Venice Biennale exhibit comes to Rīga

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From September 23 to November 19, the exhibition “We Walked the Earth” – the spectacular Danish pavilion of the Venice Biennale, remade in Rīga – will be displayed in the new exhibition hall “New Hanza Biroji” of the Latvian Museum of Contemporary Art, the exhibition organizers said.

Created by artist Uffe Isolotto and curator Jakob Lillemose, the hyper-realistic fantasy, in which the fields of visual art, cinema, sitcom, design, and literature blend together, tells the story of humanity's future in a visually glamorous environment of unknown plants and natural elements, with references to the Art Deco architecture of Rīga.

"At the heart of the story is a family of centaurs who inhabit a world characterized by both dramatic and bizarre natural processes that have radically changed living and survival conditions. It looks to the future and includes elements from the past. It illustrates the uncertain today in which humans navigate between biology and technology, ecological catastrophe and the love, hopelessness and hope for the planet,” the exhibition's curator Jakob Lillemose said.

“Although Latvia still does not have its own national Museum of Contemporary Art, we must not forget about the works of art, artists, and geographical scope of the collection – Baltic Sea Region. Over the course of this year, we have supported the efforts of the younger generation of artists, art has begun to populate the museum's soil, a video work survey of the collection has just taken place on the White Night, and we conclude this year with a grandiose exhibition in a new exhibition hall, which is the closest possible location to the museum of the future,“ said Elīna Vikmane, producer of the exhibition, head of the Latvian Museum of Contemporary Art Foundation.

She noted that this exhibition was “a truly collective practice, both in the context of the convergence of different art fields and in the context of the people involved in the production of the exhibition.”

“The development of an education and discussion program with partners began with the first ideas of the exhibition. We provided real practice for students of the Latvian Academies of Culture and Art in the setting up of the exhibition, but specialists of the construction sector participated in the creation of the new exhibition space, who were excited to admit that the exhibition has changed their preconceptions regarding art processes – previously they considered that art does not interest them, but now asks us about art making and wants to visit the exhibition with families or friends,” Vikmane noted.

The accompanying program includes lectures by artists, an educational program for high school pupils, as well as a discussion cycle.

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