A newspaper page peeks from under a layer of wall paper, telling of the 1991 events in Riga.
Some three years after Soviet Union collapsed most of the large block houses of Liepaja’s Karosta (the military harbour) became deserted. Gradually all usable material was removed leaving just rubble and remains of wall covering.
I regret having not included a dedicated post with pictures regarding Dobele town a few days back.
This cafe is right in the town’s centre. (Picture from 2007)
Late Saturday afternoon I went to the library in Kapsede village to post some entries. The library was already closed so I sat down on the porch, pulled out the laptop and discovered the wireless connection was left on and I was within coverage. After I had been tapping for a while a fat black BMW parked right in front of me and two Russian men stepped out of the car; they both lit a cigarette. Avoiding eye contact with me they exchanged a few sentences (beyond my understanding) and begun measuring dimensions of the worn-out concrete slab I was sitting on. It seems that everything here is under renovation or repairs. For example, producing and installing standard aluminium window frames must be a good business for someone in Latvia. No matter how derelict or from whatever epoch a house may be, usually the first facelift will be composed of slick white alu frames.
Hairdresser’s in Bauska (from 2007).
On a previous trip we met Edgars, the retired village photographer of Kapsede. The thunder storm of last Sunday blew off his TV set and other electronic gadgets.
On Wednesday I travel to Latvia where I will continue working on my two ongoing Baltic projects. One of them, Relating Latvia was exhibited in April in Helsinki: from this on the process will most likely begin finding a new shape. Riga often is our first stop where our family is hosted by the wonderful Vineta.
In Riga, December 2007.
