The TÊTE-À-TÊTE arts programme is one of the ways in which the Boris and Ināra Teterev Foundation is facilitating the development and accessibility of culture and art in Latvia.
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From 22 October, there will be another exciting addition to the Mikhail Chekhov Riga Russian Theatre’s repertoire in the form of Alla Sigalova’s production of To Love, based on Viktoriya Tokareva’s play So Be It, with a set design by Nikolai Simonov and costumes designed by Alexandre Vassiliev.
“Produced by an all-star creative team, this play is the concluding event of this season’s TÊTE-À-TÊTE arts programme. The names of the creative team behind each and every forthcoming production are very significant, because of their area of expertise. Every project they’re involved in is a source of intrigue, which viewers look forward to with great excitement. We hope that this opening performance will become one of the theatre season’s unforgettable events,” explain philanthropists Boris and Ināra Teterev.
Viktoriya Tokareva writes about love like nobody else: in a unique and truly inimitable signature style that is fresh, light and devoid of banality; and such that one starts breathing in rhythm with the leading characters. This play, on which the production To Love is based, offers yet more evidence of Tokareva’s quintessential wit, irony and bittersweet sadness, which precipitate a love story...
And it is not just one story, because each leading character in a play lives with love - bearing it within, burning in it, and longing for it... Requited love gives one wings, whereas the unreciprocated kind offers life experience alone. Nevertheless; happy or unhappy, love gives life more meaning than anything else, it is its only true reference point and the driving force that transforms both man and the world.
From 27 September to 18 October, as part of Boris and Ināra Teterev’s arts programme TÊTE-À-TÊTE 2016, the Latvian Railway History Museum will host the exhibition "Light at the End of the Cable. Latvian Art in the Digital Era", which is comprised of part of the State-owned portion of the collection of the Latvian Museum of Contemporary Art. On view in the exhibition will be iconic works by 25 artists, which have not been available for public viewing for years and, in some cases, even decades.
“The exhibition’s leitmotif is affinity to the so-called digital era, its subjects, paradoxes and impasses. Did you know that a person in a shower can disappear countless times like mist, only to reappear? Did you know that a mobile phone, flying around in circles, forms a beautiful contour of light? Did you know that a trolleybus terminus can be folded up like a paper cube?” asks curator Helēna Demakova, commenting on the vision for the exhibition.
“We plan that the Latvian Museum of Contemporary Art will open its doors in 2021. However, it is important that the collection of the future museum of contemporary art is also available for viewing during the period while the museum is still only under development. We hope that for many people these works will be a surprising revelation and an adventure; especially for the younger generation, which has not had the chance to see the works of art in this collection,” note philanthropists Boris and Ināra Teterev.
Throughout the duration of the exhibition, the services of a guide-curator will be available, who will introduce groups of young viewers to the works on view. Moreover, an educational guide has been prepared, which contains tasks that will help every pupil, accompanied by teachers or parents, to discover the connection between contemporary art and the digital era.
The participants in the exhibition are: Ēriks Božis, Jay Chow, Evelīna Deičmane, Dace Džeriņa, Kristaps Epners, F5 (Līga Marcinkeviča, Ieva Rubeze and Mārtiņš Ratniks), Jānis Garančs, Kristaps Ģelzis, Ģirts Korps, Kristīne Kursiša, Maija Kurševa, Lev Manovich, Miks Mitrēvics, Anta Pence, Dita Pence, Monika Pormale, Krišs Salmanis, Rasa Šmite, Raitis Šmits, Alise Tīfentāle, Vilnis Vītoliņš, Mehrdad Yazdani and Armands Zelčs.
The Latvian Railway History Museum’s opening hours during the exhibition are as follows:
Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday from 10:00 to 17:00, Thursday from 10:00 to 20:00; Sunday from 10:00 to 16:00; Monday: closed. To arrange a guided tour of the exhibition, please send an e-mail in advance to:
As part of the Boris and Ināra Teterev Foundation’s programme "Art in Public Space", a permanent large-format work of art was unveiled in Rīga’s urban environment, in the semi-circle adjoining Akmens Bridge and AB Dam, in the form of the second section of artist and Art Academy of Latvia Professor Ojārs Pētersons’ object “The Large Vase”, the original section of which is located outside the National Library of Latvia.
