Gallery Late – ''From dream A to dream B'' by Herta Balode

It says in the dream manual, that moving forward inside a vehicle means upcoming change in life. If you're driving the vehicle, then you know where you're going in life. But if you're the passenger, you're still unsure of it. For example, tonight I had a dream about being in a bus station again. I have to go from point A to point B again. I have to go through tiled tunnels and sliding doors, and read the words "push" and "pull" all the time. I just keep going forward, because I don't know where else to go. I need a bus or metro ticket. I keep following the crowd of people that keeps getting bigger and bigger. The direction seems clearer, too. At the end of the tunnel, there is a giant hall of tiles and square columns. The ceiling is at least ten meters tall, there are screens of the nearest bus and train routes all along the perimeter. I walk up to one of the ten ticket shops. One ticket to Kefirville, please. The payment sequence is completely skipped and the cashier hands me my ticket. The bus departs in two minutes, but I don't even know, which platform I need to be at. I remember that every citizen of Nightmareville needs a written permit from the police to leave the town. I run to the plice station so fast, that my heap of bags creates a third leg, my body becomes a three-spoked wheel. I turn back into a human, I go inside and ask the officer the same question three times, because she doesn't really hear or undertand what she has to do. Then she writes scribbles for ten minutes until she finally hands me a piece of paper. I turn into a light-speed wheel again, when I understand that my bus leaves in negative ten minutes. The bus is already leaving platform no. 3; I drag my suitcases while porfusely sweating and knock on the moving bus' door. The driver is a walrus with a thick mustache. He tells me to wait for the next bus and presses the gas pedal with his tusk. Then I look back at my ticket and realise that wait, wait, this isn't a bus ticket! I have a ticket from Budapest to Riga! There is even a fine print at the bottom that says the service providers don't take responsibility for drowners! The river is very easy to find. There are already three passengers in the yellow rubber boat. I get in last and we row along the Danube river. The morning sun shines. The light in the beginning is pink, then it turns orange, yellow and compeletely unnoticably the sun has turned into a white lamp in the ceiling. The river flows into a waterpark slide, the rubber float goes round and round, until it lides into another tunnel. We land on a rope bridge and I run across it. The waves in the bottom of the gorge swing peacefully. We go from one continent to another in a couple minutes. Getting into any vehicle, bus or train, ship or aeroplane, is unbelievably easy. I crawl into an aeroplane chassis because I don't have a boarding pass. When we take off from the runway, the hatch opens to pull in the wheel. But that's okay! Everything will work out for me!

Artist: Herta Balode

Curator: Katrīna Rune

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About the gallery

M/Gallery is a contemporary art gallery located on the ground floor of the cultural center M/Darbnīca. Situated in one of the historic buildings of the Fon Strick Villa, we invite you to enjoy an experience where old and new, traditional and experimental intertwine, opening your mind to new discoveries. With an exhibition program that changes every month, M/Gallery introduces you to some of the most exciting art in Riga—from paintings and photography to sculptures and performances.

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