Orbīta's exhibition "Stage Works"

From 8 November to 29 December, the exhibition "Stage Works" by Orbīta will be on view in the Great Hall of the Riga Contemporary Art Space.

In the surroundings of Valmiera, on the stages of the cultural centres of small towns and villages, firewood is split, branches are chopped, hair is cut... In other words, something that does not usually happen on stage - completely mundane practical activities - household services that are often offered on bulletin boards or in the local press. Captured on video, these documentary actions are projected in parallel on several improvised screens on curtains, while their soundtracks overlap, creating an ensemble of unexpected interactions.

In their project "Stage Works", Orbīta addresses a whole range of themes and questions without trying to give a clear-cut answer. The first of these is the question of the survival of cultural centres and community centres in less populated areas, which is often approached from a purely economic point of view. Orbīta seems to materialise this approach by bringing to the stage entirely practical activities-services. On the other hand, these mini-movies bring to the stage, or frame them in, professions that are common and in demand in our time. Thirdly, they raise the question of where the boundaries of art are drawn: to what extent does the framing of cultural space turn any activity on stage into a kind of work of art or a statement in the cultural field?

In recent years, Orbīta has partly moved its centre of activity from Riga to Strenči. Masterclasses and exhibitions are held there, and the overall cultural context is explored. The multi-screen media installation "Stage Works" continues this vector, allowing "provincial" stages to find their place in the capital, organising their peculiar representation in Riga Art Space.

"Orbīta is a Latvian collective of poets and multimedia artists, founded in 1999. Its members are Semjons Haņins, Artūrs Punte, Vladimirs Svetlovs un Sergejs Timofejevs. Orbīta is based on the synthesis and interaction of text, sound and image.  Although the presence of text is not a prerequisite, the authors' own poetic texts often serve as the impetus for the creation of the works.

The exhibition is organised by the Riga Contemporary Art Space Exhibition Hall of the Riga State Municipality Association of Cultural Institutions and supported by Riga City Council, the State Culture Capital Foundation and Mūrbūdu sidrs.

Linda Vilka's exhibition "closed. Concert in progress"

From 15 November to 29 December, the Intro Hall will display Linda Vilka's exhibition "closed. Concert in progress".

Scheduling delays, unplanned material costs, typographical errors, opening day stress, and many other factors are familiar companions in the arsenal of exhibition makers' experiences. The exhibition “closed. Concert in Progress” is a collection of “deliberate mistakes” by artist Linda Vilka. Her observations, contained in visual compositions of various sizes, cover a range of blunders experienced in the process of setting up exhibitions. It is an invitation to accept our own imperfections and recognize them as sources of our inner drive.

As the artist herself says: "Usually we artists deal with worldly problems, but this time I wanted to focus on the artists themselves and their process of creation."

Mistakes permeate not only creative work but also the everyday reality of every field: governments are wrong in their decisions, companies fail to deliver on their promises, people experience crises. It is precisely because of these imperfections —mistakes, exceptions, and unfulfilled promises — that enable society’s mechanisms to function, as they compel us to respond, adapt, and solve problems. Which mistakes do we forgive with a light heart, and which do we pay for heavily?

“This is the age-old question of when a job is finished. What is an exhibition? What is not an exhibition? An exhibition is an extremely democratic format for making and showing art," says the exhibition's curator, Tīna Pētersone. "Put some pictures in your kitchen cupboard, invite your three upstairs neighbours over and discuss what you've seen with them."

Linda Vilka (1995) is a multidisciplinary artist, Doctor of Art and guest lecturer at the Department of Environmental Art at the Art Academy of Latvia. She has been an exchange student at ArtEZ University in Enschede and Vilnius Academy of Arts. She often works with emotionally saturated themes and memory fixation, paying special attention to rural areas and the stories found there. Her work has been exhibited in installations, paintings, videos and performative actions in public spaces. Linda often uses the textual form, capturing the impressions of her surroundings in abstract and sometimes absurd statements.

About this exhibition Linda Vilka says: "In my practice I almost always work with some heavy emotion. In this exhibition, I have chosen to place the emotion in the depths of the space and to foreground the reflections on exhibition, display and pretense." 

Artist: Linda Vilka
Curator: Tīna Pētersone

The exhibition is organised by the Riga Contemporary Art Space Exhibition Hall, an association of cultural institutions of the Riga State Municipality, and supported by Riga City Council, Labietis and Malduguns.