On the afternoon of 26 June, anyone interested could visit the International Artist Residency “Pedvāle” to meet the artists of June residency programme emet ezell (USA/Germany), Tamar Voninski (Australia), Kyle Adler (USA) and see the works created during the residency.
Jewish poet and typographer emet ezell was born in the USA and currently lives in Berlin, Germany, but their family’s roots go back to Sabile, one century in the past. ezell’s great-great-grandfather, Jēkabs Blūmentāls, was a member of the Jewish Fire Brigade, and the Blūmentāls family once owned and operated a bakery on the present Riga Street in Sabile. In 1915, the family was deported to a labour camp in Siberia. In 1918, Īzaks Blūmentāls managed to return to Sabile, but his property was already occupied by other people. He decided to join the army and fight in the Latvia’s freedom battles. Photo evidence from this time has also been preserved in the family archives. Finally, in 1921, he left Latvia and moved to Cleveland, Ohio, USA. Emet ezell graduated from Southwestern University, Georgetown, Texas, with a Bachelor’s degree with Summa cum laude. It is an honorary title used by educational institutions to denote a degree obtained with the highest distinction. Now, more than a century later, emet ezell came to Sabile to walk in the footsteps of their ancestors, visit the graves of their relatives in Sabile Jewish Cemetery and share their story.
Photographer and filmmaker Dr. Tamara Voninski works as a lecturer at the University of Sydney in Australia, but in Pedvāle she captured the impressions of the summer solstice both in Kurzeme, its towns Sabile and Jūrkalne, and in Vidzeme at Plātere Castle Mound. The artist used the obtained photo material for photo experiments, which the visitors of the event also had the opportunity to look into.
Whereas photographer Kyle Adlers from the USA, in semi-darkness of the workshop, presented on the screen photo moments from the summer solstice celebrations in Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia. He received his education at Harvard University in Cambridge and the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia. Kyle Adler is a professional photographer who has specialised in travel, performance, event and visual art photography and has won international awards and has participated in exhibitions.