The art object “The Large Vase” is a whole entity divided into three parts - the biggest of which is located outside the Castle of Light, while one quarter was installed in September 2016. The outer surface of the external sections is covered with a ceramic mosaic, which reflects Garlieb Merkel’s text – one letter has been placed on each of more than 14,000 ceramic tiles. The ¾ of the object outside the NLL weighs 15.5 tonnes. An integral component of the work of art is a publication, created by the artist and containing the fragment of Merkel’s text, which will be available in Latvia’s public libraries. The fragment in the publication has been translated into English, French, German, Spanish and Russian.
“Anyone can think of connecting these parts together, filling them with his own content," stresses artist Ojārs Pētersons. "The source of inspiration for the creation of the works of art is Garlieb Helwig Merkel’s book “Vidzeme’s Ancient Times”, which would more aptly be described as 18th century contemporary art than a historical testimony of the Latvians of that era".
The work of art is subject to broad interpretation. "The vase’s granite insides allude to our latitude and rural environment, while its ceramic outer with Merkel’s text fragment accents the accumulation of European culture and historical experience, which is also attested to by the vase’s form, ” explains curator Helēna Demakova.
“The Large Vase” was one of the award-winning projects in the “Riga Smiles” competition organised by the foundation in the spring of 2013. The decision to install the work of art outside the NLL was ratified by the NLL’s commission of art experts with the final approval being conferred by architect Gunārs Birkerts.
Ojārs Pētersons (1956) graduated from the Art Academy of Latvia’s (AAL) Design Department in 1980 and has been a lecturer at the AAL Visual Communication Department since 1990. When it comes to creating public works of art, artist Ojārs Pētersons has acquired vast experience of doing so in Latvia, Finland, Sweden and Germany. In August 2014, his two-part orange sculpture “The Bridge over the Sea” was unveiled in the German city of Eckernförde. The Rīga section of the work is being stored together with the works of art of the future Latvian Museum of Contemporary Art until such time that a suitable location can be found for it in Rīga’s urban environment.
The title “Notes on Self-Evident Things” is taken from a work by art by middle generation Latvian artist Armands Zelčs, which is part of the State-owned portion of the collection of the future Museum of Contemporary Art.
Writing about this work, the Latvian literature and culture critic Anda Baklāne commented that, “Succumbing to leisurely philosophising, one could say that Zelčs’ folded bicycle chasing its tail symbolises the eternal return and the cyclical nature of things. (...) It seemingly plays upon the subject of “reinventing the bicycle”.”
This object is characterised by constructive artistic language in conjunction with a mind that espies paradoxes and which, by the way, has been influenced by the impressions made by the virtual world surrounding us.
The artists were invited to respond to this idea of a project generating paradoxes and cyclical patterns and to submit public art projects (models) on a scale of 1:10.
This means that the work of art that could potentially be produced did not depict situational elements related to specific social or other trends. It was anticipated that the submissions will not only be interesting, ambiguous and universal in nature, but also such that they can be exhibited under an open sky.
The artists did not have to choose a specific location in the urban environment, but had to submit an idea reflected in the model, which could later be adapted to a specific location.
This is a competition exhibition in which each winner received EUR 1,000. The winners were judged by a professional jury.
The exhibition was fully supported by the Boris and Inara Teterev Foundation.
The curator Helēna Demakova has invited the following artists to create models: 3/8, Vents Āboltiņš and Anete Dambrova, Reinis and Krista Dzudzilo, Kristaps Epners, Atis Jākobsons, Ernests Kļaviņš, Kate Krolle, Sarmīte Māliņa and Kristaps Kalns, Laura Prikule, Līga Spunde, Reinis Suhanovs and Evita Vasiļjeva.
The exhibition took place from the end of September until late October 2016 at the Latvian Railway History Museum. It showcased works created by Latvian artists in the 21st century, which are part of the collection of the future Contemporary Art Museum and belong to the Latvian State.
