrault and Brothers Grimm, tells about Princess Aurora, which has been cursed by the evil fairy Carabosse to die from a prick of a needle. The kind fairies are not able to divert the curse, but they can alter it, allowing the needle to cause her sleep until she is awoken by a prince's kiss.

Lita Beiris was given the role of Aurora in 1980, and this can be justifiably called the turning point in her dancing career. After achievements in competitions in Moscow and Varna, Bulgaria, Beiris secured her positions as prima ballerina at home.

Ballet historian Ija Bite wrote in her review that “the time of Lita Beiris blossoming has begun, she has been noticed and she fascinates both as a dancer and as a charming, wise woman.” Meanwhile, ballet master Aivars Leimanis, commenting this role says that only an extraordinary dancer who has mastered perfect technique can do it. Beiris lived the role of Aurora. Her acting skills were in harmony with ballet technique, and it resulted in a convincing story and performance that was in the dancer's repertoire for many years. One of Beiris' partners in the role of Prince Desire was the outstanding dancer Viesturs Jansons. Another successful partnership was with Andrey Rumyancev. The ballerina herself, speaking on the role remembers the true satisfaction of dancing it with several partners.

The paintings that relay the story of the Sleeping Beauty include various themes. Forest and the sea, an image of a girl and flowers, princesses and princes... Each of us has our own world of fairytales and moments when we want to return into childhood and believe once more that all the fairytales will have happy endings.

Guntars Gritāns, art historian

The French composer Maurice Ravel wrote one of his most famous works, “Bolero” in 1928. Initially the dancer Ida Rubinstein asked Ravel to make an orchestral transcription of some piano pieces by the Spanish composer Isaac Albeniz. However, another author had already acquired the rights to orchestrate them, therefore Ravel wrote a completely new piece, based on the Spanish dance “Bolero”. The composer wrote: “It is a dance with a very moderate and continuously even movement, both due to its melody and to its harmony and rhythm. The element of diversity is added by the orchestral crescendo.”

The composition has seen a multitude of different choreographies over the years. However, many former Soviet people remember best of all the French choreographer Maurice Bejart's production in 1961, in which Maija Plisetskaya eventually danced in 1978.

The performance, staged at the Latvian National Opera and Ballet Theater in the 1980s, sets the story in a pub, where the main characters are a love triangle - a tavern dancer, her lover and a young man that the woman begins an affair with. The dramatic culmination of the story comes when the lover stabs the young man.

The Spaniard, played by Lita Beiris, evoked excitement and praise in the public and media. It seemed that Spanish passion and temperament have been tailor-made for the dancer. The story danced by Lita was in a way a continuation of Carmen, whom the dancer had interpreted and introduced to the public as a free, independent woman. The artist's Spanish spirit and the celebration of life could also be felt in the role of Rosita in the ballet “Don Quixote” by Ludwig Minkus. Ballerina's emotional performance once again shattered the widespread stereotype of “Nordic coolness.”

For many years Beiris' stage partner in “Bolero” was Andrey Rumjancev, and the dancer has said about him that “he was able to load this story with drama and intensity of feelings”.

The paintings in the show that illustrate the music of “Bolero” are about the hot Spanish sun, passionate heart, wild temperament and glamourous outfits. The stately, independent image of a Spanish dancer with a fan in her hand, vivid and bright colours – that is the way the artists, taking part in this exhibition, see the story in their artworks.

Guntars Gritāns, art historian

09.07.2020

The new exhibition “#4stages” by art gallery MuseumLV of Cultural Centre Grata JJ is devoted to the International Baltic Ballet Festival. The festival, that is organized by the extraordinary Latvian ballerina Lita Beiris, celebrates its 25th anniversary under the title “From Classics to Avant-garde” all around Latvia. This year the festival should have taken place from 12 March, 2020. But unfortunately the global quarantine has made its strict temporary adjustments, but as the summer has come, the country’s cultural life is reviving, and the optimism of the GRATA JJ team and love of art served as reliable shield and support during the period of universal self-isolation.

So, by organizing the exhibition, the creative team of the gallery MuseumLV demonstrates its perception of Latvian national ballet history as aesthetical pleasure.
The exposition explores the existence of two interrelated phenomena: the art of ballet, as a tool for creating magical worlds of fairy tales, myths and legends that give humanity the definitions of good and evil, black and white, love and hatred, and on the other hand, the phenomenon of ballet artists devoting their entire lives to this world by virtue of extraordinarily heavy physical, spiritual and emotional work. By means of designing the scenery of the space and using a series of visual exhibits, the “#4Stages” show provides all viewers with opportunity to immerse themselves fully into the backstage of the theater world. Visitors will be able to enjoy the solemn splendor of theatrical costumes and the sophistication of ballet tutus from the “Swan lake” ballet in the “grand hall” of the gallery’s theater, take a glance into impromptu “rehearsal hall”, watch a video of actual training and appreciate the importance of everyday workouts and discover the first of a kind video instruction movie “Classical Ballet Technique”, directed by Yakov Mirimov in 1946, which was created as a teaching tool for all the teachers of the Soviet ballet schools.

