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Cloth & Culture NOW
the artists - Dzintra Vilks, Latvia
Is it good or bad to be influenced by the cultures of other countries?
Both good and bad. It is bad if it
is merely a theft of culture. It is good, when there is enrichment,
advance to something more outstanding, development upwards a
spiral. Certainly, it would be interesting if every nation went
entirely its own way and only now and then met, in order to compare
the vision of the world, the different and possibly the parallel.
As once in ancient times, when isolation was the impulsive force.
At the moment, nowadays, in the age of integration, I suppose,
increasingly larger role in the development of culture is determined
by personalities, but not by ethnic belonging.
How does the Latvian culture express itself
in your works?
I am Latvian. I have developed my talent
in Riga applied arts schools and in Latvian Academy of Arts under
the guidance of famous Latvian artists. All my life and work is
closely related to the culture of my country, nature, people. I
think, because of this reason, my Latvian identity is appreciable
in my works both: wittingly and unawares. It could be tonality
of the colours. The simple influence of our national art. We are
a farmers – fishermen
nation. I think and hope, that it is appreciable in my artworks.
The significance of Latvian culture in your artworks.
I consider, that the creative working of
an artist is still closely related to the land, which he calls
his ancestral land. For me it is Latvia. I feel myself as one element
of this country and culture and I am proud of it. I would like
to be recognizable as a Latvian or, at least, as a Baltic.
The
approving word of my compatriots has always been and will be very
important to me. It makes me strong and happy among the artists
of other nations.
1. Do you see the influence of other countries on the Latvian
textile art?
Yes, I do. We do not live and have never lived
in entire isolation, where with all the consequence resulting from
that, which a small, not very ancient nation wherewith have to
take into account.
Is there any culture of other nations appreciable in your works?
Yes. Africa has come into my works through
sirrah. I feel
particular congeniality with the culture, art, nature, people of
this distant country. With love and deep respect I touch by hands
or only by eyes the rough and at the same time so delicate national
artworks. My great teacher is Nature. I feel, that the adviser
for African national artists is the great mother Nature. Here I
see a lot of similarities between our countries and nations. Primitivism
in its best expression. I hope, that in the age of developed technologies
a person will still long for the other person’s – an
artist’s work inspired by nature, cherished by ancestors,
created by hand.
LATVIA
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