‘NoRoutine Books’ prize presentation of Kristīne Krauze-Slucka’s book ‘Vibrations of the Material Universe. Thirst for Gold’ at the ISSP Gallery

2021 07 29
Author Echo Gone Wrong
Published in Events in Latvia

Within the Riga Photography Biennial – NEXT 2021 ‘Seeking the Latest in Photography!’ Award on July 29 at 18.30 at the ISSP Gallery in Riga will be held Lithuanian publisher ‘NoRoutine Books’ prize presentation of Kristīne Krauze-Slucka’s book ‘Vibrations of the Material Universe. Thirst for Gold’. Participants – Kristīne Krauze-Slucka and representatives of ‘NoRoutine Books’. The event is free of charge and will be held in English.

The goal of the ‘Seeking the Latest in Photography!’ Award is to discover and appraise the creative efforts of young artists who demonstrate the power of the image in their works, offering an original point of view and conceptual depth, suited to the times. It highlights emerging Baltic artists whose works are already dominated by these qualities. An international jury of experts is charged with judging the submissions and selecting one young Baltic artist to receive the main prize, the opportunity to have their work exhibited in the ISSP Gallery.

Meanwhile publisher ‘NoRoutine Books’ also selects its favourite of the young contenders, giving them the opportunity to publish their own photobook. So far the opportunity to publish their own photobook went to Ieva Balode (LV) with project ‘Invisible images’ in 2016, Madara Gritāne (LV) with project ‘Layers’ in 2018 and Reinis Lismanis (LV) with project ‘Trial and Error’ in 2019.

From all of the submissions to the Riga Photography Biennial’s – NEXT ‘Seeking the Latest in Photography!’ Award in the last three years, the publisher has thus far selected Latvian artists three times. In 2016, their award went to Ieva Balode, in 2018 to Madara Gritāne, in 2019 to Reinis Lismanis. The books of Madara Gritāne and Reinis Lismanis have been praised in the art book competition organized by the Lithuanian Ministry of Culture.

This year the ‘NoRoutine Books’ publishing house special prize was presented to artist Kristīne Krauze-Slucka for her series ‘Vibrations of a Material Universe. Thirst of Gold”. The artist herself comments: ‘By using colored, analog photographic paper as a negative, and infusing photochemistry into it, the result combines beautiful horrors. By registering fragments of water that are subject to increasing political capitalization through dangerous man-made chemicals, situational paradox is emerging.’

Kristīne Krauze-Slucka (1979) is a visual artist based in Riga, Latvia. She observes and studies the topic of changes in the relationship between man and nature, employing a mixture of analog and digital media in her artistic practice, paying attention to the processes of adaptation and hybridization, often focusing on the material aspects of the chosen media. She has graduated from the ISSP School’s two-year contemporary photography education program and obtained a Master’s degree from the Visual Communication Department of the Art Academy of Latvia (2020). She also received a scholarship from the Foundation of the painter Valdemars Tone (2020) and the Nordic and Baltic Young Artist Award 2020. She has received the Riga Photography Biennale – NEXT 2021 Award, earning an opportunity to publish a book in collaboration with NoRoutine Books. The artist has participated in exhibitions since 2017.

NoRoutine Books was established as an independent publisher by the Lithuanian artists Gytis Skudžinskas and Vilma Samulionyte in 2014. Their aim was to create unique art books – in print runs of no more than 99 copies – that would be individually perfected in the studio after printing. Books made by NoRoutine Books have been exhibited in various important art centres and exhibitions.

The Riga Photography Biennial – NEXT is an international contemporary art event focusing on the analysis of visual culture and artistic representation. NEXT focuses on young and promising artists from the Baltics, Nordic countries and Europe who are still in the early stages of their careers. By introducing young and promising artists and curators, the NEXT programme offers visibility and provides a platform for artists and curators to announce themselves to a wider context.

NEXT 2021 ‘Seeking the Latest in Photography!’ Award friends and partners: Target programme ‘KultūrELPA’, State Culture Capital Foundation, Riga City Council, VV Foundation, NoRoutine Books (LT), Nordic Council of Minister’s Office in Latvia, Printing house ‘ADverts’, Arterritory, Satori, LSM, Blok Magazine (PL), Punctum, Literatūra ir menas (LT), Latvijas Radio, Radio NABA.

Riga Photography Biennial – NEXT 2021 program: www.rpbiennial.com