SILVA LINARTE 2021

3rd international painting symposium

To commemorate the distinguished Latgale artist and long-term art educator Silva Veronika Linarte (1939–2018) and her creative legacy, this year Daugavpils Mark Rothko Art Centre hosted the 3rd painting symposium that bears her name, inviting five artists from Latvia, Lithuania, Germany and Poland to spend a fortnight in creative work, mutual dialogue and artmaking activity.

The symposium experience was different and special for every artist. Some knew Silva Linarte personally as their art educator; others made their first acquaintance with her inspiring persona and nuanced painting technique. Some had never participated in a painting symposium or shared a studio with other artists; others saw the symposium as a place to try new techniques and materials and explore exciting creative solutions.  At the symposium, artists could share their creative ideas and backgrounds, experience the extraordinary atmosphere of the art centre’s studio spaces and Daugavpils Fortress, as well as visit Silva Linarte’s home and meet her family to learn about her persona and artistic outputs.

The 3rd International Painting Symposium “Silva Linarte” brought together Elga Grīnvalde (Latvia), Eimutis Markūnas (Lithuania), Petra Heitkötter (Germany), Anna Szprynger (Poland), Zigurds Poļikovs (Latvia).

The closing exhibition of the symposium includes paintings that show the diversity of painting styles and individual approaches among the featured Latvian and international artists, demonstrate their interpretations of diverse ideas and illuminate their personal colour sense, reveal their current emotional states and reflective insights as well as illustrate the vast potential of the painting medium.

Tatjana Černova


The 3rd International painting symposium “Silva Linarte” was held 20 August through 3 September within the Latgale Cultural Programme with valued support from Daugavpils City Council, State Culture Capital Foundation, JSC Latvia’s State Forests and the Latgale Region Development Agency Association.