Contemporary ceramics exhibition “Compression” opens in Daugavpils Fortress
The exhibition “Compression. 15 Years in Ceramics” has opened at the 4Metri gallery in Daugavpils Fortress, showing 129 works from the 15 years of the Latvian Contemporary Ceramics Centre. It runs until 28 February next year.
An exhibition titled “Compression. 15 Years in Ceramics” has opened at the 4Metri gallery in Daugavpils Fortress, bringing together what the Latvian Contemporary Ceramics Centre has achieved over 15 years. The glazed gallery space is only four metres long, yet it holds 129 ceramic works representing different continents. The show can be visited until 28 February next year.
According to the gallery's managers, it has never been so crowded. Aivars Baranovskis, head of the Contemporary Ceramics Centre, stresses that ceramics combines painterly and sculptural works as well as graphic prints, and that this diversity is visible in the exhibition.
From a local initiative to an international centre
Over 15 years, Daugavpils has hosted 14 international ceramics symposia and five Latvian Ceramics Biennials. From a local initiative, the centre has grown into an internationally significant organisation that has changed perceptions of Daugavpils on Latvia's cultural map and placed Latvia in the global network of ceramics events. Baranovskis calls the symposia and the biennial a magnet for artists who work professionally with ceramics.
Valentīns Petjko, gallery head, artist and curator, says there was initially no plan to create a centre; events simply began to form gradually. He explains the term “compression” as densification: it covers almost 130 works and 15 years of history, along with a range of materials – clay, stoneware bodies and porcelain.
Tradition and contemporary approach
The exhibition also features a work by artist Una Gura. She describes herself as an artist of both Latgale and Sēlija, combining classical pottery with a modern approach. Gura notes that the symposia also gave her friends – ten participants take part in each of the 14 symposia.
Ceramicist Pēteris Martinsons, who inspired several generations of ceramicists, was also born in Daugavpils; in the 1960s–1980s he made contemporary ceramics on a global scale. Looking ahead, Baranovskis says the desire for creativity and genuine passion for art will remain.
