Midsummer Bread
Denise Snaer-Gauder

Latvian bread is a traditional staple of Latvian culture. As there is the element of iron in bread, may there be bread as iron. Bread in ancient times was offered to the gods. In this performance piece I pay homage to the people of Latvia through the alchemy of pouring iron into twenty-six ceramic shells of organically burned out bread. Twenty-six is the atomic number of iron. The shells are preheated in a bonfire while I propose dancing with fire fans around the fire to the folksongs of the local people. After the iron is poured, they are to be ceremoniously processed throughout the site and placed into the landscape. Perhaps some are placed into water to produce steam as they cool. When the bread is opened from the shells a mound of salt will be offered to each one as a symbol of friendship between the Latvian people and America. Fire dancing is still woven into the performance. As a final reference to midsummer a wooden wheel can have iron poured into it or set on fire and rolled through the site to prolong the light on this longest of days.