The second floor of the gallery is fully dedicated to four ballet theatricals featuring prominent ballerina Lita Beiris - Peter Tchaikovsky's “Sleeping Beauty”, Adolf Adan's “Giselle” and Morris Ravel's “Bolero”. The performance mood here is defined by the paintings of Dita Lūse, Kristīna Keire, Agnija Ģērmane, Ilze Laizāne, Ilze Preisa, Ieva Caruka and many other gallery artists, as well as young artists such as Eduards Dubrovskis, Aivis Pīzelis, Jana Nesteroviča, Ivans Mazeins, Anya Vero, Rita Uljanova and Dace Dēliņa-Lipska, Ieva Baumgarte, who have devoted their works to the theme of the exhibition.

The core of the exhibition is made up of the works of famous Latvian artists Ivars Heinrihsons, Irēna Lūse, Džemma Skulme, Anita Kreituse, Aleksejs Naumovs, Lidija Auza, Uldis Zemzaris, Juris Dimiters, Ieva Muzikante as well as ballet costumes and objects – both contemporary and valuable historical exhibits. The exhibition features props and ballet costumes from the personal collection of Ieva Immertreija, a ballet dancer, costume designer and the head of the Ballet Class Association. Ieva has acquired a wide-range art education in Latvia and abroad and today she participates in the “4stages” exposition as a high-end member offering unique ballet costumes that have been tailor-made according to her sketches.

The MuseumLV art gallery of the cultural center Grata JJ expresses its gratitude to all the artists who contributed to this project: Laine Kainaize, Linda Kozule, Gita Šmite, Eduard Zentsik, Elizabete Melbarzde, Aija Bāliņa, Zoja Geraskina, and to Ieva Immertreija personally for the equipment, costumes and active assistance in organizing the exhibition and the opening ceremony. We thank company “Ziedu Sēta” and Latvian National Opera and Ballet for the provided equipment.

The creative group of MuseumLV gallery expresses sincere gratitude and appreciation to the collectors who provided works of art from their own collections, among them: “The view on opera” by Zenta Logina and “Swedish park” by Maija Nora Tabaka from Zuzāns collection, paintings from Pēteris un Ilze Tērmanis collection and paintings, sketches and costumes from Lita Beiris collection.

The MuseumLV art gallery of the Cultural Center GRATA JJ creative group:
• Darya Samarina, culturologist - communication with authors, management
• Julia Eresko, artist - concept, scenography, selection of artworks
• Guntars Gritāns, art historian - communication with authors, selection of artworks
• Jevgenija Šafraneka, journalist - video, communication
• Ieva Immertreija, costume artist - ballet costumes, objects, live installations

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Cultural center Grata JJ, art gallery MuseumLV
FACEBOOK: MuseumLV un Grata JJ
YOUTUBE: art gallery MuseumLV cultural center Grata JJ
INSTAGRAM: museumlvgratajj

Phone no.:
00 670 16 602
00 254 09 000
e - mail: info@museumlv.com

Working hours: Tue. – Fr.: 11:00 – 19:00, Sat.: 11:00 – 17:00
Andreja Pumpura str. 2, Riga, LV – 1010

15.03.2020

Draugi! 
Mēs nepārtraucām savu darbību, bet veselības un drošības apsvērumu dēļ mēs strādāsim online režīmā.
Apmeklējiet mūsu mājaslapu - MuseumLV - tur ir daudz interesantu lietu.
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Mēs esam ideju pilni un gatavojam jaunu baleta izstādi, nedaudz mainot laiku. Lūdzu, palieciet veseli un optimistiski.
Dalāmies ar jums ar Paolas Volkovas mākslas lekcijām YouTube kanālā un vietnēm ar brīvo pieeju lielākajām galerijām un muzejiem, jo ir labi zināms, ka iepazīšanās ar skaisto stiprina imūnsistēmu.

Līdz tikšanos un paliksim uz sakariem!

Paola Volkova. Desmit mākslas lekcijas
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TVNET.lv - Paliec mājās! Muzeji, ko var izstaigāt virtuāli
Wiener Staatsoper

29.02. 2020 – 31.03.2020

Most art lovers associate Ilze Smildziņa’s name with oil paintings of virtuosic clouds, which fill up infinitely vast space.

In her new solo exhibition, Ilze Smildziņa is loyal to her favorite technique and theme. Visitors will be able to view works created in the last two years. While looking at her paintings you get a sense of a moment that has just passed, the reality and the illusion of what is possible and impossible are intertwined. However, the realistic mannerism of the paintings makes one believe that this is a reflection of reality.

When asked about this project the artist says: “The title of the exhibition is related to the fact that I am still very much in the cloud theme. Right there. There are so many clouds, so many feelings I haven’t painted yet.

