FESTIVAL WATERPIECES

As usual at the start of September we will begin the new working year and colourful autumn with the Waterpieces International Contemporary and Video Art Festival which this year will take place over three days from 8-10 September on AB Dambis, as well as at the NOASS and Betanovuss Floating Arts Centre.

We will begin the second decade of the festival with video programmes from the “Japan Media Arts Festival” and “The archive of the International Short Film Festival Oberhausen”, as well as showcasing “CologneOFF – Video Art in the Global Context” – a three day travelling festival exhibition.

Cologne Off is a festival that has evolved from the Cologne Online Festival, which for several years has operated as an Internet-based network which unites art curators and video artists from all over the world. In order not to lose the essence of the festival as a network, CologneOFF has become a travelling contemporary art event and throughout 2011 it has drawn the attention of visitors to video as a global art medium rapidly gaining in popularity which, utilising the opportunities provided by a communications network, reaches far beyond the borders of countries and regions. During Waterpieces, special attention will be paid to the moving image’s unlimited means of expression, particularly highlighting the contribution of artists and curators in promoting video art across the globe.

This year we will also augment the festival with an informal discussion about video art and its latest developments which will be chaired by programme curators: Wilfried Agricola de Cologna and representatives of the International Short Film Festival Oberhausen.

Likewise, the 11th Waterpieces International Contemporary and Video Art Festival’s showcases and exhibition will be made more colourful by a three day masterclass “Naive Animation at Naive Art Museum” coordinated by “multenkulten” Studio, which has previously organised creative workshops at various festivals in Rīga, Liepāja, Cēsis and Ventspils. Participants in the Waterpieces Workshop will have the chance to create a video from recycled materials, and the works created during the masterclass will be presented to the public at the conclusion of the festival. The programme will be led by animator Kristīna Ratniece and architect Ivars Šmits.

Augmenting “multenkulten’s” showcase, as part of the White Night programme, a musical performance will be given on the final evening of the festival by “Bērnu rīts” (“Kids’ Morning”), presenting an evening of moving soundscapes entitled “Skaļā daba” (“Noisy nature”).

We further inform you that this year the annual best Baltic video work competition will not take place. In future, the competition will take place every second year and will be open to participants from the whole Baltic Sea region.