Ummis and Lobelia
Evarts Melnalksnis, Ernests Valts Circenis, Katrīna Neiburga (Latvia)The Lobelia dortmanna, which is listed in the Red Book, requires extremely clean growing conditions. It has chosen Lake Ummis, surrounded by coastal forests, as its home, which is the clearest body of water in Latvia. To keep it clean, swimming is strictly prohibited in the lake during the summer.
The experimental contemporary music theater performance ‘Ummis and Lobelia’ is a poetic tribute to the unequal opposition between the autonomy of nature and the pressure of civilization. It also explores the reflection of human psychological states in processes of nature. Liminal situations that force us to peer into the abyss of consciousness. And hope, which, like the fragile lobelia flower, sometimes emerges and rises above the dark depths of consciousness.
Credits
Concept, dramaturgy: Evarts Melnalksnis
Music, electronics: Ernests Valts Circenis
Video artist: Katrīna Neiburga
Vocalists: Artūrs Čukurs, Dārta Liepiņa
Flute, guitar: Alise Golovacka
Set designer: Inga Bermaka
Video assistant: Antons Grauds
Composer: Ernests Valts Circenis
The performance is a collaborative project between the associations Mākslas birojs and New Theatre Institute of Latvia. It is being created as part of the EU Creative Europe programme project The Big Green, in collaboration with Laidu Manor Residence, VVFoundation and Pāvilosta Artists’ Residence (PAiR), the Latvian Culture Capital Foundation, Riga City Council and the Society Integration Fund, with financial support from the Latvian state budget allocated by the Ministry of Culture and co-financing from the Ministry of Culture. The work is being carried out in cooperation with the Pierīga Regional Administration of the Nature Conservation Agency.