15 LOVE: GREEN

For Latvians love is green because it is born when the first sprouts break through the dark soil after a long, grey winter – like hope that persistently reaches for the sun. It is the green of forests, embracing soul like the ancient roots of oaks, deep and indestructible. It is the fragrant green grass of meadows, where the Midsummer Night’s fires are reflected in lovers’ eyes. The green colour carries the sap of life flowing through Latvian blood, persistent and growing, sometimes quiet and humble, sometimes wild as a summer storm. Love is not fiery red that quickly burns out, but an ever-living green that sings with the rustling leaves of linden trees, that sings with the rustle of rye fields and the quiet promise that even after the harshest winter, love will sprout again, stronger and deeper than before. That is why Latvians love green – with all the strength of the earth, all the quietness of the forest and all the impatience of spring.

The light installation features silk lanterns in different sizes (4 m, 2 m, 1 m, and 0.8 m) that visually represent the wild flowers in Midsummer Night, plants and mushrooms. Accompanied by the sounds of a summer night, they guide visitors into another immersive world of light. LEDs built into the sculptures create an unusual environment, complemented by gobo projections on the autumn coloured cobblestones.

This is an artwork in the first Old Riga route of light. In the exhibition of nine light artworks “Moment of Love”, the artists seek their own moments of love and definitions of love.