Plot of Land
Dear Friends,
We are very glad to be able to share some wonderful news with you! Thanks to each of your generous donations, we have been able to raise the funds necessary for the purchase of land for the “House of Courage” (Žanis Lipke Memorial).
6 Mazais Balasta dambis, Riga – it is here, across the road from the Žanis Lipke Memorial, that the House of Courage will stand in a few years. A place free of prejudices and stereotypes, the House of Courage will provide an educational centre for discussing the dilemmas and challenges facing modern society, and teach a new generation of Latvians to conduct open dialogue.
To buy the land, it was necessary that we raise € 350,000. Thanks to the support of 273 philanthropists, we exceed this target by € 75 656, which has been used to fund the design of the new building. We are excited to announce that the House of Courage will be built according to a design by the MADE architectural bureau, which was selected from a total of 17 proposals sent to us for consideration.
“House of Courage”, MADE architectural bureau project.
We are happy that the story of a righteous Latvian man has interested so many people – people who are often connected neither to Latvia nor to the Jewish people. We see this as a confirmation of the fact that the acts of the righteous – the acts of people who were ready to sacrifice themselves for the sake of others – remain an example of humanity to those living today.
We thank you from the bottom of our hearts for your trust and support,
Yours sincerely,
Māris Gailis, Founder of the Žanis Lipke Memorial
Manifest
Dock worker Žanis Lipke under impossible circumstances saved people who were not considered people by the authorities and neighbours under German occupation. That required courage and friends.
Being brave isn’t easy, being the minority isn’t easy. Hating and suspecting any otherness is easier, it takes no effort.
But we want to live in a country where your fellow men and women are considered people. We would like our society to be brave, reliable, and considerate. Capable of cooperation and self-regulation, not expecting orders “from above”. And we want to work to make it happen.
We want to create a place in Riga for young people to gather and build resistance to automatic stereotyping and common casually repeated hateful myths.
Civic courage is something to be learned, to be taught, to be trained like a muscle, like a racehorse. That is why House of Courage will be a training ground for kids and youngsters of Latvia. Let’s help lionhearts grow their courage and learn to deal with its consequences and side effects too.
House of Courage will be located right next to Žanis Lipke Memorial on the island of Ķīpsala, an integral part of the “Knowledge Mile” that already incorporates several universities, business centres, museums and the National Library of Latvia.
We are aiming high, but the target is well within reach – we want to be the springboard for a new civil society as it researches its history and brings courageous ideas to life, changing the world for the better.
And everyone can lend a hand in reaching this aim. Donate to develop courage in the new generation and the entire society. Donate to Lipke House of Courage!
COURAGE
Courage is to stand up for the weaker, courage is to say what you think, courage is to ask if you do not understand. Courage is to say an unpopular view, courage is to go to the polls, courage is to laugh at stupidity, courage is not to fall into apathy. The courage is to admit if you are scared.
HOUSE OF COURAGE
What is Courage? 2023-2024
Žanis Lipke Memorial launches: What is Courage?
Highlighting significant dates such as the commemoration of the Rumbula Massacre on the 30th November, the birthday of Žanis Lipke on 1 February, the commemoration of Europe’s “Righteous Among the Nations” on 6 March and the birthday of Žanis and Johanna Lipke’s youngest son Zigfrid (Ziga ) on 29 June 2024, the garden of the future education centre House of Courage will feature murals by the artist Daniil Vyatkin, and lectures and talks by experts took place at the museum, covering topics such as acting in a civically responsible way in emergencies and everyday life. All this to determine an answer to the question what courage is.
RIGA TALKS V 17.10.-20.10.2024
Session I Memory Space: Access Denied?
Constructing memory space
and models of societal cohesion
Among the many gaps in Latvian society, one of the most publicly visible and politically sensitive is the differences of 20th century memories, which form communities of memory, boundaries and col- lective identities, formulate patterns of participation, and articulate demands in the public sphere.
Memories in a society filled with collective trauma constitute a fundamental problem of the consensus for future development and threaten the capacity to build on a consensus of equal memorial participation, as a recognition of the diversity of practices that can be articulated and publicly deliberated.
Instead of recognition, since 25 February 2022, memory communi- ties and political elites have increasingly intensified the removing
or substituting the ‘Memory of the Other’, in which the possibilities for cultures of interpretation of the past to dialogue, to reveal con- tradictions and to discursively treat tensions are diminishing. The shrinking and passivity of minority civil society is accompanied by a shrinking of memory space in urban spaces, media and public debate. These factors affect the young people’s capacity, motivation and knowledge to know and thematise the Other’s field of memories.
Session ‘Memory Space: Access Denied?’ will follow up on the pub- lication ‘Memory – access denied?’ findings regarding the issue of memory inclusion in the Baltic States and Eastern Europe.
Following questions will be explored in this session:
1. What is the current state of memory politics in Latvia? Actors, quality of their interaction, their messages;
2. How future memory actors are created – forms and contexts of youth participation;
3. How can cinema art shape the politics of memory and what has been done/not done so far?
Programme 17 October
4pm Registration & Refreshments
5pm Introduction by founder of Riga Talks, cultural researcher Prof. Dr. Deniss Hanovs:
Post Soviet dynamics of memory politics in Latvia followed by panel discussion with film director Staņislavs Tokalovs, and social anthropologist Lena Hercberga
7pm Screening of documentary Everything Will Be Alright (2023)
8.30pm Wrap Up & Closing of Day I
Programme 18 October
10am Workshop / Dr. Lena Hercberga (Copenhagen, Denmark) / 2 ha
Memory. Identity. Democracy: Russian-speaking youth in Latvia as an expression of today’s pluralistic democracy
As part of her workshop, Lena tempts you to approach pluralism in
a very practical and even physical way. She invites you for a walk. If the opposite of pluralism is the dominance of one fixed and “correct” point of view, a walking practice allows us to be outside of any fixed position and opens an infinite number of evolving points of views. Besides, walking together with others, or even better with strangers, allows us to see what we would not have noticed alone, simply be- cause our perception becomes “blind” to the things that fall outside of or differ from what we consider to be “the norm”. Walking with others challenges the centrality and uniqueness of our own expe- riences. Lena will guide the walk, but all participants will be equal contributors to this shared experience. The second half of the work- shop will be held back in the memorial, discussing the walk and the individual experiences, connecting them with the topics of plurality, inclusivity, and democracy.
