Photo by Pēteris Vīksna

Yesterday, the eleventh issue of the bilingual bookazine «Benji Knewman» was presented to the public. It is available with covers in English and in Russian that express the feeling of living in a time when it is increasingly complicated to understand what is really going on: «It’s becoming difficult to think.»

Stories Editorial November 20, 2019

«The words «становится трудно думать» caught my attention in a compilation of conversations with Russian artists in the late eighties,» says Agnese Kleina, publisher and editor of «Benji Knewman». «It is difficult to think today, too, when fake news, political slogans and instagram truths have taken over the air. But reading helps.»

Volume 11 of «Benji Knewman» begins with an alphabetic order of life by the artist Zahars Ze. Rasa Jansone studies conceptualists in Moscow and what Victor Pivovarov’s painted communal flats have in common with «Ikea» supermarkets. Rvīns Varde continues the diary started in previous releases of the bookazine. This time he meets computer pros, listens to conversations in a cafe and unsuccessfully attempts to buy a beer on a Sunday in Lithuania. There are also stories about why it’s so hard to get rid of furniture, what to do with Instagram and how to explain everyday existentialism to someone who’s only six years old but has so many questions. The issue features interviews with historian Ineta Lipša and Murads Juško, the owner of fish restaurants «Zivju lete».

«Benji Knewman» has been published for five years already, keeping its mission to tell the story of Latvia in an international language — with the help of captivating content and design.

Bookazine «Benji Knewman» is sold in its special shop at «Zuzeum : The Ear», in bookstores «Mr. Page», «Riija», «Robert’s Books» and gallery «Istaba», as well as online with delivery worldwide. The bookazine is also available in stores in USA, the Netherlands, United Kingdom, Hong Kong, China, and elsewhere.