The title of the exhibition came from Dita and Anta Pence’s light installation, which was part of this collection. The subject of both this work of art and the other works in the exhibition was the digital era and all the challenges it poses, including virtual reality, possibilities for manipulation and technology-based romanticism, or quite the reverse, expression full of paradoxes.
Since 2005, the exhibits of the future Contemporary Art Museum have been selected by an international commission of experts. The curator of the exhibition "Light at the End of the Cable", Helēna Demakova has been a member of this commission of experts from the time of its inception.
On the evening of Saturday, 18 September, composer Raimonds Pauls and opera singer Elina Garanca will rendezvous at the Latvian National Theatre for White Hide-and-Seek, a concert which not only promises to be a memorable creative collaboration between these two leading lights of the musical stage, but also one of the highlights of Boris and Inara Teterev’s arts programme TÊTE-À-TÊTE 2016. A joint production with the Latvian National Theatre, this concert will include the global premiere of a number of new songs specially composed for Elina Garanca and interlaced with poetry by Vizma Belsevica. White Hide-and-Seek will be the first occasion that both artists have ever met on a concert stage. The programme for this musical evening will be made up of vocal opuses, instrumental improvisations and conversation. Music lovers unable to attend the concert itself will have the chance to listen to it live by tuning into Latvian Radio’s Klasiska programme.
Interviewed on Benefice, a show that is part of Latvian Radio’s Klasika programme, about his collaboration with the mezzo-soprano, Raimonds Pauls explained that, "With a singer like Elina Garanca… In collaborating with her, one has to give thought to a repertoire that is custom-tailored for her, because there is no need for her to sing the stuff we usually sing here… She can sing anything, because Elina’s talent lies in her wonderful command of melody; technically, she has no problems whatsoever! We performed the first version of Light, Show Me the Way together with Zigfrids Muktupavels. But that was a different style. With Elina, it’s completely different, and, it seems to me, that we’ve got it right. Maybe, if we were to take some excellent Latvian poetry, we could write some romantic-style vocals for Elina? I don’t want to promise anything, but, if it occurred to Elina that we should take that course, we could give it a try…”
According to philanthropists Boris and Inara Teterev, “Both artists are leading lights and the pride of contemporary Latvian culture. What’s more, both have notable birthdays this year. Their joint concert will offer the Latvian public its first ever chance to savour a mouth-watering and truly moving event.”
Over the past decade, thanks to her memorable performances at the world’s leading opera houses, Elina Garanca has shot to fame as one of the greatest talents in world opera music. Critics have been awed by her virtuoso performances in leading mezzo-soprano roles and the great lengths to which she goes to step into character - her sublime voice exudes power and warmth, accentuated by her majestic grace and charisma. Her status as an artist with the Deutsche Grammophon recording company dates back to 2005 and has so far produced six solo albums, three of which have won the ECHO Klassik Prize.
Such is Raimonds Pauls’ fame, stemming from his legendary career as a pianist and the preeminent songwriter of Latvian popular music, that he is not just the most famous composer in Latvia, but also in lands far beyond it. More often than not, Pauls either performs his own compositions or is the concert master for other performers. His piano playing is distinguished by his highly individual, fleeting and strikingly reductive touch, making his style both inimitable and unforgettable.
On 17 September at 13.30, the Latvian National Theatre’s Large Hall will be the venue for a meeting between the team responsible for the concert, i.e. Elina Garanca, Raimonds Pauls and philanthropist Inara Teterev, and journalists, during which those present will have the chance to listen to the musical performance, view the newly-released compact disc and ask questions.
Music and readings
Featuring:
Gidon Kremer, violin
KREMERata Baltica orchestra soloists
Yuliya Rutberg, actress
Sergei Nikolaevich, journalist
Yulianna Avdejeva, piano
Programme:
Readings of the recollections of Maya Plisetskaya and Sergei Nikolaevich in a dialogue with the opuses of Rodion Shchedrin, Franz Schubert, Frédéric Chopin, Maurice Ravel, Mieczyslaw Weinberg and other composers.
