From 21 to 23 August, the Coastal Poetry Festival will take place at the PAiR residency in PÄvilosta. Its three-day programme will bring together poetry readings, an open-air film screening, a film concert, a comics workshop for children and young people, and an evening of poetry and music.
The festival will explore the coast as a landscape, a living environment, and a carrier of cultural memory, bringing together poets, artists, actors, musicians, and film researchers. All festival events are free of charge.
Festival events
The festival will open at 20:30 with the open-air film screening āPoetic Wanderings Along the Baltic Seaā.
The programme will present a multifaceted view of the Baltic Sea coast through documentary films made during different periods. Through poetic observations of the environment and personal stories, the coast will emerge as a landscape, a living environment, and a carrier of cultural memory, revealing its layered significance across different historical and social contexts. The programme will begin with an introduction by film researcher Zane KrÅ«miÅa.
At 17:00, a poetry reading will feature Ivars Å teinbergs, Kirils Äcis, Kyle Dacuyan (USA), Ausma Perons, and Lote Vilma.
Four Latvian poets representing one of the most active generations in contemporary Latvian poetry will take part in a traditional-format reading. Although Kirils Äcis and Ausma Perons published their debut collections only last year, their creative work has already been widely recognised. Ivars Å teinbergs and Lote Vilma, meanwhile, are the authors of several books for both adults and children.
They will be joined by Kyle Dacuyan, a poet and performance artist from the United States who has worked extensively with New Yorkās The Poetry Project and will be a resident at PAiR in August.
At 21:00, the groups Alejas and Long Live Children, together with DÄvis Gauja, will present the film concert āMoments & Eternities. B4 Contentā.
āMoments & Eternities. B4 Contentā is an audiovisual evening of memories and a meditative tribute to the deepest corners of the Latvian internet, celebrating our endless desire to pause, capture, share, and move forward. The work is a collage of materials found online and created during a very specific period, which its authors refer to as āBCā, or āBefore Contentāāa time when the internet did not yet serve the attention economy but was simply a place for sharing.
At 11:00, poet Roberts Vilsons and artist and poet Lote Vilma will lead a comics workshop for children and young people of all ages.
Through simple drawing and creative-writing exercises, participants will develop their imagination and explore the process of creating a comic, from the initial idea to the finished work. No previous experience is required.
The festival will conclude at 17:00 with an evening of Lorcaās poetry and music, featuring New Riga Theatre actors Guna ZariÅa and Gerds LapoÅ”ka, as well as musicians Ilze Grunte, Andris Grunte, and Dace Ignatova.
The programme will be based on the poetry concert āA Knife Stuck in the Heartā, bringing together the poetry of celebrated Spanish poet Federico GarcĆa Lorca and the music of legendary Latvian singer-songwriter Haralds SÄ«manis. The performance combines Andalusian, Romani, and world-music influences. It is rooted in the 1980s production āThe Screamā, in which Lorcaās poetry met SÄ«manisās original music.
Programme
Festival team
Visitor information
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