Latvian musicians to perform in Germany

In honour of the 50^th anniversary of the Treaty of Rome, the Federal Government of Germany will host a large-scale European festival Europafest.

The Europäische Clubnacht (The European Club Night) and Europa - Nacht der Schönheit (The European Night of Beauty) are scheduled to take place on 24 March. These events are organized in co-operation with the Berlin state museums and clubs.

As part of The European Night of Beauty, the Gemäldegalerie museum will host a performance of the Latvian tenor Guntars Vetra and the pianist Tereze Rozenberga in the concert Klangvolles aus Oper und Operette. The programme will also feature works by Latvian composers Emils Darzins, Jazeps Vitols, and Jazeps Medins.

As part of the project Europa in Gedichten (Europe in Poetry), realised by Neue Nationalgalerie (The New National Gallery), poetry readings of works by the Latvian poet Amanda Aizpuriete will be given in both the Latvian and German languages.

The European Club Night programme will include a performance by Latvian electronic/ digital music artists Martinez Gonzales (Martins Strautnieks) and DJ Hencha (Heinrihs Puciriuss) at the Berlin club FATEclub.

On 25 March, festival goers will have the opportunity to visit the exhibition stands of the EU member states. The Latvian information stand set up in co-operation with the Baltic Tourism Bureau in Berlin, is located in a special tent set up in the central venue of the festival next to the German Bundestag.

Visitors will be provided with informative materials about Latvia and will have the opportunity to view the Latvian crafts and craft traditions. The four Latvian craftsmen from the Ethnographic Open Air Museum will showcase their craftsmanship: Anita Kovjazina with amber jewellery, amber craft, Mara Kupla with pottery and ceramics, Gundars Aboltins with wood-carving, and Velga Ziverte with weaving. 

As part of the festival, the travelling caricature exhibition Europa-Caricade is scheduled to open in early May. The exhibition will have more than 100 caricatures portraying the history of the European Union. Latvia will be represented at the exhibition by the works of artist, caricaturist Gatis Sluka.

Another project Europa is(s)t 50 has been launched on the occasion of the anniversary of the Treaty of Rome. The purpose of the project is to acquaint the people with the national cuisine of other EU member states. On the website http://www.eu50.eu, specially designed for the project, any European citizen may read and try cake recipes of other countries, for example the Latvian honey cake or klingeris (a pretzel-shaped pastry). All the recipes are also available in the Latvian language.

From 25 March until May, German bakeries and confectioners will be selling cakes baked according to the recipes presented on the website.

The programme of the Europe festival is available on http://www.europafest2007.de.

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