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Café Europa Riga

August 19, 2014

ABLV Charitable Foundation invites you to an extensive and varied programme whose themes are comprised of art, science and new technologies.

On August 15, the Spīķeru creative quarter hosted the launch of a programme of events devised by the Café Europa – Riga Innovation Laboratory. For almost two months, with the support of ABLV Charitable Foundation, the Café Europa Riga container, which has travelled 2000km from Belgium, invites the general public to enjoy a considerable and varied programme of events, whose subject matter is comprised of art, science and new technologies.

The Café Europa project unites Europe’s capitals of culture: Riga 2014 and Mons 2015. The main objective of Café Europa is to establish a collaborative network of cities, made up of European cities where branches of Café Europa have been established. It should be noted that Riga is the first place outside Belgium to which Café Europa has travelled. Next year, Café Europa’s hybrid event venues will be open to the public in a number of other cities including Karlsruhe, Sarajevo, Pilsen, Lens, as well as other European cities.

The purpose of the Café Europa collaborative network is to bring people closer to new technologies, offering an introduction to them and making them accessible to anybody. For this reason, Café Europa contains a reference to the historical idea of a café, which for centuries has served as an open public place where people can meet, get to know one another, find out the latest news and have fun.

Café Europa Riga’s focus is on 3D printing and renewable energy technologies, prompting visitors to think about ecosystems in the city of the future, the evolution of man and the psychology of visual perception, as well as other similar subjects in the company of domestic and overseas artists and scientists.

Special offer for schools: starting from September 1st, with the support of ABLV Charitable Foundation, we will welcome groups of schoolchildren to which the project organisers are offering special interactive excursions into the world of contemporary art with the opportunity to take part in scientific experiments and creative workshops.

Special programme events:

Friday, August 15, 19.00-21.00.
Opening of Café Europa Riga.

Sunday, August 17, 12.00-18.00.
RIGA FESTIVAL: “3D Bridges” creative workshops.

August 19–31 (Weeks I and II)
3D chance printing laboratory. Exhibition, creative workshops and new media art symposium: JMM Showcase. Workshops led by artists Rihards Vītols, Peteris Riekstiņš, Mārtiņš Eņģelis.
Speed-dating between the creative industries of Latvia and Belgium. August 21, 15.00-17.00.
Europa Wall digital interface workshops. August 25–27.

September 2–7 (Week III)
Urban ecosystems – beekeeping and plant distribution mapping in cities. Exhibition and creative workshops – led by Annemie Maes (BE).

WHITE NIGHT 2014: FOG
September 6,15.00 and 18.00 – fog in art and science.
20.30, 21.30, 22.30 – fog performances by Edwin van der Heide (NL).

September 9–14 (Week IV)
3D BioLAB. Pond battery installation: Rasa Šmite, Raitis Šmits, Voldemārs Johansons, Artūrs Gruduls. “Virtuosos” (a 17th century play about scientific experiments) – workshops led by Ainārs Kamoliņš and Rudolf Bekic.
THE UTOPIAN CITY: the future of water – renewable energy. September 13, 15.00 and 18.00: art and science workshops.

September 16–21 (Week V)
FOOOD. War and peace. Exhibition, art and science creative workshops. Artist in residence: Gints Gabrāns.

September 23–28 (Week VI)
Habitus. Exhibition and workshops focusing on visual perception, real time mapping and “shadow projections”. Led by artist Hanna Haaslahti (FI).

Café Europa Riga will be open from August 15 to September 28 in the Spīķeru quarter next to the building at Maskavas Street 12k-3.

Opening hours:
Mondays – closed, Tuesdays to Sundays: 12.00-18.00. Admission - free.

The event programme has been republished from the Riga 2014 homepage.

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