Today, President of Latvia Egils Levits visited the future world culture centre Tukku Magi in Tukums at the prospective site of former Zēbergs’ spirit and malt factory.
In 2020 volunteers from Tukums joined forces in Radi Tukku Magi initiative. Coordinator of the initiative Zane Siliņa introduced the cultural agenda of the factory-yard centre to the President during today’s visit. One of the activities is the inaugural art event Breathe with me, which kickstarted the centre’s cultural life last year. This Tukku Magi yard campaign was aligned with UN sustainable development goals and sought to raise interest among Tukums residents in art activities and imagining of future.
Egils Levits also visited Tukums History Museum and current exhibition ‘TUKKU MAGI. Intersection of parallels’, which is devoted to the 150th anniversary of Zēbergs malt factory and 100th anniversary of the book about African art, the first book on this topic in Europe compiled by the avant-garde artist and Tukums Art School teacher Voldemārs Matvejs. ‘The future world culture centre ‘Tukku Magi’ highlights the importance of cross-cultural dialogue. It shows the depth of each individual culture and common values,’ said President Levits wishing the centre all the best in its future activities.
Tukku Magi team aims to create a platform for collaboration and better understanding between artists and communities through art, deeper awareness about culture, traditions and ideas. In Livonian, ‘Tukku Magi’ means mountain line. ‘Tukku Magi’ has been founded by New York-based Latvian artists Jānis Jākobsons and Zoja Frolova. Entrepreneur and hotelier Justs Karlsons donated the former malt factory building to Tukku Magi project in 2018.