Imants Ziedonis (03.05.1933–27.02.2013)
Imants Ziedonis. Creative, active, energetic – one of the most distinguished Latvian poets. A dreamer and an inspirer. A visionary who had the ability to see and to create beyond the borders. To see the stardust in supposedly trivial things.
The creative work by Imants Ziedonis is one of the 99 values of the Latvian Cultural Canon . He was a poetry philosopher who could include big thoughts in small words. A complicated and versatile personality whose field of activity extended far beyond the poetry space: he was the initiator of the Great Trees Liberation movement, the author of the ideas of the Latvian Culture Foundation programmes – Daugava, Spīdola and the People's Archive. A person who established the criteria for the Latvian identity in the cultural space of the restored independent Latvia. He always urged people to find out more about their country. Therefore, the motive of the road – walking, movement, searching for the beautiful, essential – was important in his creative work. The vertical as a principle and necessity.
On 3 May 2023, Imants Ziedonis would turn 90. To capture the poet's creative spirit in the art of coins, Latvijas Banka launches a silver collection coin "Stardust" dedicated to Imants Ziedonis.
The author of the graphic design of the coin is artist Līga Kitchen. The image of a human created by the author – the Pedestrian – is in constant motion, in relentless quest for truth, meaning and belonging. The constellation symbolises the interconnection between the earth and sky and emphasises the belonging of human beings – as stardust – to the universe.
The tree abundant in living beings represents liveliness that is so intertwined with the poet's own vibrant industriousness and the nature of his texts.
