RIGA CONTEMPORARY ART SPACE aims to serve as a platform for exploring contemporary culture and for dialogue on the role of art in the 21st century, engaging local audiences, cultural tourists, and the professional community in Riga and the Baltic region. Its programmes are grounded in the belief that art can influence social processes and foster understanding and empathy.
PROGRAMME
The programme of RIGA CONTEMPORARY ART SPACE presents contemporary Latvian art in dialogue with the world and its key questions through solo and group exhibitions. It also aims to introduce local audiences to contemporary artistic developments in Europe through large scale group exhibitions that place artistic practices within an international context.
Recognising the importance of historical continuity, in February 2026 the institution will launch a long-term programme dedicated to significant phenomena in the history of Latvian contemporary art. The cycle “Giants” focuses on canonical works from the collection of the Latvian National Museum of Art, private collections and artists’ studios, including, in selected cases, the reconstruction of works lost due to infrastructural or financial constraints.
EDUCATION PROGRAM
The Education Program at the Riga Contemporary Art Space is aimed at fostering deeper engagement with contemporary art through contextual discussions and artist and curator led tours that provide visitors with comprehensive insight into each exhibition’s objectives and narratives.
A particular emphasis is placed on children and youth programming, seeking to cultivate early connections with art and nurture a society for which culture is an organic necessity.
VISUAL IDENTITY
The visual identity / graphic design of RIGA CONTEMPORARY ART SPACE was created by the artist Reinis Dzudzilo.
The institution’s visual mark is developed through a focus on language and naming, writing out each word of the title in full. Within this structure, particular emphasis is placed on the defining word added to Riga Art Space — Contemporary — highlighted through the letter “L” (Laikmetīgā). The arrangement of the words into two parallel columns suggests a pair of eyes—an act of looking—where each eye sees the same image, and perception converges into a single line and point of the present: the word “Contemporary”.
The visual identity is complemented by an additional sign—referred to as a “drawing/ambassador”. This is an autonomous element that exists independently of the primary identity: free, hand-drawn. The drawing depicts a fragment of a staircase, a sectional view.
To reach RIGA CONTEMPORARY ART SPACE, one must descend underground, much like Orpheus in search of Eurydice — and then ascend again, in the hope of leading the beloved back to the surface. This fragment of a journey — downward and upward — is embedded in the drawing. As the artist himself asks: “will the viewer — Orpheus — look back over their shoulder when returning to the surface?”
