Foto: Andrejs Strokins
The festival, produced by the Latvian Centre for Contemporary Art, challenges the individual to pursue its desires.
The list of participants includes Aida Eltorie (EG), Ane Hjort Guttu (NO), Anete Vanaga (LV), Anda Lāce (LV), Andis Geste (LV), Åse Løvgren (NO), Bahbak Hashemi-Nezhad (UK), „BCC” (Maija Rudovska (LV) & Juste Kostikovaite (LT/UK)), Dāvis Kaņepe (LV), „Doktora Klisicka Laboratorija” (LV), Ernests Kļaviņš (LV), Eva Vēvere (LV), FASTWÜRMS (CA), Francisco Camacho (CO/NL), Gabriel Lester (NL), Genādijs Filipenko (LV), Gundega Evelone (LV), Harun Farocki (DE), Ieva Kaula (LV), Ieva Saulīte (LV), Ilya Budraitskis (RU), Ilze Ķīķere (LV), Ingrīda Pičukāne (LV), Ivar Veermae (EE), Ivars Drulle (LV), Johanna Billing (SE), Jonas Buechel (DE/LV), Josefina Posch (SE), Kanslibyrån (John Huntington & Per-Arne Sträng) (SE), Kārlis Vītols (LV), Kate Krolle (LV), Kateryna Radchenko (UA), Klāvs Upaciers (LV), Krišs Salmanis (LV), Laura Ķeniņš (LV), Laura Prikule (LV), Leonards Laganovskis (LV), Liene Mackus (LV), Matthieu Laurette (FR), Mārtiņš Zutis (LV), Maija Mackus (LV), Minna L. Henriksson (FI), Nicoline van Harshkamp (NL), Nina Kurtela (DE/HR), Normunds Kozlovs (LV), Oliver Ressler (AT), Omer Krieger (IL), creative group “Orbita” (LV), Paula Toppila (FI), Pēteris Draguns (LV), Ramona Buša-Virtmane (LV), Society for the Development of Sarkandaugava (LV), Sasha Kurmaz (UA), Sebastian Mugge (SE), The Smoking Caterpillars (LV), The Yes Men (US), Yulia Bardun (RU), Vilnis Putrāms (LV), Vladimirs Jakušonoks (LV) and Vladislavs Saveļjevs (LV).
The world is still in the midst of rapid changes – political systems and maps, as well as the balance of economic power is altering. Meanwhile, the activity in mass community is increasing, stimulating a wave of protest against the forces in control. Registering the world’s “hot” spots, one may look back on the Arab Spring and the Occupy Wall Street actions in New York, which developed into a global movement within a surprisingly short period, reverberating also in Greece, Spain, Israel, Turkey and other countries. The protest actions in Russia against Putin’s regime cannot go unmentioned among them.
No longer are these events carried out by a handful of “leftist” intellectuals or activists, the protest actions are led by a massive and all-embracing movement, which continues to grow, creating a dominant mood in a significant part of the community. The slow revolution does not have any national borders or leaders, nor does it have a political programme. The main demand is to change the existing system. What is the possible alternative? Has the tradition of criticism come to a kind of dead-end, criticising the existing situation, but being unable to provide a clear vision for the future, a new utopia?
In the framework of the festival, the symposium “Slow Revolution. Art and Culture in the Institutional and Territorial Peripheries” will also take place. During workshops, a seminar and other activities artists, activists, curators and local citizens will seek the answer to the question – in the period of increased civil activity, what can be done from the marginal position?
“Survival Kit” is conceived and produced by the Latvian Centre for Contemporary Art, which is an internationally active non-governmental culture organization that offers an independent perspective on current topics and recent historical events through the looking glass of art. “Survival Kit” is a reoccurring art festival that has been organized since 2009, when it began as a reaction to the global economic crisis, forcing the public to find new strategies of survival and encouraging artists to define fresh methods of existence. “Survival Kit” is curated by Solvita Krese, the director of LCCA. It will be a significant event in the European Capital of Culture program in Riga in 2014.
Further information: www.survivalkit.lv