Maya Plisetskaya. An outstanding personality, a legendary fate and a fantastic woman. Nothing and nobody could compete with her either in life or on the stage. Wherever she appeared, all eyes looked in her direction. No matter what she said, an expectant hush invariably ensued, as if she were not a ballerina, but the Oracle of Delphi standing before chambers of sorcery. Even her death on the eve of her ninetieth birthday in May 2015 was like a gesture - kind and stubbornly beautiful (from the recollections of Sergei Nikolaevich).
The legendary ballet dancer, the glowing radiance of whose personality brightly reaches into the future, has reverberated not only among her contemporaries, who had the chance to witness the artist performing on stage at the peak of her powers, but also over a period of several decades, amid people all over the world, be they television viewers or regular theatre goers, or readers of the ballerina’s memoirs or stories about her written by the press.
This idea nurtured by the editor-in-chief of the Russian magazine Snob Sergei Nikolaevich and the Boris and Inara Teterev Foundation of a dialogue of readings and music offering a glimpse into the world of Maya Plisetskaya was performed only once in Riga, in the Latvian National Opera’s New Hall.
Fragments of the memories of Maya Plisetskaya and reminiscences about the dancer herself read by actress Yuliya Rutberg and journalist Sergei Nikolaevich were interwoven with musical replies, questions and answers performed by the violinist Gidon Kremer, the soloists of the KREMERata Baltica orchestra and the pianist Yulianna Avdeeva.
As part of the Boris and Inara Teterev Foundation’ s ongoing arts programme “TÊTE-À-TÊTE”, LTV’s series of programmes and theatre productions “Teātris.zip” presented the New Riga Theatre production of “Onegin. Commentaries”, which four years ago was nominated for a 2011/2012 Spēlmaņu nakts (“Players’ Night”) award in the category of Dramatic Theatre Play of the Year, while its director Alvis Hermanis received the 2011/2012 Spēlmaņu nakts award as Director of the Year for his work on the plays "Oblomov" and "Onegin. Commentaries".
Viewers watching the play have the chance to enjoy Pushkin’s sublime poetry in both Russian and Latvian, complemented by a characterisation of the age, a portrait of Pushkin himself and an analysis of this work, based on the studies of literary scholar, cultural historian and semiotician Yuri Lotman. However, by embarking on a path of discovery and re-examining the classic stereotypes; together with his actors and master set designer Andris Freibergs, Alvis Hermanis has succeeded in creating a uniform work of art, which not only addresses viewers intellectually and emotionally, but also gives them an abundance of food for thought.
Joining Ojārs Rubenis on the “Teātris.zip” programme to discuss the various aspects of how the play is perceived were Vilis Daudziņš (Pushkin), Kaspars Znotiņš (Onegin), Kristīne Krūze (Tatyana) and Sandra Kļaviņa (Olga).
On the eve of the Boris and Inara Teterev Foundation’s arts programme “TÊTE-À-TÊTE”, LTV’s series of programmes and theatre productions “Teātris.zip” offered viewers an adaptation of legendary playwright Tennessee Williams’ play “A Streetcar Named Desire” at the New Riga Theatre, directed by Inese Mičule with Elita Kļaviņa in the role of Blanche, Iveta Pole as Stella and Andris Keišs as Stanley.
Blanche DuBois believes in love and yearns for it. She has lost everything and seeks sanctuary at her sister’s. There, Blanche ends up in a complex relationship triangle with her sister and her brother-in-law. The lives of all three are caught up in a tragic whirlpool, acerbically interwoven with a stubborn battle with real life, escape into a world of illusions and the desire to preserve one’s ideals.
“TÊTE-À-TÊTE” is one of the means how the Boris and Inara Teterev Foundation nurtures the development and accessibility of culture and art in Latvia. The Teterev Foundation sets world-class benchmarks for this programme commensurate with those of contemporary art, and therefore before the play, we heared a discussion not so much about a single play as about the processes of theatre globally and their connection with Latvia.
