Kuldīga performance reflects on Rezevska’s artistic legacy

Artists in Kuldīga are staging a performance about the legacy of sculptor and honorary citizen Līvija Rezevska, LSM reported. The event is part of the “Me and Līvija” programme created by art curator Maija Rudovska to mark the centenary of Rezevska’s birth.

The performance, titled “They Remember”, was created by Polish artist Veronika Trojanska in the 1905 Park, where two of Rezevska’s works from the Soviet period are due to be relocated as part of the park’s reconstruction.

Trojanska brought people together around the park’s central monument by creating a shared soundscape of whistles and bird calls. She said birds symbolised both death, as harbingers of death, and new life and fresh ideas.

“By being together here and giving our full attention to the process of dismantling the sculptures, I hope we can also turn to memories of the people connected with Kuldīga,” Trojanska said.

The park’s redevelopment plan calls for Rezevska’s monument to the 1905 revolutionaries and memorial wall to the victims of the 1919 White Terror to be moved to Anna Cemetery in Kuldīga.

The memorial wall marks the former location of the Gotlība estate, where people were killed. Although a municipal survey held three years ago found that most respondents supported moving the monuments, some Kuldīga residents say there was no substantive discussion about finding more creative solutions.

Artist and Kuldīga resident Ilze Vanaga said new elements should be incorporated into the existing park with sensitivity so as not to damage what is already there. She added that the park, nature and monuments each carry stories about people, the city and her own family, including relatives who were shot at the Gotlība estate.

“Dismantling the monuments or moving them elsewhere does not solve the problem of how we tell or explain history,” Rudovska said. The park’s new concept is to divide the territory into 12 themed gardens, each with a different atmosphere.