On Monday, May 24, the annual photo art festival “Riga Photo Month” will start, this time its theme is “Life after Covid?”, The portal “Delfi” is informed by the festival organizer, photographer and editor-in-chief of the online magazine “Foto Kvartātāls” Arnis Balčus.
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“Although we are still living in the Covid era, it is clear that this is an important turning point in civilization that will change our habits, perceptions, values and other routines. Some call this time an interesting challenge, others the crisis of Western ideology. In any case, this year has brought global upheavals – wars, disasters, protests, as well as individual apathy, depression, creative ups and downs, and in this Photo Month we want to look back at how these changes have affected photographers and artists, and start asking questions. , what could be life in the next stage, “the director of Balčus outlines the focus of the festival.
Riga Photo Month will start with three exhibitions in the public space. An exhibition of international artists “Life after Covid?” Will take place on Avotu Street, with the participation of 14 artists from different European countries.
In her collages “The Wonderful New World”, Anja Redy, a Polish woman living in England, contrasts the reality of the Western world ‘s arc and the historical images of the Eastern Bloc everyday. The installation “Great Success” by the Latvian artist Pēteris Ķimšs – a car with a huge bird’s stool – metaphorically depicts the current situation, where the car symbolizes moving forward, but the stool – one perceives them as luck and another as a bad sign. Russian photographer Sergei Stroitelev’s series “Inner Cat” invites you to learn from cats how to keep peace in a crisis situation, but Latvian author Katrina Gelze talks about everyone’s rights and freedom to love. Marija Rukina and Elvira Blumfelde from Latvia also participate in the exhibition.
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According to Balčus, the works of art will inhabit poster stands, advertising spaces, walls and shop windows from Avotu to Jāņa Asara Street. May 25 at 6:30 p.m. On the website of Riga Photo Month a Facebook live there will be a tour of the exhibition with an urban researcher, tourism critic, blogger and LTV personality Mārtiņš Eņģelis.
From May 25, Janis Rozentāls Square next to the Latvian National Museum of Art will display the Belarusian protest object “Square of Change” – a model of a transformer hut, which was originally located in one of Minsk’s inner courtyards and became an important symbol of Belarusian struggle for their rights. The transformer hut will be covered with photographs by photojournalist Jauhen Otcetska, documenting the events in this courtyard for eight months.
In the context of this exhibition, an online discussion “Between Journalism and Activism. How Do Photographers Work in Belarus?” Will take place on May 26 at 7 pm, with the participation of photographer Otcetsky himself, as well as Belarusian civic activist and photo editor Julia Volchok. A discussion “Game without rules. The work of a photojournalist in Belarus” will take place on June 14 at 7 pm, where photojournalists Irina Arakhovskaya and Dmitry Brushko will discuss the difficult conditions for journalists in Belarus.
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Philip Schmidt’s exhibition “Do not stick posters” will be located on the fence at 41 Miera Street near the bar “Walters and Grapa”. With these works, the winner of last year’s FC Award, as the best young Latvian photographer, invites you to experience the Brooklyn district of New York, going through it from the perspective created by the author. While working in the environment, a unique dialogue is created between the urban landscape of New York and Riga.
Various online talks and discussions will also take place during the festival. A discussion on “Photographers in the Age of Disaster” will take place on May 31 at 8 pm, where Karolina Gembara, the creator of the Polish Public Protests Archive, will talk to Tanina Mishar (Caravan Magazine, India), Nina Berman, Noor Images, USA and Shiraz Greenbaum (Activestills collective, Israel), looking at the nature of different visual practices in the context of everyday disasters. On June 8 at 7 pm, photographer and journalist Elīna Ruka will talk to three foreign photographers about (un) natural experience in photography, but on June 9 at 7 pm, philosopher and editor of the magazine “Tvērums” Toms Babincevs will lead a conversation about the viability of art in remote mode.
In the course of the festival, performances and exhibitions of other Latvian authors – Ance Vilnīte, Linards Āboltiņš, Aivars Liepiņš, Ieva Raudsepa, Māris Priedītis, Iveta Gabaliņa in person and on the Internet, as well as a photo book event “Self Publish Riga” at ISSP Gallery are also planned. Due to unpredictable epidemiological constraints, the festival program will change and be supplemented over time. Festival program and more information available “Riga Photo Month” website.
One of the main annual events in Latvian photography – the festival “Riga Photo Month” – has been taking place since 2014.
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