Exhibition The Artist is Present
September 7 – October 8, 2023
The exhibition The Artist is Present is on show at the Vidzeme Market as part of the international contemporary art festival Survival Kit 14.
Artists Kristīne Brīniņa, Vika Eksta, Gundega Evelone, Anda Lāce, Eva Vēvere, Artūrs Punte and Maksims Šenteļevs held residencies at 6 Latvian schools – Aglona Secondary School, Antūži Primary School, Bolderāja Primary School, Jelgava Spīdolas State Gymnasium, Liepāja Catholic Primary School and Strenči Primary School, introducing schoolchildren to contemporary art and developing ideas by way of research and mutual collaboration. This resulted in 6 collective pieces of contemporary art which reveals themes that are relevant to young people in the regions of Latvia.
8 September: opening of the exhibition with all project participants (3.00 p.m.)
A chance to meet pupils as art mediators and artists:
9 September: schoolchildren from Jelgava who have worked together with artist Eva Vēvere
16 September: pupils from Strenči with artists Maksims Šenteļevs and Artūrs Punte
23 September: schoolchildren from Bolderāja who explored their neighbourhood with artist Gundega Evelone
30 September: pupils from Aglona with artist Vika Eksta
The exhibition can be viewed free of charge in the Vidzeme Market area, at the kiosks by the pavilion, entering from Brīvības Street, every day from 12.00-19.00, except Mondays. On Wednesday evenings the exhibition is open until 21.00.
Schools are invited to book free tours of the exhibition by contacting diana@lcca.lv / 27345341 or mara@lcca.lv.
The project is curated by Māra Žeikare (LCCA), co-curated by the artist collective "Tenthaus" from Norway, who provided support and shared their experience in Norwegian schools, revealing how to introduce and adapt the long-term artist residency initiative in Latvian schools.
The exhibition is part of a bigger project that has included artist residencies in 6 Latvian schools, involving more than 100 pupils from grades 3-12. "Tenthaus” supported lectures for artists, a series of classes for teachers and a summer camp for children and young people in Valmiera. A methodological resource – “How to incorporate contemporary art in their lessons” – for teachers is currently being developed and will be presented at the end of this year.
More information about the project “The Artist is Present” can be found here.
The project “The Artist is Present – Contemporary Art Residencies in Schools” (No.EEZ/2022/2/27) was started in the framework of the Local Development, Poverty Reduction and Cultural Cooperation program of the European Economic Area Financial Mechanism for the 2014-2021 period as part of the open call “Support for the Creation of Professional Art and Cultural Products for Children and Youth”. The project is funded by Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway through EEA Grants. The total eligible costs of the project is 228 713.36 EUR, of which the EEA covers 194 406.36 EUR while the national co-financing is 34 307.00 EUR. The project aims to promote the participation of Latvian children and youth into processes of contemporary art.
