In Step with the Wind
Imants Klīdzējs
Where are the boundaries of ceramics? Pēteris Martinsons used to ask. In search of answers, he reached out to architecture, art and music as well as theatre, cinema and people in his inner circle and the larger social world they shared. As for myself, I know exactly where I stand on ceramics and boundaries. For me, there are none! They simply do not exist! Perhaps that was what united us?
Imants Klīdzējs
A continuous dialogue between material, time and human experience runs through Imants Klīdzējs’ ceramics. For over half a century, he has consistently pushed the boundaries of ceramics, turning clay into a space for thought, where form is not an end in itself but a means of exploring memory, the order of the world and human presence in time.
The exhibition title marks a threshold – a liminal space between stability and change. Here, the wind is not a motif drawn from nature but an invisible force that endlessly transforms the world and how it is perceived. Unstoppable and irresistible, it leaves no choice but to keep pace and lean into its rhythm.
Klīdzējs’ monumental compositions take shape from hundreds, even thousands, of elements. Each stands alone, and yet together they form a whole. The structure echoes human experience: a life shaped both by great events and countless details that gather and acquire meaning over time.
In this exhibition, the artist moves beyond his previous work, “Appassione Tempo”, where he explored time as both cumulative and infinitely divisible. The focus is no longer on contemplating time but on the ability to live within its continuous flow – to find a balance between what has been accomplished and what remains unknown, between remembering and stepping forward.
In Klīdzējs, geometric precision meets a fluid, expressive handling of form. Retaining its primal essence, clay becomes a vehicle for philosophical reflection. The work brings together discipline and intuition, silence and movement, materiality and thought.
“In Step with the Wind” is an exhibition about resilience and openness to change. It reminds us that even the most enduring material holds latent movement and that true value lies not in definitive answers but in the journey and the search itself.
Māris Čačka, Rothko Museum
Imants Klīdzējs (b. 1956) is a graduate of the Art Academy of Latvia with a Master’s in Art, author of “100 Latvian Ceramists”, and a long-time director and teacher at Salacgrīva Art School.
He has exhibited and taken part in international ceramics symposiums since the 1970s, with projects in Latvia, Finland, Sweden, Norway, Italy, China and elsewhere. His solo exhibitions have been shown in Latvia, Finland and China, including at the Museum of Decorative Arts and Design, Rīga Porcelain Museum, Liepāja Museum, the Eastern European Ceramic Museum in Fuping and Romas Dārzs Gallery.
Throughout his practice, Klīdzējs treats ceramics as a form of spatial thinking and philosophical expression, using material to explore the relationship between time, movement and human experience.
Curated by Māris Čačka
Supported by the State Culture Capital Foundation of Latvia and the Daugavpils City Council
11 September – 29 November 2026
Publicity image: Imants Klīdzējs, “Appassione Tempo”, 2024