Programme guests: theatre scholars Līga Ulberte and Ieva Struka.
The first and last love story. Based on the play "So Be It".
Victoria Tokareva writes about love like no other – in a special, recognizable manner: fresh, light, unhacked - and this very manner makes a reader breathe in sync with her characters. This play is another proof of her skills: with her hallmark keenness, irony and a touch of light sadness, Viktoria Tokareva weaves a love story...
Actually, not just one story because every character of the play lives in love - carries it within, burns with it, hopes for it... Someone's love is reciprocated - and gives wings to them; someone's love is unrequited - and provides some experience for them. Anyway, either a happy one or an unhappy one, Love is the highest life purpose, the only true anchor and the driving force, which changes both the person and the world.
...On the 22nd of October, we, for a first time, saw how Alla Sigalova, the director and choreographer, told these two love stories.
Director and Choreographer - Alla Sigalova
Set Design - Nikolai Simonov
Costumes - Alexandre Vassiliev
Cast: Ieva Segliņa, Natalia Zhivets, Eugeny Cherkes, Yelena Sigova, Maxim Busel, Tatyana Lukashenkova, Alexey Korgin, Anatoly Fechin, Yana Lisova, Olga Nikulina, Julia Berngardt, Anastasiya Rekuta-Dzhordzhevich, Vadim Grossman.
Alla Sigalova is one of the Russian Federation’s (RF) most distinguished choreographers and the winner of numerous theatre awards. She is a graduate of the A. Vaganova Academy of Russian Ballet and the Russian Academy of Theatre Arts’ (GITIS) Faculty of Directing. In her role as an educator, she is a Professor at the Russian Academy of Theatre Arts (RATI) where she is the Head of the Faculty of Modern Choreography and Stage Dance. At the same time, she is also a Professor and Head of the Department of Movement at the Moscow Art Theatre School. She is not only the choreographer and director of over 120 productions in Russia and abroad, but also the producer and host of a number of programmes on the Culture television channel including Right in the Eye, All Russia, Grand Opera, Grand Ballet and Grand Jazz. Her status as a truly outstanding choreographer is not confined to Russia; it extends all over the world. At the Riga Russian Theatre, she has overseen productions of Nights of Cabria (2002) and Hanuma (2014), where she also worked as a choreographer on a number of productions including an adaptation of August Strindberg’s play The Dance of Death (director: Roman Kozak).
Nikolai Simonov is a Distinguished Artist of the Russian Federation, who has worked on over 100 theatre and opera productions, as well as in television. Among the prestigious awards he has received are an award from the Russian Federation for his contribution to the field of culture and the Moscow Prize in the category of Visual Arts.
Alexandre Vassiliev is a world-renowned fashion historian, interior decorator, set designer, author of widely-read books and articles, as well as being an outstanding lecturer, collector and host of popular TV programmes. He owns one of the biggest private collections of historical couture, which he has built up over a 30 year period, and which currently includes about 10,000 items (including clothing, footwear, accessories and photographs), some examples of which date back to the 18th century, whereas others are from the 21st century. Alexandre Vassiliev also gives lectures at colleges and universities all over the world in his capacity as a guest lecturer on subjects related to fashion history and stage design. He is the recipient of the Diaghilev Medal, the Vaslav Nijinsky Medal, the Order Patron and the Russian Academy of Arts’ Gold Medal. He is also a two-time recipient of Turkey’s TOBAV Prize.
Alexandre Vassiliev has created over 100 decorations for ballets and operas produced by leading theatres, as well as for numerous well-known theatre productions and films. His collaborators include the Théâtre du Rond-Point, Le Lucernaire and Cartoucherie theatres, L’Opera Bastille in Paris, Avignon Festival, Ballet du Nord, New Ballet of France, Royal Opera of Versailles, National Theatre in London, Scottish Ballet in Glasgow, Royal Ballet Flanders, Masako Ohya Ballet in Osaka, Asami Maki Ballet in Tokyo, Nevada Ballet, Opera and Ballet of Santiago, and many others.