Downshifting – the focus of the contemporary art festival SURVIVAL KIT 4 – is a widely discussed subject all over Europe. The whole concept of the festival toys with the idea of living slow, chasing after your own interests and possibilities of growth, being closer to nature and evaluating the egoistic wants and needs of a human being, “escaping from the rat’s race”.

From September 6th to 16th in the premises of “Tabakas Fabrika” an emerging creative block of Riga, Latvia which previously served as a tobacco factory, approximately 45 artists from all over Europe and Latvia are going to explore the horizons of “downshifting” and go beyond them.

“Downshifting?” was a question all of the participants of SURVIVAL KIT 4 were asked. As a sneek-preview to the vibe of their ideas and masterpieces, that will be displayed/performed/sung/ danced etc. in SURVIVAL KIT 4, here are some answers from artists regarding the concept itself.

John Griznich from Estonia, an artist and cultural coordinator working with various practices combining sound, image, site, and collaborative social structures since the early 1990s, when asked about the term “downshifting” becomes philosophical, “Generating integrated cultures of language, food and art is so inherent to human life that only empires built from violence and systems of mass repression are powerful enough tools to create beliefs of mass deception to shadow these facts.”

“I think (in a way) we live now in a time similar to middle ages or – in some way – also like the Revolution time in XIX century France,”  says Julita Wójcik, an artist from Poland. “And this revolution has already begun: in Spain, Greece and those countries where the economy has recently collapsed.  People change their life to make it more personal, more “useful”. They eat less, build less, and produce less garbage. They do those everyday things that we all do but in “human proportions”. In my artistic practice I have always been trying to expose simple daily activities like flying a kite, gardening, peeling potatoes... to do that what for today’s world is to be “slow-living”…”

Søssa Jørgensen and Geir Tore Holm are part of the “downshifting” movement in Sweden, “We moved to the farm Ringstad in March 2010, and started up our life there, being looser connected to the city and the artists’ community. We are experiencing a change of workloads, but not a reduction, taking care of the land, growing vegetables, grass and fruit, berries. Our animals demand a change in our daily routine, the demand working dynamically bearing in mind the changing seasons.

“Shifting down” is probably more of necessity in our individual lives, but in the broader sense, in societies there are cycles of changes based on resources, ideas and politics.”

The following 55 artists will participate in SURVIVAL KIT 4: Arturs Bērziņš (LV), Inga Brūvere (LV), Elīne Buka (LV), Aija Bley (LV), Mihai Ieapure Gorski (RO), John Griznich (EE) and “bērnu rīts” (LV), Johanna Hästö (SE), Julita Wójcik (PL), Klāvs Upacieris (LV), Gitte Villesen (DK), Rasa Jansone (LV), Søssa Jørgensen (SE) and Geir Tore Holm (SE), Jussi Kivi (FI), Laura Ķeniņš (LV), Madara Lesīte (LV), Liene Mackus (LV), Maija Mackus (LV), Maya Mikelsone (LV/FR), Ivars Grāvlejs (LV/CH), Mickaël Marchand (FR), Nira Pereg (IL), Krists Pudzens (LV), Arturs Punte (LV), “Reloading Images” (Kaya Behkalam) (DE), Roberto Cavallini (IT), Azin Feizabadi (IR), Carla Esperanza Tommasini (IT), Krišs Salmanis (LV), Alnis Stakle (LV), Pilvi Takala (FI), Ginta Tinte Vasermane (LV/NL), Zane Veldre (LV), Mārtiņš Zutis (LV), Kristīne Želve (LV), David Zink Yi (GER), Jaime Pitarch (SP), Agency (Kobe Mathyss) (BE), Mickael Marchand (FR), Camilla Berner (SE), wooloo (DK), Vladimirs Jakušonoks (LV), Kristaps Gulbis (LV), Trulā grupa (LV), Kārlis Vītols (LV), Izolde Cēsniece (LV), Kate Krolle (LV), Atis Jākobsons (LV), Elīna Eihmane (LV), Iliāna Veinberga (LV), Dace Džeriņa (LV), Kristīne Alksne (LV), Andris Eglītis (LV) and Ivars Grāvjējs (LV).

SURVIVAL KIT is an annual international art festival in Riga, Latvia, which is going to take place this year from September 6th to 16th. The festival is organised by the Latvian Centre for Contemporary Art (LCCA). The focus of contemporary art festival SURVIVAL KIT 4 in 2012 is downshifting “the escape from the rat’s race”. The concept encourages people to take a critical look at the habitual consuming standards and the traditional perception of success, moreover, it emphases the need to balance time for work and leisure, focus on personal fulfilment.

Have a view of the work in progress by (in the following order) Ginta Tinte Vasermane, Johanna Hästö, Mārtiņš Zutis and Madara Lesīte: