On June 13 at 1:00 PM, we invite you to a special lecture as part of the exhibition “The Queen of Hats and Her Batiks.”
Seeking new opportunities for creative expression, the batik technique gained popularity and application in Latvia in the 20th century. 60.-80. It was embraced by both professional and amateur artists. The technique’s appeal lies in its broad and diverse decorative possibilities, utilizing hot, cold, or freehand painting techniques, or various combinations thereof.
This is evidenced by the brief, yet artistically brilliant, engagement with this technique by artists such as Rūdolfs Heimrāts, Rita Blumberga, Pēteris Sidars, Diāna Dimza Dimme, and others. Meanwhile, Ērika Iltnere, Georgs Barkāns, Arnis Pumpurs, Jevģēnija Knāviņa, and Vitolds Kucins were artists for whom batik was either the sole or one of the primary techniques in their creative work.
The lecture will provide a brief insight into the work of the aforementioned contemporaries of Ārija Skudra, characterizing the diversity of their thematic, stylistic, and technical approaches.
The lecture will be led by the exhibition curator and art historian Mg. Art. Irēna Bužinska, who this year received the Latvian Art Annual Award for Lifetime Achievement. Her professional work is characterized by an unceasing interest in phenomena of art history that have been forgotten or misunderstood due to political circumstances or changing tastes over time, and an ability to inspire this interest in others. Her research gaze has always been directed towards artists whose originality contrasts with the aesthetic norms of their time or transcends conventional formal boundaries.
The lecture will take place at the Ogre History and Art Museum building at Brīvības iela 36. The event may be filmed and photographed.
Admission to the event is free.