Somewhere - it is an undefined, nameless place, but still it’s a place we recognize. We've been there. So we continue looking for something and during this important process we fail to notice the simple joys of everyday life. Only when we take a moment to stop, the mind suddenly opens and we realize how much beautiful and noteworthy there are around us… and often we find it where the search began - right there.

Painting allows me to tell a story without using words. My artwork contains fragments of what I have seen and experienced in everyday life, but these scenes have been placed in a different reality, thus highlighting the story itself. The depicted stories can take place elsewhere, but the spaciousness and infinite space allow the viewer to interpret the story as they wish. The sense of space and freedom has a lot of meaning. The people depicted in my paintings are my friends, acquaintances or people I have accidentally met, who are all now brought into the stories I have created. Other times, the storyline changes in the work process and the event is transformed into something completely different. The imaginary world through which I want to actualize a theme or image may be relevant to me or the public at the time. The stories in my paintings have a free space that allows each viewer to create their own scene.

Ilze Smildziņa has a master's degree in painting from the Latvian Academy of Art in a figurative workshop and a master's degree in printmaking. The artist has had several solo exhibitions in Latvia and Lithuania, as well as participated in various local and foreign group exhibitions and art competitions, including ArtParis art exhibition, representing Saatchionline Art Gallery (2011), 6th Beijing International Art Biennale (2015, 2019), Paint One Another Know One Another” exhibition in Beijing (2016), Art Gemini finalist exhibition in London (2017, 2018), as well as art symposiums in France, Belarus, Finland, India and Cyprus. Ilze's artwork is featured in private collections in Canada, Belgium, France, Sweden, Germany, Ireland, the United States, Belarus and Latvia, the National Association of Chinese Artists and the Luciano Benetton Collection.

Other resources on the Internet:
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Cultural center Grata JJ, art gallery MuseumLV
FACEBOOK: MuseumLV un Grata JJ
YOUTUBE: art gallery MuseumLV cultural center Grata JJ
INSTAGRAM: museumlvgratajj

Phone no.:
00 670 16 602
00 254 09 000
e - mail: info@museumlv.com

Working hours: Tue. – Fr.: 11:00 – 19:00, Sat.: 11:00 – 17:00
Andreja Pumpura str. 2, Riga, LV – 1010

25.02.2020, 18:45

Уважаемые интеллектуалы, друзья галереи MuseumLV культурного центра GRATA!

Если вам кажется, что КНИЖНЫЙ КЛУБ - это тоскливые беседы и чтение романов вслух, то вы просто не были в “Книжном клубе” Академии Grata. Мы предлагаем вам выйти из онлайн-сумрака, выключить свои гаджеты и получить удовольствие от реального общения с настоящим писателем.

25 февраля в 19:00 у нас в гостях остроумный и талантливый Слава Сэ – автор книг, признанных лекарством от хандры и депрессии! Интервьюер Евгения Шафранек – журналист, телеведущая и автор youtube-канала #ОБОЗРЕЛА. Два человека с хорошим чувством юмора на сцене – гарантированное удовольствие и отличное настроение.

За целый час вы сможете узнать о писателе, его работах и героях все самое интересное и честное, высказать свое мнение или даже восхищение приглашенной звезде, прижаться грудью к спинке стула, на котором сидит Слава Сэ и получить автограф на своем экземпляре книги, который Академия Grata вам подарит перед началом творческой встречи.

Хотите, чтобы и Ваш вопрос прозвучал? Отправляйте его заранее в мессенджер на fb страницу MuseumLV или на майл, смской или звонком, приходите на мероприятие и трепетно ждите.

Во второй части вечера поговорим о книгах, обсудим литературные пристрастия, поделимся мнениями о новинках и классике, обменяемся любыми бумажными изданиями, принесёнными в клуб или позаимствуем что-то из нашей собственной, “гратовской”, библиотеки. А может быть, вы сами создаете (не)печатные истории? Не стесняйтесь, прочитайте нам их!

Будем встречаться раз в месяц, знакомиться и получать удовольствие от общения друг с другом.

Для улыбок и азарта - бокал вина

Цена участия - 20 евро с персоны. В стоимость уже входит новая книга Славы Сэ с автографом. Просим резервировать места заранее, оплатив билет до 20 февраля. Количество мест ограничено, не затягивайте!
Язык встречи - русский.

Книга для обмена и подходящее мероприятию настроение приветствуется, но не обязательно! Все мы разные, тем и интересны.
Модератор встречи - Влада Дубровска, читающий автор «Мальвина, Барби, Инстаграм» #мальвинасоветскогоразлива.

* Когда: 25 февраля с 19:00 до 21:00
* Время сбора: 18:45
* Где: Академия GRATA - филиал галереи MuseumLV
* Адрес: Rīga, Ausekļa iela, 5
* Тел.: + 371 67 016 602
Мобильный:+ 371 2 5409000
email: info@museumlv.com