Riga – European Capital of Culture 2014
Created on 2014-01-07
In 2014, Riga, the capital city of Latvia, has the great honour of being the European Capital of Culture. Throughout the year, Riga will offer an abundant, diverse and high-quality cultural programme. With around 200 cultural projects and events, including operas, exhibitions and festivals, the programme ranges from a major cultural history exhibition on the 500 years of the printed book and a contemporary arts festival to one of the biggest celebrations of the summer solstice in Europe.
The central opening event will be a symbolic act by book lovers – a ‘human chain’ of books on the 18th of January, when books will be transferred, hand to hand, from the old National Library of Latvia building to the new Gaismas pils (Castle of Light) on the other bank of the Daugava river. The building will not only be a library but will be a national reservoir of knowledge and will serve as a cultural exchange point with the rest of Europe.
The opening festivities in January will also feature another key European Capital of Culture event – a multimedia performance of the opera “Rienzi” by Richard Wagner, who, for a time, worked as a musical director in Rīga. The multimedia staging of the opera, created through collaboration between renowned Danish director and set designer Kirsten Delholm and the Latvian National Opera, will take place on 17 January.
In July, World Choir Games will have Rīga’s squares and streets resounding with the voices of 20 000 singers from almost 90 countries. Also in July, a major exhibition, The Book 1514-2014, will present an insight into the 500-year history of book printing, in the new National Library of Latvia building.
Participation and creative expression are the key themes of Rīga 2014. They apply to the contemporary arts festival “Survival Kit”, which will provide visitors with opportunities to become involved and participate in a variety of discussions and workshops. Rīga’s creative quarters will come to the fore with their diverse programmes, each reflecting its own unique local charm.
The diversity of the Baltics’ celebrated amber will be exposed by the Amber Road winding its way through a number of museums and galleries, with different exhibitions reflecting the significance of amber in terms of culture, history, medicine, new technologies and geology. Concurrently, the Amber Road also symbolises the contemporary cultural exchanges between cities and countries along the ancient amber trade route.
One of the biggest summer solstice celebrations in Europe – Līgo (on Midsummer’s Eve) and the next day, Jāņi – will display how European customs differ, but give the same joy. And in mid-November, Staro Rīga, the largest light festival in northern Europe, will see the city brilliantly illuminated by light festival artists.
At the end of the year and Riga’s tenure as the Capital of Culture, Rīga will host the European Film Academy Awards on 13 December, bringing together around one and a half thousand world class cinematographic professionals and where the highest achievements in film and the most outstanding screen personalities are celebrated.
Rīga’s 2014 European Capital of Culture programme is called Force Majeure, affirming the positive impact of culture and the ability to swiftly bring positive changes to the city and its residents, at a time when many different forces majeures roam the world.
For more information about Rīga 2014, see the new culture portal www.riga2014.org. Portals www.latvia.travel and www.liveriga.com also provide information about Latvia and capital city Rīga as travel destinations.
