On April 10 at 6:00 p.m., the Latvian Center for Contemporary Art (LCCA) invites to the opening of the artist Luīze Rukšāne’s drawings series “Memory Tabs” at LCCA’s archive and library space, 13 Alberta Street. This event is part of the interdisciplinary series Safety Zones and Shifting Timelines which explores the fragile relationships between the archives and collections of art institutions, collective memory, and the shifting political situation in the Baltic region. Project curator : Andra Silapētere.
Archives and institutional knowledge act as "safety zones" for preserving cultural memory, yet they remain subject to ongoing re-examination, reinterpretation, uncertainty, and challenges within shifting political, social, and economic contexts. At the core of the "Safe Zones and Shifting Timelines" project are three discussion workshops, bringing together participants from the Baltic states, the Czech Republic, and Poland. These workshops are complemented by artistic interventions in the LCCA archive and library by Luīze Rukšāne, Rūdolfs Štamer, and Sabīne Šnē.
The project’s first discussion workshop, taking place on April 23 at 6:00 PM, will explore how archives and institutional knowledge can help reimagine the future of the Baltic, Central, and Eastern European regions. The discussion will consider both recent history and global challenges, as well as how uncertainty and conflict can become catalysts for change in creative and institutional practices. The workshop will feature Kathryn Zazenski (PO), Vera Zalutskaya (PO), and Eglė Juocevičiūtė (LT).
The events of the “Safety Zones and Shifting Timelines” series will continue this year in May and June, featuring works by Rudolf Štamers and Sabīne Šnē, as well as organizing discussion workshops exploring such questions as how art and institutions (re)shape historical knowledge and how to build communities and institutional resilience?
Memory Tabs
Luīze Rukšāne is based in Riga and Hamburg, where she both studies and works. She previously gained experience at the LCCA, where she engaged extensively with its archives and library. Her artistic practice centers on human memory, using drawing as a medium to capture, reinforce, and interrogate specific memories while also exposing the subjectivity and fragility of this process.
The new work “Memory Tabs” is based on the collection of the LCCA archive and library, prompting reflection on how belonging to Latvian contemporary art is formed through inviting reflection on how belonging to Latvian contemporary art is shaped through knowledge, relationships, sharing, and the transfer of information. Each drawing in the series prompts contemplation on remembering, forgetting, and the construction of knowledge questioning whether repetition aids memory or, paradoxically, enables forgetting.
“Memory Tabs” will be placed among the folders and books and the shelves of the LCCA’s archive and library, prompting reflection on the threats posed by emergency situations and how identity can be preserved and expressed under such circumstances. What would happen if archival documents and folders vanished? And what if researchers themselves disappeared? Wouldn’t the latter be the greater loss?
The exhibition will be open to the public from Wednesday to Friday, 12:00 PM to 6:00 PM. Each subsequent artist intervention in the LCCA archive and library will build upon the previous ones, and the collective works will remain on view until September 30.
Safety Zones and Shifting Timelines: The Project’s Context
The history of the LCCA archive traces back to 1993, when the Soros Center for Contemporary Art – Riga (CCA-Riga) was established. One of its core missions was to collect and disseminate information about contemporary art in Latvia. Following the closure of CCA-Riga in 1999, the LCCA assumed its functions, significantly expanding, reviewing, and supplementing the existing archive. Today, the LCCA archive stands as one of the most comprehensive resources documenting Latvian contemporary art processes, with materials dating back to the 1960s.
Given the turbulent history of the 1990s and the shared institutional framework among the Baltic states—including the Estonian Contemporary Art Center and the Information Center of the Vilnius National Art Gallery—the project “Safety Zones and Shifting Timelines” focuses on cultural and artistic developments in the region from the late 20th century to the present. It also explores how the creative perspectives of institutions, artists, researchers, and curators can safeguard the sustainability of knowledge transfer amid ongoing geopolitical shifts.
“Safety Zones and Shifting Timelines” is organized by the Latvian Centre for Contemporary Art. The project is supported by the Department of Education, Culture, and Sports of the Riga City Council and the State Culture Capital Foundation.