For the 15th time this autumn the Latvian Centre for Contemporary Art will host the Survival Kit festival in Riga - one of the most notable annual contemporary art events in the Baltics. The exhibition "Measures", curated by the festival's artistic director Jussi Koitela, will be open from 6 September to 6 October at three locations on both banks of the River Daugava - 4 Amatu Street, 34a E. Smiļģa Street and 4 Strazdu Street. As every year, the festival will be accompanied by an extensive public and educational programme, keeping in mind the accessibility of contemporary art to different groups of society. A separate programme of events will also take place within the framework of the contemporary culture forum "White Night".
Continuing the theme of the exhibition "Measures", the public programme of the festival invites artists and thinkers to reflect on the different forms of knowledge produced by the city and its communities. Gundega Laiviņa, curator of the Survival Kit 15 public programme, says: "The programme is designed to remind people of their right to access the city's resources, their right to change the city and to change themselves. It invites us to see the city not as a fixed and finished environment to navigate, but rather as a porous and ever-changing space where things become possible."
The Survival Kit 15 public programme, curated by Gundega Laiviņa, is divided into four episodes - "Artist" (11 September), "Place" (21 September), "Nature" (29 September) and "Future" (5 October) - held at all festival's exhibition addresses and throughout Riga.
The first episode of the programme will celebrate the artist's knowledge, which is often built in close relationship with the city, its places and its communities. The artists Linda Boļšakova, Luīze Rukšāne, Līga Spunde and Konstantīns Žukovs will reveal how the city influences the creative process and where the unique knowledge that emerges during artistic research remains.
The episode "Place" focuses on the memory, knowledge and practices that make a particular location unique. The episode will focus on a presentation by Dutch researcher, curator and activist René Boer, who will explore ideas from his book Smooth City: Against Urban Perfection, Towards Collective Alternatives (Valiz 2023), in which he calls for us to be critical of the global trend towards urban centres that is slowly erasing the memory of place, irreversibly changing its spirit. In addition to the public lecture, Boer will hold a masterclass for students of urban planning and place-making, during which he will explore in depth the trends in the development of city centres, taking the area of Old Town in Riga centre as an example.
The third episode of the public programme, "Nature", will reveal the inextricable, complex relationship between the city and nature in the form of a collective ritual - two chirping sessions led by the Flemish artist Myriam van Imschoot.
The third episode of the public programme, "Nature", will reveal the inextricable, complex relationship between the city and nature in the form of a collective ritual - two chirping sessions led by the Flemish artist Myriam van Imschoot.
The last episode of the Survival Kit 15 public programme will be dedicated to the city of the future. The content of the programme "Future" is developed and implemented by the Latvian Centre for Contemporary Art Volunteer Programme participants - young curators - Dīvs Jankavs, Valters Kronbergs, Violeta Kokoreviča, Anete Liepiņa, Katrīna Purviņa, Kate Rune, Karīna Šumkova. In collaboration with artist Gundega Evelonis as mentor, the young curators will offer four artistic interventions reflecting on the kinds of knowledge that will shape the city of the future. The theoretical framework for the youth programme will be offered in an open lecture by Debra Benita Shaw, a critical posthumanism and future urbanism researcher from the UK.
The public programme of the festival will be complemented by a discussion held on 27 September in cooperation with the Goethe-Institut in Riga within the framework of the INTER*DE*PENDENT project, a collaboration between artists from the Baltic States, Central Asia and the Caucasus. The project aims to strengthen the network of artists in the region and to provide an opportunity for creative and artistic professionals, researchers and civil society representatives to reflect on issues related to independence, democracy and pluralistic societies. Meanwhile, a conversation with festival artists Līga Spunde, Monia Ben Hamouda and the curator of the exhibition "Measures", Jussi Koitela (6 September), will create a bridge between Latvian and Italian artists. The discussion will take place in the framework of the “Caffè Young Italy” project in collaboration with the Embassy of Italy in Riga.
With a continued focus on accessibility of contemporary art and creating an inclusive environment, Survival Kit 15 will be enriched by an educational programme for diverse groups of society. Throughout the festival, until 6 October, everyone is also invited to apply for guided tours led by art mediators at the central venue of the exhibition "Measures" at Amatu Street 4.
The Survival Kit 15 educational programme will include creative workshops adapted for people with mental disabilities led by artist Ieva Stalšene, as well as a guided sign language tour of the exhibition (1 October), during which participants will have the opportunity to ask questions about contemporary art and engage in a discussion about the exhibition's themes. Families with children are invited to workshops with artist Luīze Rukšāne (7 September) and Līga Spunde (15 September), while adults and seniors willing to explore themselves through contemporary art will be guided by Lība Bērziņa through art therapy workshops in a series of three sessions (24, 26 September and 1 October).
On 7 September, Survival Kit 15 will offer a special programme of events at two festival addresses - Amatu Street 4 and E. Smiļģa Street 34a - as part of the Contemporary Culture Forum "White Night". The programme will include performances by international artists and creative workshops for children. Actor and director Gerds Lapoška will give a performance at 4 Amatu Street, created especially for the festival.
Survival Kit 15 is organised by the Latvian Centre for Contemporary Art.
Partners and supporters:
Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Latvia, Riga City Council, State Culture Capital Foundation (SCCF), SIF, Embassy of Italy in Riga, Goethe-Institut Rīga, Mondriaan Fund, OCA fund, Danish Arts Foundation, Culture Moves Europe, NOVUM Riga Charitable Foundation, British Council, LIAA, Swedish Arts Grants Committee, Arctic Paper, Culture Ireland, Embassy of Finland in Riga, Zuzeum, Skrīveru saldumi, LSM, Satori, Echo Gone Wrong, Riga This Week, Riga Neighborhood, Vieglās valodas aģentūra, Pasqua Wines.
The programme of events "Night Measure" takes place within the framework of the Contemporary Culture Forum "White Night". It is organised by the Latvian Centre for Contemporary Art and supported by the Riga Municipality. All White Night events can be found on the website baltanakts.lv. Entrance is free.
The project INTER*DE*PENDENT is implemented by the Latvian Centre for Contemporary Art in collaboration with the Goethe-Institut Riga. The project is supported by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Federal Republic of Germany.
The Latvian Centre for Contemporary Art's Volunteer Programme is supported by the Society Integration Fund (SIF).