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Launching Riga Photomonth 2016 central event – exhibition "Territories"

May 11, 2016

Festival Riga Photomonth 2016 will be officially launched with 2 exhibitions – "Territories" and "Self Publish Riga" at the Latvian Railway History Museum on 12 May at 6.30pm. On the following days, the programme of artist talks and discussions with internationally recognized artists, curators and photobook experts will be offered to visitors. ABLV Charitable Foundation is the main supporter of both the exhibition “Territories” and the accompanied lecture programme.

The exhibition "Territories" focuses on mutual interaction between a place, an individual and the respective period of time, at the same time posing questions on common and different features in North and East European photography. The exhibited works represent both socio-political and personal traits – the USA-born photographer Andrew Miksys who is based in Lithuania will be represented by a series of works "Tulips" created throughout several years when he took photos at the Victory Day in Belarus. The holidays, though, were a mere backdrop for the photographs while looking for peripheral evidences of the world that should be part of the past but is stubbornly resilient in the present. Norwegian photographer Sara Skorgan Teigen in her series of works Fractal State of Being is focusing on her own emotions connecting them to shapes and structures common in their nature. The territory in works of the Russian photographer Igor Samolet is his hometown in the north of Russia where he has followed a group of young people for 2 years including their rave-ups in abandoned buildings, reckless use of alcohol and drugs, senseless experiments with sex and violence while discovering emptiness and loneliness they are facing when returning to their ordinary life.

In the series of Latvian photographer Katrīna Ķepule "Sit Silent" she is spotlighting the border where the “modern Europe” meets the Soviet times overlapping or conflicting each other. The exhibition will also feature the works of Latvian photographer Daniels Mekšs, Finnish photographer Heikki Kaski and Belarusian photographer Igor Savchenko. On 13 and 15 May the exhibition will feature artist talks and discussions.

Together with the exhibition "Territories", the exhibition "Self Publish Riga" organized by the ISSP will also be opened at the Latvian Railway History Museum. The exhibition is dedicated to photobooks and opportunities provided by independent publishing houses and self-publishing. The exhibition will feature 9 collections with more than 200 books from all over the world, including one of the most prestige photobook competitions in the world "Paris Photo - Aperture PhotoBook Awards" last year’s finalists; "Asia-Pacific Photobook Archive" collection with the latest self-published books and books published by independent publishing houses in the Asia-Pacific region; the collection of Latvian artist Andrejs Strokins "Private Albums"; witty publications of the Dutch publishing house "KesselsKramer" collecting found pictures such as unsuccessful attempts to take photographs of a dog or the most common failure of amateur photographers – a finger put in front of the lens; the exhibition will also feature the latest Collection of Photobooks of the Baltic states cured by curator and journalist Evita Goze; the selection of the best books submitted to the "Self Publish Riga" photobook layout competition, as well as other collections. More information about the self-publishing culture will be provided at the artist talks and discussions of international photobook experts on 14 May.

At the weekend of the opening week on 13 May at 8pm, the exhibition "MIXTAPE" also will be opened at K.K. fon Strick Villa where works of 5 young authors – the graduates from the ISSP International Master Class Ieva Raudsepa (Latvia), Salvatore Vitale (Italy/Switzerland), Emanuele Camerini (Italy), Ulrike Schmidt (Germany) and Merlin Nadj-Torma (Germany) will be displayed.

The entrance will be free at exhibitions "Territories" and "Self Publish Riga" at the Latvian Railway History Museum in the opening week of the Festival 12 –15 May. One of the photography series displayed at the exhibition Territories is not recommended for children under the age of 18.

Exhibitions, artist talks, discussions, Master Classes and film shows will take place in the framework of the festival Riga Photomonth 2016 in the Railway History Museum, Latvian Museum of Photography, LNL Exhibition Hall, LMC Office Gallery, Riga Film Museum, Kaņepe Culture Centre and other places all throughout till June 16. The festival Riga Photomonth 2016 will take place on 2l May –16 June, offering 10 exhibitions and more than 20 events with a common theme Borders and Check-Points. The Riga Photomonth is hosted by the Riga Photomonth Society, ISSP Society, and FK magazine in cooperation with the Latvian Museum of Photography, LKA Riga Film Museum, National Library of Latvia and Latvian Centre for Contemporary Art.

THE MAIN SUPPORTER OF THE EXHIBITION ''TERRITORIES'':

ABLV Charitable Foundation

RELATED ACTIVITIES:

Festival "Riga Photomonth 2016'': artist talks and discussions in the opening week
Free entrance; English

13 May:
4pm Art talk by Norwegian photographer Sara Skorgen Teigen (1984). Sara Skorgen Teigen has graduated from the Danish Art Photography School ''Fatamorgana'' in Copenhagen and ICP (International Photography Centre) in New York. The author describes her work as a compilation of ideas and observations of the world.
5pm Discussion ''Challenges of Photo Magazines in the Digital Age''. The participants include Tim Clark (1000 Words, UK), Salvatore Vitale (YET Magazine, CH), Anastasia Fedorova (Calvert Journal, UK), Vincent Marcilhacy (The Eyes, FR), the talk will be moderated by Arnis Balčus (FK magazine, LV).
6.15pm Talk with artists featured in the exhibition ''Territories'' – Andrew Miksys (LT), Heikki Kaski (FI), Igor Samoliot (RU), Daniels Mekšs (LV), Katrīna Ķeipule (LV), Igor Savchenko (BY), and Sara Skjorgen Teigen (NO). The talk will be moderated by the co-curator of the exhibition JH Engström (SWE).

14 May:
12am Artist talk by Hester Keijser (independent curator, the author of ''The Independent Photo Book'', NL): ''Photography Books in the Age of Networking and Technologies''.
1pm Artist talk by Erik Kessel (one of the founders of the communication agency ''KesselsKram'', as well as creative director, artist, curator and collector, NL) ''Creation of Narrative with Found Photography''.
2pm Artist talk by Tom Mrazauskas (a book designer and Brave Books publisher, DE/LT) ''Visual Acoustics: Design and Photobook''.
4pm Artist talk by Gordon MacDonald (one of the managers of GOST Books publishing house, UK) ''Importance of Cooperation while Editing a Photobook''.
5pm Artist talk by Angel Luis Gonzalez Fernandez (a founder and director of Photoireland, IE) ''Recommendations and Ideas for Self-publishing''.
6.30pm Discussion ''Next Step in the Development of Photobook'', moderator Nico Baumgarten (DE).
7:30pm Presentation of awards to winners of the ''Self Publish Riga'' photobook layout competition.

15 May:
12am Discussion ''Image Interpretation Processes in the Post-Soviet Countries''. Participants: Nestan Nijaradze (Tbilisi Photo festival), Mindaugas Kavaliauskas (Kaunas Photo festival), Laura Toots (Tallinn Photomonth), Andrei Liankevich (Minsk Month of Photography), moderator - Kateryna Radchenko (Odessa/Batumi Photo Days).
2pm Artist talk by Finnish photographer Heikki Kaski (1987). His book ''Tranquility'' has been prized as one of the best photo books in 2014. The series is created in a provincial town in California and is discovering a mystical world lacking a clear beginning and ending.
3pm Artist talk by Russian photograph Igor Samoliot (1984) on his experience while building a series of works ''be happy!'' documenting a sub-culture of young people in a small town in Russia.

Additional information:
Zane Zajančkauska
Communication manager
Festival "Riga Photomonth 2016"
Tel. +371 26130666
rigasfotomenesis.com

Photo: Sara Skorgena Teigen. From series “Fractal State of Being”.

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