So the Last Shall Be First. A cultural-theoretical study
The concept of the project is based on the idea of the centre and periphery in the world of art, and of these two areas being subordinate to one another in their balance of power. This relationship is particularly prominent under the circumstances of centralized ideology, where art serves certain ideological functions, pushing into the peripheries and deeming marginal any artistic and creative activities that do not comply with the most current standards of taste (or at least the relevant interpretation of these standards). But what happens if the ideology changes? The marginalized phenomena, personalia and processes gain official recognition, while the erstwhile centre is pushed to the background of social memory. This phenomenon is especially evident in studies and evaluations of Soviet-era art processes in Latvia that have been conducted after the collapse of the USSR and renewal of state independence. Assuming the possibility of ideological changes in the future, art historian Iliana Veinberga and philosopher Ainārs Kamoliņš have started a project to recognize and study in advance any processes, authors and their works that have earned negative reviews – thus, perhaps, becoming marginalized – over the time period of 1990–2010. It is expected that studies of this material will facilitate the reconstruction and characterization of the dominant guidelines of taste that have defined the abovementioned processes. (I.V., A.K.)
Artists' Bios:
Iliana Veinberga is an art historian, curator and journalist. The main object of Veinberga’s academic interest is the history of Latvian industrial design and its relationship to other forms of material culture (folk art, crafts, decorative arts etc.) within the wider context of social and anthropological structures.
Ainārs Kamoliņš – a philosopher, whose academic interest is the problems of modern philosophy, particularly the issue of substantial form. Apart from that he is interested in the 20th and 21st century literature, art and other cultural phenomena. Kamoliņš has taught ethics and the history of philosophy in several schools in Riga, as well as at the University of Latvia and Riga Stradins University, etc.