VV Foundation is pleased to announce The Longest Day, a new project by Georgian multidisciplinary artist Uta Bekaia, taking place in Pāvilosta, Latvia. The project consists of a performance on June 21, 2025, from 7:00 to 10:00 PM, followed by an installation on view at PAiR Artists Residency from June 21 to July 3. The project is curated by Daria Kravchuk.
Developed during Bekaia’s residency at PAiR, The Longest Day is a site-specific performance and installation that is both an homage and a reimagining of Latvia’s Solstice Day traditions, born out of the artist’s impulse to listen to the place. In the project, the longest day becomes a tribute to the cycles of nature, to what is remembered and what endures. The work speaks in the language of fire and flora, voice and gesture — echoing the rituals of the past while folding in stories born of internal metamorphosis.
In the words of curator Daria Kravchuk, the project’s curator, “The Longest Day does not unfold solely through human gesture, but in resonance with the more-than-human world. Set within Pāvilosta’s elemental landscape, where wind, sand, and sea are in constant motion, the dialogue with the more-than-human voices begins. Nature becomes an active participant: a co-creator, a collaborator, a witness.
Bekaia has shaped seven archetypes, each one stepping from the liminal spaces somewhere in between mythologies and lived experiences : Desire, War, Fear, Hope, Time, Death, and Childhood. They appear in ceremonial garb — part folklore, part future relic, their bodies inscribed with choreography drawn from the deeply personal texts whispered, spoken, or sung into the wind. And guiding them all, a white swan — native to Pāvilosta’s waters, becomes a mythic narrator, not as a symbol but as a being with voice and agency.
Through this procession of figures, The Longest Day becomes a rite of passage. It is a weaving of grief and joy, of ancestral knowledge and interspecies futures. The performance embraces the solstice as a portal — a luminous threshold where endings become beginnings, where decay births renewal.
The Longest Day invites us not only to witness, but to remember — the shimmer of dust dancing in a beam of light, the heartbeat of first love, the quiet grace of self-forgiveness, the courage to be seen rather than to disappear, and the stubborn, fragile beauty that endures even in the wake of ruin. It asks us to gather around the fire once more, to sit with the stories that made us, and to walk once again into the turning of the earth.”
During his residency at PAiR, Uta Bekaia collaborated closely with local weavers, incorporating their handcrafted textiles into the performers’ costumes. Drawing inspiration from Latvian folklore and ritual traditions, The Longest Day merges ancestral craftsmanship with contemporary artistic expression, offering a deeply immersive experience that honours cycles of nature and renewal.
The performance will unfold in seven parts, beginning with a single performer and gradually expanding to seven as it moves through Pāvilosta — from Šneidera Square to the seashore. It will be a vibrant celebration of the summer solstice, inviting audiences to engage with themes of transformation, memory, and belonging. Taking part in the performance are Emīlija Berga, Kristīne Brīniņa, Lauris Limbergs, Marija Saveiko, Mārtiņš Aržanovskis and Roberta Gailīte. The event is free and open to all.