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Latvia, Riga, Children Centre - 29. ICEFA Lidice 2001, prize awards

1. 11. 2002

Besides 2001 marking the 60th anniversary of the tragic events at Lidice, being ICEFA Lidice‘s core theme, this year marks the exhibition’s 30th anniversary. This occasion was one of the reasons for the Czech Embassy in Riga to organize a showing of the exhibition in Latvia. The other reason was the competition’s popularity in Latvia, from which children have been participating the past 3 years.

The 29th edition of ICEFA Lidice from 2001 is on display in Riga from Nov 12 to Dec 15, 2002. I found the exhibition hall of the Children’s Extracurricular Activities House, one of the Riga’s art schools, to be the right place to house the installation under the auspices of the Czech Embassy in Riga.

The art opening took place on November 12th, 2002 and was combined with an awards ceremony at which prizes were presented to the Latvian children who’d been awarded at the 30th running of the exhibition.

The Czech side was represented by Mr. Ivo Losman, the Third Secretary of the Czech Embassy in Riga, who kicked off the exhibition with his opening speech, by Mr. Michal Korecký, the Embassy’s Culture Attaché, and by Iva Brothánková, the exhibition’s curator.

Yuri Bogdanovs, the art school’s Director, hosted the evening by introducing guests and giving the floor to speakers from prominent Latvian institutions. Among those participating were Dace Neiburga, Director of the Latvian Commission for UNESCO, Agra Bérziňa, Deputy Director of the National Institute of Children and Youth Initiatives, and Ilze Rimicane, the Daugmale Center‘s Art Director. The presence of these representatives, their words, as well as the mood of the opening ceremony confirmed the constantly growing interest in the exhibition.

During their speeches, the Lidice tragedy was commemorated by the speakers, who also highlighted the humane mission of the exhibition as well as its importance for Latvia. All the speakers were unanimous in expressing their great pleasure over the fact that the exhibition can also be seen in Riga.

As part of the opening, the Czech representatives handed out awards and some small gifts, mostly promotional materials from the Publisher Mladá Fronta to the children. In the past 3 years creative works by Latvian children have been submitted to ICEFA Lidice regularly and abundantly, and the collections consist of very good works.

This year’s 30th edition, in which Lativan children and schools won 9 medals and 42 honourable mentions, is a watershed year for Latvia, with extraordinary interest in the competition developing in the country. Not only have the number of schools and submitted works increased tenfold over the last 3 years (this year 70 Latvian schools submitted 800 works), but also contacts between Latvian and Czech children art schools have been established, and an agreement on future cooperation between the local ICEFA Lidice exhibition organizers signed, including the Czech Embassy in Riga, the National Institute of Child and Youth Initiatives, and Daugmale, Riga’s Children and Youth Center. The agreement ensures their cooperation for next year’s exhibition as well as suggests the very serious interest of Latvian institutions, schools and teachers in participating in ICEFA Lidice. The exhibition even prompted the inclusion of its UNESCO announced theme in the Latvian school curriculum for art instruction. To further publicize the exhibition, the Czech Embassy in Riga collaborates with the Latvian Ministry of Education as well as with the National Institute of Children and Youth Initiatives.

The Riga Embassy will be distributing posters and other information materials via regional and district departments of education to all the Latvian regions, thereby inviting schools from all over Latvia to visit the exhibition. Consequently, we expect the exhibition to attract a large attendance, which we hope will please the young artists and inspire their teachers.

The Latvian interest and their extraordinary engagement in the “Lidice exhibition“ is very gratifying. As a whole the exhibition confirms the fact that this international event, with is unique worldwide thanks to its size and tradition, brings much enjoyment and creative imagination to children of the whole world.

November 2002

Iva Brothánkova, the ICEFA Lidice Curator