Riga Photography Biennial 2020 central event – exhibitions ‘Screen Age II: Landscape’ and ‘6×6/36’

Riga Photography Biennial 2020 main event – international exhibitions – ‘Screen Age II: Landscape’ and ‘6×6/36’ became open to public from the 12th of September at the ‘Riga Art Space’ Exhibition Hall of the Association of Culture Institutions of Riga City Council and are still available until the 18th of October.

The exhibition ‘Screen Age II: Landscape’ references the thematic focus of the Biennial this year – the archaeology of reality that invites us, by surveying various layers of the past, to also explore the perspective of the current digital oeuvre. It is a sequel to the exhibition cycle ‘Screen Age’ that started in 2018 and investigates how the technological era affects and alters our perception, cognition, daily life and communication. The exhibition also focuses on the traditional painting genre and its transformations in a digital environment, whilst this year also turning its attention to the landscape genre and the ways our understanding of landscape has changed.

Exhibition ‘Screen Age II: Landscape’ is curated by Inga Brūvere (LV) and Marie Sjøvold (NO).

Participants: Richard Alexandersson (SE), Santa France (LV), Sveinn Fannar Jóhannsson (NO), Maren Dagny Juell (NO), Kristina Õllek & Kert Viiart (EE), Tuomo Rainio (FI), Mārtiņš Ratniks (LV), Eva Stenram (SE), Emilija Škarnulytė (LT)

Meanwhile French curator’s Jean-Luc Soret’s (Collectif NUNC, FR) exhibition ‘6×6/36’ at the Intro Hall could be described as a pocket show for smartphones. The project implements NUNC collective’s idea of investigating new digital publication forms and a new approach to exhibition that allows for the possibility of combining exposition and publication. Exhibition and publication are not only associated with one another, they merge into a unified form – a note book that can be carried inside a pocket or a bag. Visitors can discover exhibited works and use stickers to create their own private (for example, in a living room or kitchen) or public (for example, on a wall, advertising stand or public transport) exhibition. ‘6×6/36’ offers an alternative to the traditional museum codes, distancing itself from the ‘white cube’ system and celebrated meditation methods. By creating alternative connections between the work of art, the subject and the object, ‘6×6/36’ develops a new approach to the notions of exhibition, distribution and perception.

‘36×6/36’ participants: Joan Fontcuberta (ES), Jodi (Joan Heemskerk (NL) & Dirk Paesmans (BE)), Catherine Rannou (FR), Jodi Rose (AU), Semiconductor (Ruth Jarman (UK) and Joe Gerhardt (UK)), Jeremy Wood (UK).

The Riga Photography Biennial is an international contemporary art event focusing on the analysis of visual culture and artistic representation. The biennial covers issues ranging from cultural theory to current socio-political processes in the Baltics and the wider European region. Using the format of an art festival, the Riga Photography Biennial attempts to record changes taking place all over the world and invites us to collectively interpret them – something we not only need to see but also imagine whilst translating the complicated and oversaturated contemporary visual language into meaningful relationships between our daily reality, the camera lens, historical material, contemporary art, technologies and the future. The first Riga Photography Biennial took place in April 2016.

www.rpbiennial.com ^[1]

Exhibitions ‘Screen Age II: Landscape’ and ‘6×6/36’ partners and supporters:

State Culture Capital Foundation, Riga City Council, Association of Culture Institutions of Riga City Council, Exhibition hall ‘Riga Art Space’, Nordic Council of Minister’s Office in Latvia, Adam Mickiewicz Institute (PL), Goethe-Institut Riga, French Institute in Latvia, Finland, Sweden, Switzerland and Estonia Embassies in Latvia, Icelandic Art Center (IS), LG Electronics Latvia, Rixwell Hotel, Lux Express, Printing house ‘ADverts’, Hibnerstudio, Valmiermuiža Brewery, Kokmuiža, Arterritory, LSM, Satori, Newspaper IR, Punctum, Literatūra ir menas (LT), Latvijas Radio, Radio NABA and many others.

Photo credits: Ansis Starks