The artist, curator of creative quarters Kaspars Lielgalvis, has landed in the 6000 m2 wide quarter of Tallinas Street for the last three years, where the territory of the Sanitary Transport Motorway used to be. During these three years, the quarter of Tallinas Street has acquired its identity from an abandoned corner at the end of Miera Street and has become a popular stop for enjoying the culture and meeting of citizens and also foreign guests.
However, the searchers and explorers of abandoned areas do not have to cling to one building or territory, because cultural events are created for people and not for real estate. The next plans of Kaspars Lielgalvis and the association “Free Riga” he represents for a longer period of time – 25 years. They intend to create a new cultural place in Čiekurkalns, on the shore of Lake Ķīšezers, at the former RTU Faculty of Mechanical Engineering and Aeronautics.
The artist Kaspars Lielgalvis is the discoverer, developer and inhabitant of abandoned territories, who has been dealing with it since 2007.
His first project was in the territory of VEF, where he set up a workshop in an abandoned, half-empty building, because at that time he worked with scenography, decorated various events.
“Friends started coming. We started organizing events. The first was in the spring as part of the Art Days, which will eventually be considered as a small art festival with several exhibitions, ”the artist recalls.
Lielgalvis left the heated VEF premises in 2013 and then for four years more intensive wandering from place to place began, looking for long-term activity, until three years ago he arrived in the quarter of Tallinas Street. “The period from 2013 to 2017 was very interesting. In the first summer we worked in the printing house of the Press House. Then the road led to Estonia, where we created a wonderful exhibition in a functioning grain and seed factory. Then we reached the customs house in Liepaja and the Karosta water tower. In the middle of Spain, we have built a creative workshop, ”recalls Lielgalvis.
He is aware that every time he starts a project, being in a specific place is temporary.
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