Photo reportage from the exhibition ‘Heads of Stone II, Daugava’ at the Daugava River Museum

The exhibition ‘Heads of Stone II, Daugava’ curated by Madara Peiseniece runs at the Daugava River Museum, Island of Dole, Latvia, until 29 November.

For the third consecutive year the Island of Dole hosts a contemporary outdoor art exhibition. It showcases both original and previously displayed outdoor works by Kaspars Groševs, Flo Kasearu, Anda Lāce, Madara Peiseniece, Ojārs Pētersons, and Līva Rutmane.

The exhibition includes installations, drawings, sculpture, ceramics, voice recording and the performance related artefacts inspired by the river Daugava. This river is a local giant, possibly as huge as the mount Fudzi. As such, it has possessed a magnetic field that has drawn all migrating peoples toward it. Exhibition explores also the Daugava’s kinship with Russia and Belarus, where the river originates and flows for two-thirds of its length, crossing the borders as there were none. Exhibition highlights the rivers gravitational pull on both nature and culture and adds some tiny pieces to the giant puzzle.

When you face the river, the only thing you can see is a reflection. This reflection is always altered — limited by our perspective — and, at times, it is merely a reflection of ourselves.

The Sudden Projects support and produce contemporary art across the region for the third consecutive season. The project aims to reach out to local inhabitants in a city sometimes defined as a “sleeping district” of Riga.

The project organizer, NGO Sudden, is an artist-run organization promoting contemporary artist performance and providing a platform to perform, exhibit, and network with artists from Latvia and other countries.

Supported by Culture Capital Foundation of Latvia, Salaspils City Council and Daugava River Museum

Photography: Kristīne Madjare and Vadims Parfejevs