From 26 June till 6 July, the Latvian artist Evelīna Deičmane-Vida is going on a creative residency in Norway in order to create a new audio-visual work for Tromsø’s Insomnia festival. These activities are part of “Experimental Music Lighthouses: Riga – Tromsø” (project nr. EEZLV04/GSKA/2013/10) – a collaborative project by adventurous music festivals Skaņu Mežs and Insomnia.

On this trip, Evelīna will be accompanied by the Hungarian-American instrumentalist, improviser and composer André Vida who will assist her in the making of the piece. The resulting audio-visual work will serve as a poetic semi-reflection of Tromsø’s sonic and visual environment, fuelled – as it often happens with Deičmane-Vida’s works – by an aestheticised search of identity. It will be presented as part of the 2015 edition of Insomnia festival in Norway (October 16 – 24), but the venue and the date of the opening of the exhibition are yet to be announced.

Evelīna Deičmane-Vida’s creative residency in Norway is a part of “exchange of commissioned works” between the adventurous music festivals Skaņu Mežs and Insomnia as foreseen by the project “Experimental Music Lighthouses: Riga – Tromsø”. Soon, a Norwegian sound artist will be visiting Riga for a creative residency to create a work for Skaņu Mežs just as Deičmane-Vida is creating a work for Insomnia now. Stay tuned for more details!

The aim of the project “Experimental Music Lighthouses: Riga –  Tromsø” (project nr. EEZLV04/GSKA/2013/10) is to promote a four part cooperation between Skaņu Mežs and Insomnia. This includes, amongst other things: the production of a Latvian/Norwegian composition; an exchange of Latvian and Norwegian musicians between the programs of the festival; creating a mutual festival program; the exchange of new compositions between Riga and Tromsø with the help of artists’ residencies. The unique soundscapes of both cities and their symbiosis is the emphasis of each of the exchange.

For further information, please visit: www.eeagrants.org