Sansusī aims to develop and support contemporary performing arts in Latvia and help to better understand various forms of contemporary art to the widest range of spectators. The festival ‘Sansusī’ in Aknīste, Latvia was held for the seventh time, in 2020 from 7th to 9th August. It is a unique event in the cultural life of Latvia, showing that academic music can be listened to in the woods and meadows, not only in the magnificent concert halls. On several different stages, recognizable, charismatic artists and a mighty crowd of listeners was able to meet.

“Ask the Bread” is a poetic documentary performance that investigates themes such as the presence of isolation in rural lifestyle, migration from rural areas, and the connection between nature and humans. First inspired by the photo book “God Nature Toil”, Vika Eksta , the project combines physical theatre with sound art, photography, and video. During January 2020 the artists collaborated with Aknīste elderly people’s home in order to make their artistic research for the performance “Ask the Bread”. Artists organised different creative activities with eldery people and also visited inhabitants of farmsteads to listen to their life stories. The main theme of all meetings was labour work and people’s life in the countryside. Those meetings and collected audio material was used as a base material for the creation of the performance.

During the Sansusī Wellbeing Residency Program, the artists collaborated with Aknīste elderly people’s home, where artists guided creative workshops and linked tasks with the research for the performance. Artists also visited farmsteads in rural areas and their inhabitants. They interviewed elderly people asking the question: what does “work” mean to you? And what does the body mean to your work? The creative team was exploring how the conception
of the body has changed in the past years and what impact it has on our life today.

I Patom Theater
Vita Malahova (visual artist)
Aude Lorrilard (visual artist)

Sansusi Residency