1st International Contemporary Art Festival "Survival Kit" within the framework of the contemporary culture forum "White Night".
Curator: Solvita Krese
12/09/2009 - 19/09/2009
Riga Art Space, Supernova Gallery, Carousell Gallery, Krišjāņa Valdemāra and Tērbatas Streets, former VEF factory territory.
During the Contemporary Culture Forum "White Night" (12 September - 19 September 2009) the first international contemporary art project "Survival Kit" took place. It invited artists from different countries to reflect on survival strategies in the contemporary world. The project was organised by the Centre for Contemporary Art.
"The Survival Kit itinerary started in Old Riga with the exhibition "The Spirit of Time and the Atmosphere of Place" at the Riga Art Space "Intro", the exhibitions "Do it Yourself!" "Local Time" at the "Carousell" gallery, continued with the empty spaces of shops and cafes on two of Riga's main shopping streets - Kr. Barona and Tērbatas - and ended with the exhibition "Wonderful Journey" in the former VEF factory.
"The project was prompted by obvious developments in our city - shops, cafés and other elements of the city's infrastructure are disappearing one after another in two of Riga's busiest streets. We invited artists to think about the survival kit of art in these conditions. The result was visible to everyone in the empty spaces of more than 15 buildings in the city centre, where the artists created their projects. These included installations and paintings, video works and animation, mail art, photography, comics and collages, performances, bookshops, Latvian street food, films and recycled fashion collections. We will encourage the audience to participate in creative workshops and engage in discussions with the artists on how to influence the crisis situation," says Solvita Krese, Director of the Contemporary Art Centre.
The Survival Kit project includes Kristian Brekte, Bolderāja Group, Ēriks Božis, Izolde Cēsiniece, Evelīna Deičmane, Ieva Epnere, Kristaps Epners, Kristaps Grundšteins, Ivars Grāvlejs, Voldemārs Johansons, Raids Kalniņš, Linards Kulless, Galka Kulio, Līga Laurenoviča, Kārlis Lesiņš, Elīna Ļihačeva, Anete Melece, Katrīna Neiburga, Monika Pormale, Ingrīda Pičukāne, Krišs Salmanis, Ineta Sipunova, Eižens Valpēters, design group "Zafte" (Ināra Gauja, Ingrīda Zābere), Krišs Zilgalvis.
Vladimir Arkhipov (RU), Henrik Duncker (FI), Marius Engh (NO/DE), Flash Institut/ Mirjam Wirz (LT/CH), Per Hasselberg (SE), Minna Hint (EE), Theo Mercier (FR), SKART (SRB), Ruedi Schorno (CH), Alexander Vaindorf (SE), Egija Inzule (CH/LV), Maja Wismer (CH).
For press information, please contact info@lcca.lv.