— Programme of Punctum Festival 2024

Opening evening of Punctum Festival 2024
Participatory performance Conversations with Trees
By Krista Burāne and Kristīne Brīniņa
May 14th 12:00 – 13:00
In front of The Cabinet of Ministers of Republic of Latvia, Brīvības bulvāris 36 (Linden Alley), Rīga

Participatory performance Conversations with Trees by Krista Burāne and Kristīne Brīniņa, in reaction to “deforestation reform”, will address relationships between man and nature by treating trees as equal partners for conversation. Together with members of local communities and writers Rīga will be made green with the help of poetry, stories and openness to nature, shifting focus away from human. The performance is intended as a social gesture that will express concern and care for the life of a tree. Riga’s central street will literally become a meeting place for trees and people, where people are not afraid to see a tree as a living being, talk to it, know what they want to say to it and hear the answer.

 

Poetry readings honouring the 1oth anniversary of Punctum Magazine
May 14th 19:00
Aleponija, Ernesta Birznieka-Upīša street 22, Rīga
Celebrating the 10th anniversary of Punctum we will hear ten authors of the magazine – poets Arvis Viguls, Elvīra Bloma, Eriks Naivo, Anna Auziņa, Kārlis Vērdiņš, Linda Mence (Gabarajeva), Krišjānis Zeļģis, Līva Marta Roze, Ivars Šteinbergs, Artis Ostups, and musician Sniedze Prauliņa.

 

Boring Presentation of poetry book Viņam Patīk Šie Dzejoļi by Elvīra Bloma
May 16th 19:00
1983, Vagonu street 21, Rīga

 

Accessible writing workshop Senses of Time
May 17th 15:00
Sustento space, Elizabetes street 57-15, Rīga
Writing workshop led by poet Linda Mence (Gabarajeva) will encourage writing about the past, present and future binding time with the senses. Does my perception of past and present change when I focus on my senses? And while imagining the future do I engage my sight, hearing or touch? The workshop is accessible and inclusive inviting people with diverse perception of the world and the self.

 

Eco poetry readings Silence and Storm
May 21st 18:00
Kaņepes kultūras centrs, Skolas street 15, Rīga
Annual poetry readings of Punctum Festival this year will gather two delegates from international poetry platform Versopolis – Johanna Venho from Finland and Tuğçe Tekhanlı from Cyprus, as well as British Jamaican poet Karen McCarthy Woolf and Latvian poet Liepa Rūce. Poets will be joined by their translators Arvis Viguls, Maima Grīnberga and Linda Mence (Gabarajeva).
The event is organised in collaboration with the international poetry platform Versopolis, with funding from the European Union.

 

Prose readings Vines
May 23rd 18:00
Art Academy of Latvia, Jaunais korpuss (K2), Kalpaka bulvāris 13
Prose readings of the festival as usual will gather internationally acclaimed authors –– Japanese writer Yoko Tawada, Ukrainian writer Darya Tsymbalyuk, Polish writer Piotr Paziński and Irish cinema director and writer Adrian Duncan. Latvian literature will be represented by writer Laura Vinogradova. Writers will be joined by their translators Dens Dimiņš, Ingmāra Balode, Māra Poļakova and Vilis Kasims.

 

Performance About Women, Plants and Rooting in Landscape
Directed by Sveta Grigorjeva (Estonia)
May 24th 19:00
Smilga Gallery, Smiļģa street 34 A, Rīga
Reflecting on interaction between women, plants and soil, the performance will stimulate a certain way of literary growth. Estonian poet and performance artist Sveta Grigorjeva, joined by young Latvian female poets, will address the question what it means to “write vegetally” or to be “vegetal with the help of the movement”.

 

Punctum Festival 2024 is supported by the State Culture Capital Foundation, Riga City Council, the international poetry platform Versopolis with funding from the European Union, the Polish Embassy in Latvia and the Irish Embassy in Latvia.

Visual identity by Anete Krūmiņa.