The laureates of Jūrmala’s “2020 Culture Award” have been announced

A total of 74 events were nominated for Jūrmala’s most important cultural award—the “2020 Culture Award”. Twenty-four different events were nominated for the Audience Favourite Award. Culture awards were presented in seven categories.

The award “For a Lifetime Contribution to the Development of Jūrmala’s Cultural Life” was presented to Jūrmala resident, artist and art educator Baiba Māzere, who headed the Jūrmala History and Art Society for many years.

The artist has worked in design and applied graphics and has created interior design projects, but works primarily in watercolour, both in portraiture and landscape.

For many years, Baiba Māzere taught Jūrmala residents the drawing and painting course “Live a Lifetime, Learn a Lifetime”. As an art educator, she taught her students composition, colour theory and art theory, and helped them discover their own creativity and the courage to express their emotions through works of art.

For many years, Baiba Māzere served as chair of the board of the Jūrmala History and Art Society. Under her leadership, many significant cultural projects were implemented, books and art catalogues were published, and exhibitions were created. The society’s most notable project, the result of several years of work, is the environmental art object “Aspazija in the Dunes”, which enriches and adorns Jūrmala and has become a popular attraction in the city.

The “2020 Culture Award” was presented to Ilze Saulīte-Jansone, head of the association “Kronenbergs and Friends”, and the creative team for the fourth edition of Alberts Kronenbergs’s book “Tuntulis Jurītis”.

The newly created edition of “Tuntulis Jurītis” recalls Alberts Kronenbergs’s connection with Jūrmala and “transports” the story of the little boy Jurītis from bygone days to present-day Jūrmala. In the new edition, Kronenbergs’s original drawings are incorporated into photographs of Jūrmala taken by Indra Kalvāne, in which the book’s layout designer Raimonds Ivanovskis has “brought to life” Kronenbergs’s black-and-white drawings, giving the work new colours and new impressions.

In the category “For Promoting Jūrmala’s Image”, two laureates were honoured for creating artistically outstanding and functional environmental objects. Sculptor Kristaps Gulbis received an award for the environmental object “Jūrmala’s White Seagull”. Architect Didzis Jaunzems received an award for creating the environmental object “Pine Cone”.

In the category “For Outstanding Achievements in Latvian and International Competitions”, Sandija Leja, a fourth-year piano student at Jūrmala Music High School, and her teacher Ieva Prince were honoured.

In the category “For the Most Outstanding Cultural Event in Jūrmala’s Neighbourhoods”, the award for organising Japanese Culture Week was presented to Jūrmala Art School—director Taiga Vaišļa and the creative team: Dace Greiziņa, Antons Vaivods, Kristīne Belte, Sandra Bremane and Dace Starka.

There were two laureates in the category “For a Cultural Event in the Digital Environment”. The award for creating the museum “Aspazija’s House” video story “From the Past” was presented to the creative team of “Aspazija’s House”—Dace Kaukule and Signe Cīrule—while the award for creating a series of audiovisual readings on theatre history and fairy tales was presented to the creative team of Jūrmala Theatre, with project manager Mārtiņš Kagainis.

The event that won the audience’s favour and the award in the category “Audience Favourite Award for the Most Outstanding Cultural Event in Jūrmala” was the musical evenings of the “Rīga–Jūrmala” Festival on Dzintari Beach. The award was presented to the creative team of the “Rīga–Jūrmala” Festival; the festival’s executive director is Zane Čulkstēna.

The information was prepared by the Public Relations Department of the Jūrmala City Council.

• Published: 22.02.2021 09:31
• Press release, LETA