Dr. art Aija Druvaskalne-Urdze
(14.09.1963 - 10.06.2010)
Dr. art. Aija Druvaskalne-Urdze - an artist, dean of the Faculty of Humanities at Liepāja University, associate professor of the Department of Art and Design, and pioneer of new media studies in Latvia - has passed away following a long and difficult illness.
Aija was born in Ogre, but spent much of her life in Saldus. There she taught visual arts and cultural history at the Druva Secondary School and directed the Jānis Rozentāls Public Fine Arts Studio [Jāņa Rozentāla Tautas tēlotājas mākslas studija] for ten years. Later, in Liepāja, she found a home in the Department of Art and Design at Liepāja University, where she responded to various challenges and was able to fulfil her own dreams and goals.
One of the greatest challenges Aija took on was to accept the position of dean at the Faculty of Humanities. Because she was always willing to listen to and accept differing opinions, yet never shied away from stating her own thoughts, Aija developed stimulating and constructive relationships with her colleagues and partners. She was fair towards others and towards work, and this quality also gave others the courage to create, to not fear, to not become bogged down by details, and to take on responsibilities.
Aija's openness to Western experience and her ability to learn (Aija regarded this idea philosophically) and constantly improve herself eventually convinced her that art and research could be united. This concept was at the centre of her dissertation "The Synthesis of Colour and Sound in Visual Art Pedagogy" [Krāsas un skaņas sintēze vizuālās mākslas pedagoģijā], for which she earned a doctorate degree in art theory. Uniting art and research was also at the centre of the "Art Research Laboratory" and the "New Media Arts" study programme that Aija envisioned and developed. This study programme is the first of its kind in Latvia. In 2006 the people of Liepāja recognized Aija's work by granting her the "Initiative of the Year" award.
Aija wanted her students to be able to study at the same level as she herself had experienced in colleges in Great Britain and Finland. Thanks to her enthusiasm, Liepāja University now has its own high-level, modernly equipped study programme. In appreciation of Aija's invaluable investment in the development of the field of new media arts, Liepāja University bestowed an honorary doctorate degree on Aija in 2009.
Research occupied an important role in Aija's life, and she wrote and presented many articles about art education, art in the public realm, and new media arts. Aija continued to put her creative ideas into practice by also curating exhibitions and art projects at the contemporary art gallery "K. Māksla?" and the culture and information centre "K@2".
In her heart, though, Aija was always an artist who retained a professional and genuine attitude towards painting. Although Aija began actively exhibiting her work in 1994, she came into her own as an artist slightly later, when she began to regularly display her work at the Pedvāle Open-Air Art Museum and created the "Viens" group of new artists in Liepāja. It was at this time that the gentle, fragile, intelligent, and sensitive Pink Dog became the focal point of much of her artwork, personifying the experiences and feelings of its creator.v
As an artist and researcher, Aija was continually inspired by the artwork of Vassily Kandinsky and Paul Klee. Also regarding her own work, Aija spoke much about the interplay between the joy of colour and the brush stroke, aspiring together towards soulful harmony. Her paintings are characterized by a bright, joyful mood and rich, painty strokes that radiate genuine joy and a hearty love of life. As befits a true artist, Aija was open to everything new and was herself always full of new ideas. Contact with students, their ideas, and their own creative journeys greatly inspired her.
We miss Aija's incredible skill at selflessly promoting and advancing important goals, her ability to create something big out of something small, and the way she sincerely delighted in the good things life has to offer.
And so we remain with Aija's cherished and fostered dream - the study programme in new media arts - and memories....
Liepāja University,
Liepāja City Council
Published in the newspaper Kurzemes Vārds on June 14, 2010.
Gita's funeral service speech
Dear guests, dear friends of Aija,
Dr. art. Aija Druvaskalne-Urdze - an artist and dean of the Faculty of Humanities at Liepāja University - passed away following a long and difficult illness.
She was mother to Ivars, wife to Mārtiņš, sister to Zigurds; she was my daughter-in-law, Toms' and Tabita's sister-in-law, and she also welcomed Ivars' girlfriend into her family.
Aija used to say she was born in Ogre, but spent her childhood summers at her grandmother's house in Latgale, where she felt the warmth of family. She lived in Saldus for ten years, teaching visual arts at the Druva Secondary School and directing the Jānis Rozentāls Public Fine Arts Studio [Jāņa Rozentāla Tautas tēlotājas mākslas studija]. She was married to Viktors Vekšins and gave birth to Ivars. But their marriage did not succeed, and Aija and Viktors went separate ways.
Mārtiņš met Aija in Liepāja. They became close friends and then decided to spend the rest of their lives together. They were married on May 1, 1999, in this church, and the wedding reception took place at Kūrmājas prospekts 13 - Aija's future place of employment, and also where we will gather later today for the funeral meal.
The weather was cold and unpleasant that day in 1999, and it was the first time I met my new daughter-in-law, Ivars, and Aija's mother, Valentīna. We were all a little bit afraid, wondering how we were going to get along with each other.
Aija, Mārtiņš, and Ivars established a household together in Liepāja. With time, things changed at home - Ivars moved to England to work and study, and Aija's mother came to live with Aija and Mārtiņš. Aija's mother died in March 2008.
