Here are some highlights from Ilze’s work.
2024
Between Roots and Peaks
Exhibition at the Cultural Centre Devons, Sigulda, Latvia
The exhibition “Between Roots and Peaks” was in Latvia at the Cultural Center Devons from October 30, 2024, to January 10, 2025. In this exhibition, the focus was more directed than in the previous exhibition in Jelgava towards collaboration and cooperation around the exhibition theme with local communities, aiming to form a new aesthetic foundation for the exhibition’s design. What do different generations and social groups in Sigulda dream about? How do their dreams look, and what sound do they give to the new design of the exhibition “Between Roots and Peaks” in Sigulda?
These were the questions posed by the exhibition team, which we sought to address through three workshops involving two local kindergartens and the day care service for adults with mental disorders, “Cerību Spārni” (“Wings of Hope”). The results of this collaboration could be seen and heard at the exhibition. As a community-building activity connected to the exhibition’s theme, a workshop led by artist Ilze Rudzīte was also held, guiding visitors through a meditative experience by creating dreamcatchers.
Between Roots and Peaks
Exhibition at the Jelgava History and Art Museum, Latvia
The art exhibition ‘From Roots to Peaks’ opened on Friday, the 5th of July at the Jelgava History and Art Museum, Akadēmijas iela 10, Jelgava, Latvia.
The exhibition offers a sensory experience through textiles, dance, sound, and photography with a thematic focus on dreams and aspirations – from roots to peaks. The artists are a mix of Latvian, Danish, and English, and the exhibition has emerged through international interdisciplinary collaboration.
We sincerely hope to see you at the opening of the exhibition or later during the exhibition period, which ends on the 1st of September this year
Ilze Rudzīte, textile artist and curator of the exhibition in collaboration with:
Mark Cowper Dyer, photography and video
Karīna Grētere, music and sound
Emīlija Rudzīte, dance and choreography
Anton Skaaning Thomsen, dance and choreography
Photos from the exhibition and from the exhibition opening:
The exhibitions poster:
Planning and preparation – three months before opening
An upcoming exhibition project: “Between Roots and Peaks”
We are a collaborative group of six artists coming from four different countries, representing diverse fields such as textile and fiber art, photography and video art, sound and music, choreography and dance, and interactive digital design.
Our creative team is eagerly anticipating the creation of an interactive, audience-participatory art installation comprising five components, strategically arranged to form a captivating “dream-catching playground.” Here, visitors will be encouraged to explore, create, and contemplate the intricacies of human longing and dreaming.
This unique art exhibition will be hosted at the esteemed Jelgava Museum of History and Art in Latvia, with the planned commencement scheduled for June 5, 2024.
Reflections on the exhibitions theme: “Between Roots and Peaks”
At the core of human existence lie our beginnings, firmly rooted yet reaching towards individual peaks. Between these two points lies the enchanting realm of longing and dreaming. Longing imbues our lives with a mystical allure, driving us towards our aspirations and ultimate happiness. Yet, it is a delicate phenomenon, susceptible to the weight of existential burdens.
We all harbor dreams of fulfillment — a fulfilling career, a picturesque garden, or the legacy we wish to pass on to our children. It is through these dreams that we ascend to our personal peaks.
Participants:
Ilze Rudzite: Artist and Exhibition Curator (Denmark)
Mark Dyer: Photographer and Videographer (Denmark)
Karina Gretere: Music and Soundscape Designer (Denmark)
Ludvig Lohse: Interactive Consultant (Denmark)
Emilija Rudzite: Dancer (Norway)
Anton Skaaning Thomsen: Dancer (Norway)
2022
Fabriano Masterclass in Artistic Papermaking, Italy
The Fabriano masterclass in artistic papermaking has been an exciting collaboration with paper master Sandro Tiberi. As part of the Erasmus+ program, the project facilitated a mutual exchange of expertise between Ilze, a textile and fiber artist, and Sandro Tiberi, a custodian of Fabriano’s legendary papermaking tradition. Fabriano, known as the birthplace of European handmade paper since the 13th century, revolutionized papermaking with innovations like watermarks and gelatine sizing. Sandro Tiberi continues this heritage, blending tradition with modern creativity. This collaboration united textile art with the rich textures of handmade paper, celebrating the enduring spirit of craftsmanship.
2021
Exhibition on the Jurmala City Museum, Latvia
The solo exhibition ‘Between Two Seas’ was an aesthetic search for identity embodied in fiber art works. The exhibited works reflect the artist’s experiences, emotional struggles, and transformations of identity, which occur in the mental consciousness when shifting one’s presence in a physical space – a territory. The artist’s position between two cultural environments has prompted new identity explorations, with nature playing a significant role. The works are created in dialogue with nature, its structures, and abstract patterns. Ilze Rudzīte’s search is related to formulating a visual language that arises from seeking answers to existential questions about belonging, national, and cultural identity. As a result of transformation, identity transcends territorial boundaries, forming an intermediate space that arises from melting contradictions, conflicts, and confrontations.
