The exhibition Lost in the Archive has been sourced from the database and archival materials belonging to the Latvian Centre for Contemporary Art, which is the largest source of information on contemporary art processes in Latvia. As part of this exhibition, a tandem of artists and curators will highlight the potential of archive as a significant collection of culture, exploring its functions as a multidimensional carrier of information, constantly forming and redefining our relationship with history, while simultaneously involving the viewer as an active user of the archive and artwork.
Exhibitors: Jānis Borgs and Laura Feldberga, Līga Lindenbauma and Kristaps Grundšteins, Aiga Dzalbe and Kristaps Epners, Ieva Epnere, Baiba Kļava, Haralds Matulis and Ieva Saulīte.
Exhibition curator: art historian Andra Silapētere.
The educational programme "Lielā lupa" [The Big Magnifying Glass] has been developed based on the archival materials documenting the contemporary art processes in Latvia. It aims to offer a fascinating introduction to the language of contemporary art, as well as the history of Latvian art and culture. The audience will be able to find out more about certain artists, their work and current processes in the Latvian contemporary art world, while also creating new works of art using digital and analogue devices. The programme hopes to attract a wide audience – ranging from children learning about the basics of art to adults of all ages. This programme has been initiated and managed by the art historian Linda Veinberga. It is accompanied by a lecture and video programme Current Moving Image Art in the Baltics by Anna Veilande Kustikova, which will take place at 1pm on 14 November at the Mark Rothko Art Centre in Daugavpils.
Teachers from nurseries, secondary and primary schools, as well as those working in professional interest-oriented education, are invited to attend this informative seminar a day before the private view in order to find out more about the opportunities offered by the educational programme The Big Magnifying Glass. The seminar will take place at 3pm on 13 October at the Mark Rothko Art Centre in Daugavpils.
The exhibition will tour the following venues:
Mark Rothko Art Centre in Daugavpils (15.10-15.11.2015)
Aluksne Museum (25.11-10.01.2016)
Riga Art Space (4.02.2016-27.03.2016)
Kuldiga Art House (31.03.2016-13.04.2016)
Madona Regional History and Art Musuem (23.04.2016-29.05.2016)
About the project
The LCCA’s touring exhibition cycle is part of the project Various Forms of Archives. Archive of Contemporary Art. Research, Exhibition and Symposium. The project is collaboration between the Latvian Centre for Contemporary Art and the Living Art Museum (NYLO) in Reykjavik, Iceland.
The project consists of three main strands:
1) Touring exhibition Lost in the Archive, which takes place in several Latvian regional culture centres (2015-2016)
2) International contemporary art exhibition Lost in the Archive at the Riga Art Space (4.02-27.03.2016)
3) International symposium in Riga on 26.02.2016 at the Riga Art Space.
The international contemporary art exhibition Lost in the Archive at the Riga Art Space
The exhibition will explore the issues of memory, identity, collective and individual history using the LCCA’s archive of contemporary art as its main platform. Local and international artists invited to take part in this exhibition will introduce a series of creative approaches, all of which explore a range of significant themes in today’s world using a variety of archival practices. An international symposium analysing the role of archive and its potential in the process of accumulation and preservation of culture and knowledge will be organised as part of this exhibition. The participants of this symposium will provide wide ranging insights based on their own historical and aesthetic experiences.
Project Various Forms of Archives. Archive of Contemporary Art. Research, Exhibition and Symposium, Nr. EEZ04/GSK/2013/06 realisation period 20.08.2015-30.04.2016. The project is realised using a grant of 62,117.09 EUR from Island, Lichtenstein and Norway via the EEA Financial Mechanism. The total project costs are 69,042 EUR, of which state funding constitutes 9317.56 EUR with additional 6924.91 EUR supplied by the Latvian Centre for Contemporary Art.
Project is organised by Latvian Centre for Contemporary Art
In collaboration with: Living Art Museum (NYLO), Mark Rothko Art Centre in Daugavpils, Aluksne Museum, Riga Art Space, Kuldiga Art House, Madona Regional History and Art Musuem
The project was produced with the support of the LR Culture Ministry, State Culture Capital Foundation, ABLV Charitable Foundation, "Latvijas Finieris", "Latvijas Loto", "Dizaina paklājs", Riga School of Arts and Crafts, The Latvian National Museum of Art, Neputns, The Artists’Union of Latvia un visual art magazine "Studija".