Festival 2ANNAS invites to a discussion about the interaction of art, human and the environment

Within the cycle of lectures and talks ZEME (“Earth”), Riga International Short Film Festival 2ANNAS together with the Institute of Environmental Solutions (IES) organizes the closing discussion of the cycle "Connect to Habitat". The participants will explore how and whether learning about different artists' works and perspectives can change our relationship with the environment.

With the ecological catastrophe on the horizon, humanity must reinvent the language in which to think about its relationship with the environment. Is nature only a resource and men are its managers? Is nature a romantic truth to which the urban man should return? These and other points of view may have proved short-sighted and misleading. The participants of the conversation will evaluate the impact of different artists' views on people's relationship with nature and explore whether new ideas can be found on how our perception of human-environment scenarios could change in the future.

Several notable people are taking part in the discussion, such as artist Linda Bolshakova, director and publicist Julius Nuhum Kulibali, sound artist and architect Maksims Shentelevs and Ambassador of the European Climate Pact, and Chairman of the Board of the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF Latvia) Ugis Rotbergs. The meeting will be opened by Laima Graždanoviča, the director of the 2ANNAS program of the festival, and will be moderated by curator Zane Zajančkauska, whose recent achievements include the public program for the first Riga International Biennial of Contemporary Art and the exhibition “YOU’VE GOT 1243 UNREAD MESSAGES. Last Generation before the Internet”.

ZEME has been chosen as the focus theme of the Riga International Short Film Festival 2ANNAS in 2021. It has been introduced since January by a series of lectures and talks that look at current issues related to our planet through the lens of cinema. The series of events was opened by cinema scientist Viktors Freibergs, looking at examples of adventure novel film adaptations of the great visionary Gilles Verne. In the second conversation, the audience could watch the documentary "Dream Land" (2004) together with its director Laila Pakalnina. Recordings of the events can be viewed on the festival's official Youtube website "2Annas ISFF".

The cooperation between the festival 2ANNAS and the Institute of Environmental Solutions will continue in the summer, when the art, science, and ecology exhibition “Field Research” will take place in the city of Cesis, organized by the IES together with the Latvian Fund for Nature. The artists, researchers, and scientists from various disciplines will address issues related to human relations with the environment within the framework of the exhibition. It will also feature a short film program curated by Julien Nuhum Kulibali, which is expected to premiere during the 2ANNAS festival.

IES is an international research and innovation organization that brings together experts and specialists in various fields to develop solutions for the sustainable management of natural resources using the latest technologies and knowledge.