30

THE RETURN OF LĀČPLĒSIS

Video-projection on a fan-type water screen
Raiņa Boulvard 23, Rīga Canal opposite the Latvian Academy of Music

Today, 130 years after A.Pumpurs’s legendary epic Lāčplēsis was published (1888), the heroic saga is as relevant as it has ever been.
Will the champion of justice and freedom remain lying in the depths of the Daugava after his battle with the Black Knight, or will the promise, passed on from generation to generation, be fulfilled? “And the time will come when he will push his enemy to the ground, and drown him in a whirlpool. Then a new era will flourish for the people, then they will be free!” What will the battle be like where the nation’s destiny will once again be decided, and which has been awaited for almost a hundred and fifty years?
The continuation of the national epic will be visualized at Staro Rīga in a special festival framework in a contemporary epic form, with the story beginning with the promised return of Lāčplēsis, his resurrection from the depths of legends and stories, to ascertain the outcome of today’s battle between Light and Dark.

Project concept authors: Rihards Šešo and Aija Strazdiņa
Project implementation: Jump studio