"This year, with a diverse programme of exhibitions, discussions, a symposium and masterclasses, the biennial has been exploring the archaeology of reality by surveying the layers of the past, as well as the oeuvre of the contemporary digital era and its effects on our perception, cognition and image culture in general," publicity material said.
Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the biennial had to adjust its planned programme of events, but since the end of May several exhibitions have opened to the public. The biennial’s organisers and their partners have successfully retained all of their planned activities by scheduling the main events in September and extending the whole programme to as late as early November in Riga and Daugavpils.
More than 60 biennial participants from 13 countries are involved, including internationally acclaimed and award-winning artists who have created work exclusively for the Riga Photography Biennial 2020.
The central events of RPB 2020 in cooperation with Association of Culture Institutions of Riga City Council are two international exhibitions: ‘Screen Age II: Landscape’ and ‘6 x 6 / 36’, both opening on September 12 at Riga Art Space.
The curators of ‘Screen Age II: Landscape’ are Inga Brūvere (LV) and Marie Sjøvold (NO). The exhibition is a sequel to the exhibition cycle ‘Screen Age’ and explores the ways in which the age of technology influences and alters our perception, cognition, daily life and communication.
Meanwhile, French curator Jean-Luc Soret’s (Collectif Nunc, FR) exhibition ‘6 x 6 / 36’ in the Intro Hall of Riga Art Space can be described as a pocket show for smartphones. The project implements Collectif Nunc’s idea of investigating new digital publication forms and a new approach to exhibition that allows for the possibility of combining exposition and publication.
During the same week, RPB 2020 will also launch several other exhibitions. Beginning September 7, public transport stops in Riga will display the results of a research project carried out by RPB 2020 and the Latvian Museum of Photography – the ‘(In)visible Authors’ art interventions in public space.
Andrejs Strokins’ (LV) solo exhibition ‘Cosmic Sadness’ will open on September 10 at ISSP Gallery, and also beginning September 10, the Bolderāja bookshop and bar will present the solo exhibition ‘Postcards from Mooste’ by Ingrīda Pičukāne (LV).
"This humorous self-therapeutic photo project is a tribute to body positivity and sexiness," it is claimed.
On September 10 at 17:00 the biennial invites visitors to ‘Experiencing the Matter: About Working with Photographic Archives’, a lecture by Marta Przybylo (PL), a member of the Archeology of Photography Foundation (PL). She will discuss the aims, issues and challenges of archival work, attempts at taming the chaos, the psychological aspects of cooperating with owners of the archives, and also the contemporary artists creating new works of art in response to the Archeology of Photography Foundation collection. The lecture accompanies the RPB 2020 exhibition ‘If You Forget Me’ dedicated to work in the foundation’s collection, which opened on August 20 at the National Library of Latvia and is curated by Adam Mazur (PL).
RPB 2020 is also running an extensive education programme until the end of September. On September 12, visitors are invited to take part in the symposium ‘There Is No Such Place as Destination’ at Association of Culture Institutions of Riga City Council’s exhibition hall ‘Riga Art Space’. The symposium will bring together six European researchers to discuss photography, its theory and truthfulness. Among the participants are Ulrika Ferm (FI), Mari-Liis Madisson (EE), Adam Mazur (PL), Marco De Mutiis (CH), Neeme Lopp (EE) and Baiba Tetere (LV). The symposium is curated by art critic and historian Indrek Grigor (EE).
The closing events of the Riga Photography Biennial 2020 will be held in October and November.
Riga Photography Biennial 2020 programme is available in full at: www.rpbiennial.com
The first Riga Photography Biennial took place in April 2016.
