The Press House
Video, 2011
Over time I have developed an interest in the history of the Press House, in the people who spent a great part of their working life there – in high spirits and with great hopes, or, quite to the contrary, subdued by censorship. I also have my very own special memories of this building, because it was the workplace of both my parents. In my school years I was the design editor of my school newspaper, Brilles (Spectacles), which, thanks to Inese Zandere’s helping hand, was published at the Press House. The cigarette smoke-filled café, the enormous elevators, the endless stairs and the labyrinths of each storey were our playground. During the creation of this work I met up with many former Press House employees, from the concierge to the director, to newspaper and magazine editors, who in our conversations tried to recall the look of the premises, the memory of sensations and events. (K.N.)
Artist's Bio:
Katrīna Neiburga often takes on the role of anthropologist; she is interested in people – the strange community of mushroom growers, the inhabitants of a Khrushchev-era block of flats, girls encountered in club bathrooms, women taxi drivers. Although Neiburga’s works are very personal, they reflect universal categories connected to the particularly female experience and its echoes in social role constructs. Katrīna Neiburga holds an MFA from the Visual Communication Department of the Art Academy of Latvia, and has been taking part in exhibitions since 2000. Among those are the artist’s solo show Personīga izstāde / A Personal Exhibition at the Riga Art Space, participation in SURVIVAL KIT-1 / -2, art project 6. elements / The 6th Element a.o. (S.K.)