We witnessed the immense energy Aija devoted to her field of art; we were amazed at how much she accomplished. Sometimes I thought maybe she should slow down a little. But deep down, perhaps Aija felt she needed to accomplish a lot; perhaps she knew that if she didn't do things now, it wouldn't be possible to do them later:
She completed a degree in art, wrote a dissertation titled "The Synthesis of Colour and Sound in Visual Art Pedagogy" [Krāsas un skaņas sintēze vizuālās mākslas pedagoģijā], and developed a study programme for new media arts.
She wrote articles and presentations about various artistic movements and hosted exhibitions of her own paintings. She never lacked creative, unique ideas and always managed to find a way and place in which to carry them out, involving colleagues from Latvia, England, Scotland, and Ireland, as well as working together with her own students on art projects, some in trams, others on the streets, and yet others at the open-air art museum in Pedvāle.
An important event in Aija and Mārtiņš' life together was the celebration of their 10th wedding anniversary on May 1 of last year. We, their family and friends, spent a very warm and heartfelt weekend together. Later that summer, Aija and Mārtiņš visited Ivars and me in England for the last time.
Then Aija's illness returned and destroyed all hope of recovery and further work. But Aija's will to live could not be suppressed. She continued working at her computer from her bed; students and colleagues came to her bedside for meetings. But after a few months Aija had no more strength left for work.
For those who wish to find out more about Aija's art and work - what she gained for herself, and what others gained from her - please visit Aija's home page. The Internet address is listed at the end of the funeral programme.
Aija is a part of my family, but she was also an educator, an artist, and a researcher.
Aija enjoyed the feedback she received from her fellow Liepāja-ites - her students, colleagues, friends, and acquaintances. She lived to experience the fruits of her work and energy.
On behalf of the family, I extend a very heartfelt thank you to everyone for the huge and diverse support Aija experienced during her illness - thank you to the doctors, the nurses who came to help even late at night, the neighbours, the colleagues, the friends, and the congregation who kept Aija in their prayers and helped Mārtiņš.
Mārtiņš, who cared for Aija with great love and was with her to the very end, also felt this support.
Ivars illustrated the cover for Aija and Mārtiņš' wedding programme, as well as their 10th anniversary programme, with rejoicing angels. His drawing on today's programme is sorrowful and turned inward.
Aija is no longer with us.
Martin's funeral service speech
Today's verse is from 2 Corinthians 1:21:
"Now it is God who makes both us and you stand firm in Christ."
Dear friends,
Lately many people have asked me questions that begin with "why".
Why did Aija have to die so young?
Why did she have to suffer so much?
Why did God allow it to happen? It's not fair!
I'd like to share with you some of my thoughts regarding these questions:
1. Why did Aija have to die so young?
It's clear that I and many others miss Aija very much. But I think it's important that you know a little bit more about Aija's illness. She got cancer for the first time in 1997, and already then the illness had progressed quite far. I met Aija when I was a pastor visiting patients at the Oncology Hospital. Since both of us had battled cancer, we already had something in common. We married in 1999. Aija became ill with cancer three more times after that. We were constantly being reminded that Aija could die soon, that our time together was limited. On the one hand, this caused our love to grow; on the other hand it was also a great stimulus for Aija to express herself in her art and work. Aija did not become despondent or lose hope, but she instead used the time that she had been given to the fullest. Looking back, we spent twelve years together. Those were very full, beautiful years, and I am grateful to God for those years. It seems to me that the manner in which we spend each day and whether we make use of our abilities and talents is more important than the length of time we are given.
2. Why did she have to suffer so much?
It is true that this last year was particularly difficult. It's awful when your mind is still clear and working, but your body simply falls apart and loses one function after another.
Why does that happen? Did Aija have bad karma, or was her faith too weak, or had she accumulated too many negative emotions? Of course, Aija experienced some of these things, too, and she struggled with her inner self. But I nevertheless tend to think that such explanations are too short. Hearing words like that can cause a patient to believe that her illness was all her own fault. But I tend to think that the Biblical conclusion that the calculations aren't that simple is closer to the truth. This world is not set up in a fair way. Again and again, the righteous must suffer while evildoers prosper. Before we judge another, let us take a closer look at ourselves. In the end, we all live at the mercy of God, instead of by our own strength and abilities.
3. Why did God allow it to happen?
For a long time Aija and I hoped and prayed that she would be healed. But in time we understood that she would not recover. Most difficult were the times when Aija was suffering great torments, but the only answer God gave us was silence. During times like that a person feels so small, so powerless, so weak. Sure, we can say that everything will be fine in the hereafter, but that doesn't satisfy me. Suffering, pain, injustice, illness, and death are not acceptable to me; I do not wish to accept those things, and I consider it my purpose in life to lessen them as much as possible.
And what about God? It all depends on how we comprehend or make sense of God. The only God who helped me is the God who has revealed himself in Jesus Christ, the God who came down from high heaven to become a person among us, the God who himself suffered pain and evil and cold-heartedness and indifference, the God who decided to nurture us with love instead of punish us with severity and to die on the cross like a common criminal. This is the God who was beside Aija and me. This is the God who gave us strength and hope.
This is the God I believe in, and this is the God to whom I entrust Aija even now that she has died, in the hopes that God will grant her new life, united with Jesus Christ. Amen.
