Occupy time invites us to work together and to reflect on the role of speculation, fabulation, and imaginative storytelling as strategies for addressing historical gaps, unfolding present events, and opening possible futures. It questions the dominance of linear, chronological time, often used as a mechanism of control, and turns instead toward practices that disrupt and reconfigure established temporal structures and narratives.
Occupy Time is the FUTURES travelling exhibition, presented for the first time in Riga. Its theme was developed by an international curatorial team, followed by an open call inviting artists from across the FUTURES network to respond to it; eight artists were selected to take part in the exhibition.
The Curatorial Team
Bettina Freimann (Triennial of Photography Hamburg)
Daria Tuminas (FOTODOK)
Iveta Gabalina (ISSP)
Markéta Kinterová (FOTOGRAF ZONE)
Nadine Isabelle Henrich (Deichtorhallen Hamburg)
with the special contribution of Viktoria Rochambeau (Deichtorhallen
Hamburg).
The Selected Artists
Aline Bovard Rudaz, Anna Safiatou Touré, Anton Shebetko, Chloe Azzopardi,
Joanna Chia-yu Lin, Julius Schien, Marco Frauchiger, and Raisan Hameed.
More about the artists and their works can be found here https://www.futures-photography.com/news/futures-open-call-2026-occupy-time-selected-artists
FUTURES is a European photography platform that brings together leading photography institutions to support the professional development and international visibility of emerging artists. Since 2017, its member organisations, including ISSP in Latvia, have nominated artists each year to join the platform, giving them access to an extensive international network of artists, curators, institutions, and other photography professionals. FUTURES offers mentoring, residencies, exhibitions, publications, and participation in major photography events across Europe, creating opportunities for exchange, new professional connections, and reaching audiences beyond artists’ home countries. FUTURES is co-funded by the European Union’s Creative Europe Programme.
ISSP is a platform for contemporary photography, art, and education based in Riga, Latvia. Since its establishment in 2006, ISSP has developed a wide range of local and international educational and exchange programmes, exhibitions, publications, and public events, while building an active community of photographers and artists in Latvia and internationally.