Artists of two generations – Arturs Riņķis (1942), a designer and one of the first pioneers of the kinetic design movement in Latvia, and Iveta Vaivode (1979), an internationally recognized photographer of the youngest artists’ pleiad, have met here together to create their own dialogue in time and space, each applying different kinds of media – from installations and photographs to video, animation and sound. The idea for the project was born into world in the fall of 2013, inspired by Arturs Riņķis’ Kinetic Art Garden In the Middle of Nowhere, which is situated in the suburbs of the countryside town Sabile, Kurzeme region. Over the years this fabulous place has served, for both artists, as a laboratory where relationships between mediums of art were further developed. Finally, in 2016 their ideas have been solidified and now exhibited for the … Read More »

Although Ojārs Pētersons describes his works as the exercises of a playing trainer and only succumbs to their interpretation with the greatest reluctance, in essence they are attempts at abstraction from generally accepted assertions. His works are rich in the irony, which he often uses to resolve questions that matter to him, thus depicting his attitude towards the information overload so characteristic of this age. However, their conceptual stratum is not confined to an anecdote that can be told in a few words – his works are perplexingly complex and carefully calculated.

In conversation with Ojārs, I attempted to touch upon his vision for this exhibition. Upon perusing the sheet of paper he gave me bearing the names of the works, it seemed that I was almost bound to decode the intentions concealed behind the mysterious phrases. It seems that each … Read More »

The exhibition will be comprised of newly created works by established contemporary Latvian artists with international experience, as well as art by talented emerging artists. The artists taking part in the exhibition are Imants Lancmanis, Aigars Bikše, Barbara Gaile, Indriķis Ģelzis, Inta Ruka, Evita Vasiļjeva, Krišs Salmanis, Darja Meļņikova, Kaspars Podnieks, Māra Brīvere, Krista Dzudzilo and Reinis Dzudzilo, Ieva Kaula, Ernests Kļaviņš and Andrejs Kļaviņš, Maija Kurševa, Liene Mackus, Līga Marcinkeviča, Mārtiņš Ratniks, Ieva Rubeze, Zane Tuča, Vilnis Vītoliņš and Brigita Zelča – Aispure. Exhibition curator: Helēna Demakova.

The artists taking part in the exhibition
were invited to refer to individual elements of consciousness integral to their being, which are related to a yearning for peace, as well as to broader natural and social movements, which instil or destroy peace to a greater or lesser extent.

Exhibition specs

• Kaspars Podnieks, 5 frames … Read More »

Where are we? What is this space, which encompasses us? How does time pass around us and what is it? Do we realise the true proportions between ourselves and the world? Essentially, each of us is always in several spaces (places) and times simultaneously. It only seems to us that around us, everything is more or less homogenous, constant and linear.It turns that we live within coordinates in which it is quite amusing to talk about stability or predictability. In truth, it is an infinite labyrinth and network of time in which we seek the right path throughout our lives. An endless overlapping of reality and feelings, a mingling into something resembling a wavelike “soup”. In reality, one can even talk about a continual feeling of finding oneself on the “edge of the world”, something akin to a border zone … Read More »

Five Latvian photographers (Arnis Balčus, Reinis Hofmanis, Alnis Stakle, Iveta Vaivode and Ilze Vanaga) and five scholars (Sergei Kruk, Klāvs Sedlenieks, Kārlis Vērpe, Laine Kristberga and Ivars Austers) have co-created a unique interdisciplinary study of contemporary Latvian landscape. Since 2013, they have worked in pairs (scholar/photographer) to create five semantically linked series of photographs and five essays, approaching a specific topic through both the photographic narrative and text. The overarching theme of the book is landscape, which is construed as a surface for contemplative viewing, a stage for a quaint or ordinary event and, beyond any doubt, a catalyst for an individual’s becoming who they are only when embraced by a particular landscape.

The particular exhibition in the Museum of Decorative Arts and Design carries on the Amber Road in Riga exhibition series, envisaged by the European Culture Capital 2014 programme. These exhibitions expose a different vision and comprehension of the origin and history of amber, traditions of its usage and application.

The aim of the exhibition is to research amber as one of the symbols of identity for Latvians and to show manifestations of it from the beginning of the 20th century until today, in a new light. The exposition uncovers the concept of amber in many aspects – amber as an art object, as a design element, as a brand name, as a place name, as a personal name phenomenon, as a souvenir, as the inspirer of literary texts and so on.

Our dear friend and photographer Māris Maskalāns in photo series called … Read More »

The Victory Park embodies the historical trauma of a small Baltic nation. Once built to symbolise Latvian independence, now the park together with the Victory monument stands for Russian chauvinism, the Russian-speaking community, and the Soviet occupation. The monument looms over the skyline of Latvian capital Riga, every day reminding of the controversial issues it signifies. It constitutes an element in formation of the Latvian identity, which is often constructed in juxtaposition to the Other, the Other being that of the Other sex or Other ethnicity. In this body of work the images echo with the historical events, political contradictions, and the author’s personal vision in contemporary landscapes of the park. These reflections are filled with melancholy, drama, and fear, creating a subjective look to a sensitive place in the Latvian capital.

Exhibition specs

• White ash-tree moulding • Archival Quality … Read More »

French writer Maurice Blanchot once wrote: “Desire remains in relation to the distantness of the star, entreating the sky, appealing to the universe”. Referring to this Hirohisa Koike explains: “The title of this series “Desiderium” is desire in Latin, which refers to the star (Latin: siderium). Blanchot writes about this desire as “impossible” which remains as such. After studying photography for seven years including PhD, I noticed that ideas for images or strategies for images didn’t make sense to me anymore. Taking photographs should be meaningful. So I was focusing on my daily life and taking photos of its fragments. When I was in Latvia in 2013, I met a girl from Riga, and fell in love with her at the first glance. She had a boyfriend and it seemed impossible to develop the relationship anyway. My feelings for her … Read More »