BAUSKA AND DAUGAVPILS – PROVINCIAL URBANISM IN THE ART AND LITERATURE BY JĀNIS KALNIŅŠ (SARMA)

Urbanism in art and literature has rarely been examined in the context of small towns, with primary attention typically devoted to the world of the metropolis. Small towns occupy a peculiar intermediate position – they are urban spaces, yet devoid of metropolitan haste; distinctive microcosms in which everything manifests more intensely, visibly, and vividly. They are worlds one may wish to escape in pursuit of broader horizons, only to spend a lifetime longing for their unchanging rhythm and tranquillity. The artist and educator Jānis Kalniņš (1884–1983), who, upon turning to literature, adopted the pen name Jānis Sarma, lived a nearly century-long life across two continents – Europe and Australia – working in both literature and the visual arts. He succeeded in capturing urban worlds that have since vanished, particularly Bauska of the 1920s with its characteristic small-town serenity, and Daugavpils of the 1930s with its vibrant artistic life. His artworks are attentive renderings of fleeting moments of reality, while in his literary texts the life of both cities is clothed in words many decades later and on another continent, endowing memory with a subtle breath of nostalgia. His creative legacy offers a multidimensional perspective on provincial urbanism as a source of creative expression and lived experience, allowing to reflect on belonging and memory as well as reviving a world that no longer exists, yet whose reminiscences still shimmer in old houses and streets.