5 PRESENCE

A moment of presence. Group of several location symbolic signs form an abstract “map of presence” where mirrored surfaces are reflecting different people and fragments of the urban landscape at the same time. The map pin no longer indicates only a geographical location. It affirms conscious presence: I am here, in Riga, by the Daugava, together with other people in this unique, unrepeatable moment. It emphasizes that a shared event is made up of many individual experiences. In the context of the national celebration, “Presence” reminds us that a country is not only a territory or a symbol on a map. It is the presence and participation of people and their sense of belonging with a message: “You are here. Your moment is now.”

The familiar symbol for digital navigation and urban orientation is transformed into a three-dimensional object for self-reflection. Its mirrored surface reflects visitors, other people, the city and the festival lights. The installation consists of four three-dimensional map pins, arranged as a unified artistic ensemble. Each pin is turned at a different angle, reflecting a specific fragment of a different place – the visitor, the Daugava, the panorama of Old Riga, the festival lights or the silhouette of the National Library of Latvia.

This is one of four artworks in the Mūkusala Promenade route of light exhibition “Course of Light. From Doubt to Presence.” The exhibition is conceived as a journey experienced both spatially and emotionally. Together the works create a personal path for visitors moving from unpredictable, shifting light to an encounter with their own reflection in the final installation.