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| Part of Pedvale Park, in evening light |
Ojars Feldbergs, a Latvian sculptor, had plans to create a sculpture park in the capital Riga, but with independence, he turned his attention to an area of land near the small town of Sabile, where he had spent many summers as a boy, shepherding his grandfather’s sheep and cattle. The conflicts of the last century meant that there were abandoned manor houses throughout Latvia, and the houses and outbuildings on this land were known as Firckspedvale and Brinkenpedvale. Ojars had a vision to restore these buildings, create a sculpture park, and invite other artists to spend time here too, to create something that would become part of this park. So the Pedvale Foundation was created, and I was lucky enough to spend a month here, along with sculptors, land artists, film makers and other writers, from USA, Austria, Netherlands and Chile.
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| Sunset over Pedvale Park, with part of the sculpture 'axis mundi' in foreground |
The land emits a sense of peace, and the birdsong, particularly in spring, is something you get used to hearing every morning, and in the evening, the nightingales sing well into dusk. The sun sets late, and you can watch it going down behind a grove of silver birch trees, while the sky is coloured with dusky flame and bolts of purple cloud. There are over 100 sculptures in the park and I have not got around to studying all of them. I have my own favourites, as I walk every day from one side of the park to the other. First of all there is the portal, a circular opening you step through, then the alley of birch trees, tied with blue and yellow ribbons, the colours of the Ukrainian flag. Turn left, and along the ridge that overlooks the rest of the park, you can see a long way, beyond Sabile, to the two towers, the telecommunications mast and the red brick one.
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A pair of storks have a nest just metres away from the house, and there’s another nest I’ve noticed near where the stream comes out into the village. The river that runs through Sabile is called the Abava, and storks can often be seen close to this river, and on the flat green area along the banks. Latvia is a favourite place for storks to come to nest and rear chicks, and you can see why – there is plenty of open space near rivers, and vast areas of forest (storks like to build platform nests on the top of tall trees). I’ve seen, and heard, several deer since I’ve been here, and the other day I saw a black snake curled up on the path, a scrawled calligraphy, which straightened up and shot into the grass when it realised I was watching it.
You can read the complete article in Scottish Review.
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