NB! Photos will be taken and audio recordings will be made during the walk. Prior to the workshop you will be asked to sign a consent form to give permission to process your personal data.
12am Lunch
2pm Workshop / Staņislavs Tokalovs (Riga, Latvia) / 2 ha
Using memories presented and shared by the students, with the guidance of the tutor, through practical tasks each participant of the group will transform their memory into an audio-visual image. The goal of the workshop is to acquaint the participants with the power of language of audio-visual image and see the wide range of pos- sibilities to use that language to capture and store memories, emo- tions and much more.
4pm / Coffee Break
5pm VR presentations and conversation with creative team
7pm Wrap Up and Closing of Day II
Session II Memory work for civic and human rights education
Almost 80 years after the end of the Second World War, challenges posed by the post-witness era are pushing memorial sites and muse- ums to critically reassess their educational programming.
In this section we will look at how the memory work can keep up with the pace of time at the memorial sites and museums in support of civic and human rights education.
One way to achieve more self-direction and decision-making in his- torical learning is through extended reality (XR). Both VR and AR, and mixed reality is being increasingly applied to stimulate the learning process especially among young people. Special emphasis in this session will be put on the idea of historic space as the last remain- ing authentication factor of Nazi crimes.
Drawing on the current research and practice in historical learning both in Europe and the U.S., at the center of which is question about self-directed, interactive, and voluntary learning, participants will have a chance to test new XR learning tools developed for the Žanis Lipke Memorial in cooperation with local and international partners, which tell the story of civic courage.
This session will be introduced on 18th October afternoon by Dr. Raivis Sīmansons, VR Curator at the Žanis Lipke Memorial, followed by presentationsand conversation with creative team of the follow- ing VR experiences:
Lipke Bunker VR (ctreative technologists Līga Vēliņa and Ieva Vīksne)
Programme 19 October
10am Workshop / Cory McLeod (Minneapolis, U.S.) / 2 ha
Hand-Made Digital Creative
For over 20 years, I’ve been immersed in the digital creative produc- tion space, witnessing incredible change and innovation. While these advancements have made creative output more accessible, closer to pixel perfection, faster, and more automated, they have also, perhaps unintentionally, diminished the individual style and craftsmanship of the production artist. However, amidst this wave of innovation, I’ve observed another trend that doesn’t receive much attention—the merging of analog production processes with digital methods. This fusion allows for digital creativity that feels truly handcrafted.
In my non-commercial work, I continuously explore methods, pro- cesses, and coding techniques that make digital art feel hand-made. In this workshop, I’ll begin by providing participants with a high-lev- el overview of some of the production processes I’ve developed through years of trial and error. These include hand-drawn character animations and rigging, perspective mapping, and coding. Afterward, I’ll guide participants step by step through the process of creating virtual environments using real-world photography, archival images, PBR (Physically Based Rendering) painting, drawing, and 3D model- ing.
Although the workshop is primarily geared towards gaming engine use cases, I’ll also demonstrate how I apply these same processes in motion graphics and analog drawing.
About Cory McLeod
Cory is a Creative Technologist at Rise and Shine and Partners. His work has spanned new media art, theater, and performance, and for the past 20 years, he has worked primarily in the communication arts. His work has received multiple local and national awards and has been featured in publications such as The New York Times and Fast Company.
12am / Lunch
2pm / Workshop / Dr. Andrea Heubach and Elisabeth Anschütz (Silent Heroes Memorial Center,
Berlin, Germany) / 2ha
Introduction: The Silent Heroes Memorial Center in the German Me- morial Landscape
In our presentation, we will provide a brief overview of the history and work of the Silent Heroes Memorial Center within the context of Germany’s culture of remembrance. During this brief talk, we will address the following questions: Why was the memorial established relatively late, and why is it located where it is? What is the mission of the Silent Heroes Memorial Center? Who are the “silent heroes”? What challenges do we face in our work, and how do we address them?
Workshop: „Historical and Civic Education at the Silent Heroes Me- morial Center – Formats and Methods“
In this workshop, we will introduce the audience to the educational formats and methods at the memorial in which we aim to present both perspectives: the perspective of the helpers and the perspec- tive of those in hiding. Our focus lies on a discussion on collabora- tion in the era of National Socialism, particularly the topic of “silent heroes.” As part of the Riga Talks, we would like to introduce two methods used in our work and provide a practical insight into our educational approach.
4pm Coffee Break
5pm Reflections on memory cultures in Berlin and Riga / Wrap Up and Closing of Day III
On Sunday, the 20th October,
10am Morning coffee at the Žanis Lipke Memorial
11am Guided tour to Uzvaras Parks (Victory Park) Frontiers of Memory: Examples of Difficult
Heritage in Pārdaugava / Maija Meiere-Oša, educationist and researcher at the Žanis Lipke Memorial
*The languages of Riga Talks V are Latvian and English with simulta- neous translation, if necessary.
Riga Talks V is supported by EVZ Foundation as part of the Young People Remember funding programme
