Siegfried. NOMADIC CINEMA

From April 11 to August 24, 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.

I BIT THE SKIN OF A GLASS LAGOON. Laimdota Malle, Anastasia Shneps-Shneppe, Rebecca Korn.

The exhibition "I Bit the Skin of a Glass Lagoon" explores the fragile boundary between body and landscape, where the “glass lagoon” emerges as a metaphor for a world that is beautiful, delicate and intimate, while the “bite into its skin” signifies a bodily closeness to the environment – simultaniously sensual and violent.

Artists Laimdota Malle (LV), Anastasia Shneps-Shneppe (LV), and Rebecca Korn (UK) work across installation art and interdisciplinary research. Malle’s sculptural works traverse the porous line between inner and outer landscapes, balancing the organic and synthetic to reflect on posthuman ecologies. Shneppe and Korn's artistic practice examine the body as a vessel of generational memory, bringing together autoethnography, hydrofeminist theory, and material inquiry.

The exhibition is organized by the municipal institution Exhibition Hall “Riga Contemporary Art Space” and supported by the Riga City Municipality, University for the Creative Arts, NURME Brewery.

Foto: Anastasia Shneps-Shneppe, Rebecca Korn “Water blossom”, 2022

Rihards Vītols. ECOTOPIA

Rihards Vītols’ exhibition will present works created over the past ten years, tracing a creative journey where observations of nature intertwine with technological exploration and speculative future scenarios. Using sound, video, digital media and objects, Vītols examines the fragile and often contradictory relationship between the civilization and the biological systems on which humanity depends.

The exhibition invites viewers into a space of reflection, where the future is not portrayed through dystopian visions, but through an intimate engagement with the fragility of the present – revealing its deeper potential.

Artist Rihards Vītols investigates the environmental impact of the Anthropocene, creating works that reflect on the interplay between nature, environment and technology. His artistic process incorporates scientific methodologies, exploring concepts through experimentation. Using self-made speculative devices, he transforms the data and visualizations generated by these experiments into artifacts, objects, and multimedia artworks.

Rihards Vītols holds a Ph.D. in Digital Art and Experimental Media from the University of Washington (USA). He studied at the Academy of Media Arts Cologne and Bauhaus University Weimar, and earned a Master’s degree in New Media Art from Liepaja University.

Leonards Laganovskis. CLEAN CUT