Siegfried - Nomadic Cinema

12.04.-08.06.2025. 11.00-18.00

From April 11 to June 8, Siegfried's exhibition “Nomadic Cinema” will be on view in the Great Hall.

The exhibition will offer an insight into the work of Sig (Siegfried Debrebant), a French composer, musician, film director and traveler of worlds. Although Sig's sudden death last autumn has radically altered the process of making this exhibition, and most likely the way we look at his oeuvre, which now is revealed in its totality, it is a full-fledged emanation of his ideas and presence. 

The exposition is centered around the film Kinogamma I & II, which is more than two hours long masterpiece of ecstatic world view.  It is complemented by black-and-white analog photographs taken during Sig's wanderings, which can be viewed both as a supplement to his cinematic vision of the world, as travel notes, or as an artistic inquiry into the mysteries of the human dimension.

Sig's film and photo works are permeated by an undisguised, perhaps even romantic fascination with the mundane, almost invisible substance of the human existence. The image appears here as a witness and interpreter of mysteries of time and being, where Bresson's "decisive moment" merges with the Mythical time in which all the present, past and future coexist, where the evanescent and timeless are intertwined into one inextricable totality.

In 1998, Siegfried Debrebant's (1973-2024) first feature movie "Louise (take 2)" was screened in the official selection of the Cannes Film Festival. Six more feature films followed, which were shot in various parts of the world and successfully screened at Cannes, Rotterdam, Sundance and other prestigious international film festivals. In 2004, the film "Sansa" was shown at the "Arsenals" film festival. In 2017, in Riga, Siegfried shot the film "Riga, take One". His feature film "Bengali Variation” shot in Calcutta was shown at the Riga IFF film festival in 2022.

Siegfried has written music not only for all his films, but also for films made by other directors. As a musician, under the pseudonym Sig, he has collaborated with such famous musicians as Ivry Gitlis, Erik Truffaz, Steve Lacy, Le mystère des voix Bulgares, Thomas Bangalter, Vladimir Volkov, Lewis Pragasam, Joy Frempong, and Latvian musician Artis Orubs. He has given solo piano concerts with the Russian, Ukrainian and Bulgarian Philharmonics and has released numerous music albums. His last concert took place on the stage of the "Kanepe Culture Center" (KKC) in August 2024.

The exhibition is organized by the Association of Culture Institutions of Riga State City Council and the exhibition hall Riga Contemporary Art Space with the support of the Riga City Council and Kaņepe Culture Center.