Featuring artists Annemarija Gulbe and Konstantin Zhukov, the second part of the exhibition cycle ‘Contemporary Histories of Photography’ is on view at the ISSP gallery in Riga from July 5 to August 16. Part of the Riga Photography Biennial 2024, the exhibition brings together several artists’ perspectives and interpretations on the process of writing a local history of photography.
The task of Latvian photography researchers in the 21st century is to construct and deconstruct simultaneously – to fill in extensive blank spots and critically review existing narratives. The exhibition cycle highlights the subjectivity of every version of history and various lesser-known or marginalized aspects of local photography. Contemporary artists have created new works in dialogue with photographers and phenomena from various periods. Their alternative historical interpretations illuminate the diversity of perspectives and offer a departure from a potentially didactic canon.
Annemarija Gulbe’s installation highlights roads as symbols in the Latvian landscape, exploring the legacy of photographer, cinematographer, and director Uldis Brauns – both in photography and in his only feature film ‘Motociklu vasara’ (Motorcycle Summer, 1975). Brauns’ extensive photographic archive is locally unique in its humanistic reflection of the post-war Latvian environment. Gulbe emphasizes the intersection between documentary approaches and the poetry of montage in forming a place’s identity. Meanwhile, Konstantin Zhukov continues his artistic research on queer histories in Latvia, this time focusing on the Latvian National Opera as a stage, an urban locale, and a community. Referencing Tchaikovsky’s ballet ‘Swan Lake’ and using a soundtrack by the band ‘alejas,’ Žukovs highlights the unspoken and censored aspects of history – personal stories that are often hidden in family albums or official visual archives, but can rather be read between the lines.
Annemarija Gulbe (1997) works with photography, video and installation. She graduated from the Department of Visual Communication at the Art Academy of Latvia and studied photography at the ISSP School and Andrejs Grants Studio. She is one of the winners of Kim? Open Call (2023), a finalist of the BDO Young Artists Awards (2023) and received the Grand Prix and residency at the contemporary art biennial Jeune creation Européene in Paris (2019) and the FK Prize as best young Latvian photographer (2018). Her most recent personal exhibitions include: Faith to Believe – or Not at Kim? Contemporary art center (Riga, 2024), Under Stone Vaults in Domed Structures (Kuldīga Municipality Artists Residence, Alsunga, 2023), Challengeable Heritability at Look! Gallery (Riga, 2023); Love Re-search at the ISSP Gallery (Riga, 2020).
Konstantin Zhukov (1990) is an artist living and working between Riga and London. His creative practice is informed by his research into recorded and oral histories exploring different forms of attachment and sexualities – from homoerotic poetry of the Islamic golden age to the scarcely explored and poorly-documented queer histories of his home country, Latvia. Most recently, Zhukov has had solo shows at NEVEN gallery in London (2024) and ISSP gallery in Riga (2022), exhibited at the Latvian National Museum of Art and Latvian Centre of Contemporary Art in Riga (2024), MO Museum in Vilnius (2024), Cromwell Place in London (2022). Zhukov’s work has been published online and in print, including i-D, CAP74024 and now-closed Открытые (o-zine.ru), a progressive LGBTQ+ publication based in Moscow.
Curator – Liāna Ivete Žilde, Scenographer – Liene Pavlovska.
The cycle of exhibitions is a part of the Riga Photography Biennial 2024 programme, which focuses on issues of identity this year. More information: https://rpbiennial.com/program/9.html
Partners and supporters 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, ‘Landscapes of Identities: History, Culture and Environment’ / IDEUM.
The exhibition is organised by ISSP – a platform for contemporary photography, art and education. ISSP organises local and international education and exchange programmes, produces exhibitions, publications and events and has gathered a thriving community of artists in Latvia and abroad while exploring the connections between art and society. The ISSP Gallery is the central exhibition and events space for contemporary photography in Riga.
View from the Riga Photography Biennial 2024 exhibition ‘Contemporary Histories of Photography II’. Annemarija Gulbe (with the archive of Uldis Brauns) ‘As we gathered and watched, we were happy again’, Konstantīns Žukovs, ‘Black Carnation: Case Study No. 1.’, 2024. ISSP Gallery. Photo by Ingus Bajārs
View from the Riga Photography Biennial 2024 exhibition ‘Contemporary Histories of Photography II’. Konstantīns Žukovs, ‘Black Carnation: Case Study No. 1.’, 2024. ISSP Gallery. Photo by Sasha Komarova
View from the Riga Photography Biennial 2024 exhibition ‘Contemporary Histories of Photography II’. Konstantīns Žukovs, ‘Black Carnation: Case Study No. 1.’, 2024. ISSP Gallery. Photo by Sasha Komarova
View from the Riga Photography Biennial 2024 exhibition ‘Contemporary Histories of Photography II’. Konstantīns Žukovs, ‘Black Carnation: Case Study No. 1.’, 2024. ISSP Gallery. Photo by Ingus Bajārs
View from the Riga Photography Biennial 2024 exhibition ‘Contemporary Histories of Photography II’. Konstantīns Žukovs, ‘Black Carnation: Case Study No. 1.’, 2024. ISSP Gallery. Photo by Sasha Komarova
View from the Riga Photography Biennial 2024 exhibition ‘Contemporary Histories of Photography II’. Annemarija Gulbe (with the archive of Uldis Brauns) ‘As we gathered and watched, we were happy again’, 2024. ISSP Gallery. Photo by Sasha Komarova
View from the Riga Photography Biennial 2024 exhibition ‘Contemporary Histories of Photography II’. Annemarija Gulbe (with the archive of Uldis Brauns) ‘As we gathered and watched, we were happy again’, 2024. ISSP Gallery. Photo by Annemarija Gulbe
View from the Riga Photography Biennial 2024 exhibition ‘Contemporary Histories of Photography II’. Annemarija Gulbe (with the archive of Uldis Brauns) ‘As we gathered and watched, we were happy again’, 2024. Landscape of Aknīste town. A motorcycle with sidecar and a truck on the street, 1956, Uldis Brauns. ISSP Gallery. Photo by Ingus Bajārs
View from the Riga Photography Biennial 2024 exhibition ‘Contemporary Histories of Photography II’. Annemarija Gulbe (with the archive of Uldis Brauns) ‘As we gathered and watched, we were happy again’, 2024. ISSP Gallery. Photo by Annemarija Gulbe
View from the Riga Photography Biennial 2024 exhibition ‘Contemporary Histories of Photography II’. Annemarija Gulbe (with the archive of Uldis Brauns) ‘As we gathered and watched, we were happy again’, 2024. ISSP Gallery. Photo by Ingus Bajārs
