Exhibition "Decolonial Ecologies" at Riga Art Space

 Audio guide

Participating artists: Linda Boļšakova, Maija Demitere, Vika Eksta, Anna Griķe, Inga Erdmane, Diana Lelonek, Family Connection, Maria Kapajeva, Haralds Matulis, Francisco Martinez, Anna Shkodenko, Darja Popolitova, Viktor Gurov, Līga Spunde, Rasa Šmite & Raitis Šmits, Aurelija Maknytė, Olia Mykhailiuk.

Curator: Ieva Astahovska

On 1 November 2022 the Latvian Centre for Contemporary Art (LCCA) opened the exhibition “Decolonial Ecologies. Understanding Postcolonial after Socialism” at the exhibition hall Riga Art Space. The exhibition aims to explore the complex entanglements of postcolonial and postsocialist imprints in contemporary society and culture in Latvia, in the Baltics and its neighbouring regions through the prism of environmental history and environmental changes, and the current ecological crisis.

The exhibition is on view from 2 November 2022 to 15 January 2023 and also includes an extensive public programme with artists' workshops, discussions and talks.

Postcolonialism and decolonialism are more often associated with geographies and places far away from us. They are often mentioned in relation to the gap between the Global North – the rich and powerful countries of the planet – and the Global South – politically and economically marginalised regions where exploitation and colonialism continue. However, these terms are also relevant in contexts much closer to us, as they offer new and critical perspectives on how to rethink the complex relations between past and present and how to think about the impact of colonial, imperial or occupying power even after its apparent end. De-colonialism is also a promise of the future – not just a life after (post-) subjugation to a foreign power, but an active agency to truly get free from the colonial burden of the past. In Eastern Europe and the post-Soviet region, decolonial approaches have gained new urgency with Russia's invasion of Ukraine, whose real aim is to restore the (imperial) power of the past. In the Baltics and Latvia, these perspectives are also important for understanding the complexities and difficulties of the region's historical transformations, where the past continues to influence the present.

Decolonialism also offers new perspectives on the relationship between humans and the environment and calls for a change in our dominating and consuming influence on nature. It makes us aware of both the colonial offence to local ecologies and the correlation between capitalism and climate change, and creates an understanding of the need for ecological solidarity.

How can revisiting the past help to understand and work with contemporary political and environmental crises? How can ideas and practices for alternative ecologies create new approaches to environmental solutions, renewable energy development, biodiversity, the shared ecosystem between humans and nature today and in the future?

The exhibition focuses on issues of ecological and socio-political change in our region, relating them to both global and local processes of decolonisation: human-environment relations, (post)Soviet legacies, the meaning and experience of place, memory, landscapes affected by technology and industry, cultural meanings and social practices of ecological issues, and alternative strategies to overcome the challenges of environmental crisis and climate change. The exhibition also addresses themes such as environment and consumption, the life and afterlife of things, the impact of the waste industry on the living nature around us, gardening practices and alternative methods of growing food, and a return to nature as an opportunity to renew mental and emotional resources.

The artists in the exhibition “Decolonial Ecologies” address the relationship between our recent past and the present, between humans and the environment around them, highlighting themes such as (post)socialist legacies, the meaning and experience of place, memory, landscapes influenced by technology and industry, the cultural meanings and social practices of ecological issues, and alternative strategies for coping with the environmental crisis and the challenges posed by climate change.

Through the prism of ecology, the artists highlight regional contexts by focusing on the pollution of the Baltic Sea, on the ways of bringing the artificially transformed landscapes back to its natural state, on the everyday life of people in post-industrial and ecologically devastated border regions, the legacy of the Cold War that continues in the landscapes of technopolitical infrastructures and still recalls the complex colonial relations that existed between the Soviet centre and the peripheries.

A number of the works in the exhibition are driven by posthumanist ideas that comment on the relationship not only between people, but also between living and non-living nature, between nature and culture, society and the environment. Themes such as the memory held or lost with the plants around us, or their role in reconciling or healing the past. Raising socio-political issues through the prism of ecology and environmentalism, ecopolitics, practices of activism and collectivism, and ecological solidarity, and imprints of Soviet and post-Soviet times. The artworks in the exhibition will also address themes that are relevant to everyday life, such as the environment and consumption, the life and afterlife of things, the waste industry that also affects the living nature around us, gardening practices and alternative methods of growing food, the return to nature as a digital detox or an opportunity to restore emotional resources.

The exhibition "Decolonial Ecologies" is part of the series of activities titled "Reflecting Postsocialism through Postcolonialism in the Baltics", which address entangled relations of the past and present in Latvia and the Baltics through the prism of the current ecological crisis, environmental issues and nationalism. These activities include online discussions with Baltic artists and scholars on topics such as the legacy of the colonial past, ecocritical environmental perspectives, gender and queer contexts, Cold War legacies, environmental issues in Baltic art history, feminist and women's movements in the Baltics, gardening and and self-provisioning as an art practice, and narratives of decolonisation in Ukrainian art. The collaboration with the participating artists in the exhibition began with public programme of artistic research "Ecosystems of Change", which took place in in the urban environment in Riga at the end of 2021, as well as with the LCCA Summer School "Postsocialist Ecologies".

The exhibition is part of the project "From Difficult Past Towards Shared Futures", which the Latvian Centre for Contemporary Art is developing in collaboration with the National Gallery of Art in Vilnius, OFF-Bienniale in Budapest, Museum of Art in Lodz and Malmö Art Museum within the framework of the Creative Europe programme of the European Union. This project addresses issues related to the tangled relations between past and present, alternative approaches to audience engagement, art mediation and interdisciplinary collaborations.

The exhibition also features an extensive programme of public events addressing issues of ecological sustainability, accessibility and social inclusion. It is part of the international project Islands of Kinship: A Collective Manual for Sustainable and Inclusive Art Institutions, co-funded by the European Union and Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Latvia.