The Riga Photography Biennial 2024 exhibition ‘Contemporary Histories of Photography’ launches a two-part series at the ISSP Gallery, bringing together several artists’ perspectives and interpretations on the process of writing a local history of photography. The first exhibition ‘Contemporary Histories of Photography I’ (artists: Kristīne Krauze-Slucka, Agate Tūna) was on view from 17 May till 27 June. The second exhibition in the series, ‘Contemporary Histories of Photography II” (artists: Annemarija Gulbe, Konstantīns Žukovs) will be on display from 5 July till 16 August. Curator: Liāna Ivete Žilde.
The writing of history, including art history, is never neutral, instead being entangled in its social and political context, including certain power relations and a good deal of personal choices. The establishment of an artistic canon is an essential part of the construction of collective national identity, while at the same time, the creation of any canon can be seen as problematic since choices about inclusion and exclusion are involved. The contemporary historiography of art is influenced, for example, by feminist and decolonial discourses, which demand the revision of conventional narratives. These exhibitions are employed as a tool to critically question the process of writing the history of national photography and the shaping of its canon. The involvement of emerging artists, who offer their own interpretations and reference points for that history, entails a departure from what could be a didactic or hegemonic version of the canon, opening up space for a diversity of voices and contemporary perspectives. The exhibition connects the medium’s past and present, pointing both to continuity and possible future directions in Latvian photography.
In ‘Contemporary Histories of Photography I’ artist Kristīne Krauze-Slucka worked with the archive of Ina Stūre (1958-2006), a photographer active at the turn of the 1980s and 1990s, but largely overlooked today. Krauze-Slucka’s work questions the “disappearance” of women from historical narratives and highlights Stūre’s expressive, staged images against the backdrop of the modest living conditions and mundane domesticity of the turbulent time period. Both artists share an experimental approach, emphasizing the materiality of the image. Meanwhile, artist Agate Tūna, driven by personal and artistic interests, traces the threads of paranormal and illusionist photography in Latvia, pushing the conventional boundaries of the photographic medium and its relationship with reality. Artist Liene Pavlovska has created scenography for the event, referring to the historical cyanotype technique.
The Riga Photography Biennial (RPB) is an international contemporary art event, focusing on the analysis of visual culture and artistic representation. The term ‘photography’ in the title of the biennial is used as an all-embracing concept encompassing a mixed range of artistic image-making practices that have continued to transform the lexicon of contemporary art in the 21st century. This year RPB is being held for the fifth time and focuses on contemporary issues of identity – both the essence of human and the role of the image in the face of the challenges of the 21st century. For more information: www.rpbiennial.com.
Supporters and partners of the exhibition: State Cultural Capital Foundation, Riga State City Council, Society Integration Foundation, Museum of the History of Riga and Navigation, Mystero Museum, Artglass, printing house ‘Adverts’, Valmiermuiža Craft Brewery, Arterritory.com, Echo Gone Wrong, NOBA.
View from the Riga Photography Biennial 2024 exhibition ‘Contemporary Histories of Photography I’. Agate Tūna, ‘Who Has Come Here?’, 2024. ISSP Gallery. Photo by Sasha Komarova
View from the Riga Photography Biennial 2024 exhibition ‘Contemporary Histories of Photography I’. Agate Tūna, ‘Who Has Come Here?’, 2024. ISSP Gallery. Photo by Sasha Komarova
View from the Riga Photography Biennial 2024 exhibition ‘Contemporary Histories of Photography I’. Agate Tūna, ‘Who Has Come Here?’, 2024. ISSP Gallery. Photo by Sasha Komarova
View from the Riga Photography Biennial 2024 exhibition ‘Contemporary Histories of Photography I’. Agate Tūna, ‘Who Has Come Here?’, 2024. ISSP Gallery. Photo by Sasha Komarova
View from the Riga Photography Biennial 2024 exhibition ‘Contemporary Histories of Photography I’. Agate Tūna, ‘Who Has Come Here?’, 2024. ISSP Gallery. Photo by Sasha Komarova
View from the Riga Photography Biennial 2024 exhibition ‘Contemporary Histories of Photography I’. Agate Tūna, ‘Who Has Come Here?’, 2024. ISSP Gallery. Photo by Sasha Komarova
View from the Riga Photography Biennial 2024 exhibition ‘Contemporary Histories of Photography I’. Kristīne Krauze-Slucka, ‘Enthusiasm in Times of Extreme Scarcity. Ina Stūre’, 2024. ISSP Gallery. Photo by Kristīne Krauze-Slucka
View from the Riga Photography Biennial 2024 exhibition ‘Contemporary Histories of Photography I’. Kristīne Krauze-Slucka, ‘Enthusiasm in Times of Extreme Scarcity. Ina Stūre’, 2024. ISSP Gallery. Photo by Kristīne Krauze-Slucka
View from the Riga Photography Biennial 2024 exhibition ‘Contemporary Histories of Photography I’. Kristīne Krauze-Slucka, ‘Enthusiasm in Times of Extreme Scarcity. Ina Stūre’, 2024. ISSP Gallery. Photo by Kristīne Krauze-Slucka
View from the Riga Photography Biennial 2024 exhibition ‘Contemporary Histories of Photography I’. Kristīne Krauze-Slucka, ‘Enthusiasm in Times of Extreme Scarcity. Ina Stūre’, 2024. ISSP Gallery. Photo by Kristīne Krauze-Slucka
View from the Riga Photography Biennial 2024 exhibition ‘Contemporary Histories of Photography I’. Kristīne Krauze-Slucka, ‘Enthusiasm in Times of Extreme Scarcity. Ina Stūre’, 2024. ISSP Gallery. Photo by Kristīne Krauze-Slucka
View from the Riga Photography Biennial 2024 exhibition ‘Contemporary Histories of Photography I’. Kristīne Krauze-Slucka, ‘Enthusiasm in Times of Extreme Scarcity. Ina Stūre’, 2024. ISSP Gallery. Photo by Kristīne Krauze-Slucka
View from the Riga Photography Biennial 2024 exhibition ‘Contemporary Histories of Photography I’. Kristīne Krauze-Slucka, ‘Enthusiasm in Times of Extreme Scarcity. Ina Stūre’, 2024. ISSP Gallery. Photo by Kristīne Krauze-Slucka
View from the Riga Photography Biennial 2024 exhibition ‘Contemporary Histories of Photography I’. Elements of the exhibition scenography by Liene Pavlovska. ISSP Gallery. Photo by Sasha Komarova.
View from the Riga Photography Biennial 2024 exhibition ‘Contemporary Histories of Photography I’. Elements of the exhibition scenography by Liene Pavlovska. ISSP Gallery. Photo by Sasha Komarova.
