Foundation Announces the Winners of the Grant Competition for Contemporary Art Exhibitions

February 5, 2017

“With the contemporary art museum that will open its doors to the public in 2021 in mind, as the co-founder of this initiative, it is important for ABLV Charitable Foundation not only to facilitate collaboration between art institutions and the involvement of other sectors, but also to address society as a whole, stimulating its interest in contemporary art as a source of inspiration for the mind at play, introspection and the exchange of experience. The contemporary art exhibitions chosen as the winners of the grant competition tick these boxes,” comments Zanda Zilgalve, ABLV Charitable Foundation Chairman of the Board.

“Precedence was given to supporting exhibitions for which new works of art would be created or which would reflect current studies of contemporary art processes in the Baltic States during the period from 1960. Parallel to this, an important criterion was the education programme planned as part of the art exhibitions,” stresses Kaspars Vanags, Head of ABLV Charitable Foundation’s Arts Programmes.

At the same time, Kaspars highlights the benefits conferred by individual programmes, “The project “Participle” is faithful to the tradition begun in the last grant competition of fostering collaboration between artists of older and younger generations. Each of the exhibitions in the cycle will introduce a pair of artists, in which each member will represent their own generation. In turn, the curator of Artur Żmijewski’s solo show, Māris Vītols reminds us of the need for contemporary art to be “integrated“ into museums in other fields, thus fostering an inter-disciplinary dialogue and allowing artists to become mediators in the process of discovering the world. In turn, the added value of the project “Design in Contemporary Art. An Exhibition of Process at Sigulda Castle Complex” is that it is taking place outside Riga, encouraging the involvement of local councils in the development of the creative industry sector, as well as providing a platform for the inter-disciplinary collaboration between artists and other creative sectors. Last but not least, “White Wanderers”, the group exhibition organised by curator Kaspars Groševs is noteworthy for its concept of gathering Latvian and foreign artists whose works have been presented by Gallery 427 together in a single group show, giving a wider audience the chance to discover the latest generation of artistic talents.”

For many years now, artists and arts institutions have had the chance to enter their exhibitions of national and professional importance and art education projects in the annual grant competition organised by the ABLV Charitable Foundation. The goal of the grant competition is to support the latest developments within contemporary art, as well as to foster the organising of research-based exhibitions that reflect contemporary art history in Latvia.

Information about the contemporary art exhibitions supported by the ABLV Charitable Foundation in 2017:
1) Exhibition Cycle “Participle”
NGO Latvian Centre for Contemporary Art (LCCA)
Exhibition Organisers: Solvita Krese, Diāna Popova, Andra Silapētere, Inga Lāce
Timing: May-July 2017
Venue: Latvian National Museum of Art

The goal of the exhibition cycle “Participle”, which consists of three series of exhibitions, showcasing the works of: Jānis Borgs and Kaspars Groševs, Atis Ieviņš and Inga Meldere, and Oļegs Tillbergs and Jānis Filipovičs, is to nurture a dialogue between artists of various generations, accenting the importance of heritage to the contemporary scene, interpreting and commenting upon recent art history, highlighting the LCCA archive as a significant research resource, fostering understanding of Latvian contemporary art processes starting from the 1970s through to the present day, celebrating the uniqueness of individual artists and underlining their key role in Latvian contemporary art processes.

2) Artur Żmijewski’s Solo Exhibition
NGO Latvian Cultural Projects
Exhibition Curator: Māris Vītols
Timing: June-September 2017
Venue: Pauls Stradins Museum for History of Medicine

The aim of the project is to provide residents of Riga and people visiting the city with a unique chance to view the works of one of the world’s most prominent Polish artists, Artur Żmijewski, which have achieved considerable renown in the context of global contemporary art, and will thus serve to boost international collaboration and communication between Latvian and foreign arts organisations, as well as to foster a dialogue about topical industry issues in an international context. Under the auspices of this project, it is planned that the exhibition will be organised using the variable exhibition spaces in Pauls Stradins Museum for History of Medicine, integrating contemporary art exhibition works among the museum‘s permanent exposition, while at the same time accenting the link between individual exhibits in the permanent exhibition and the issues that artist Artur Żmijewski has chosen as his subject matter in his works of art. This inter-disciplinary approach, innovatively linking the issues of medical history with contemporary art will not only bring existing exhibits in the museum’s collection to the attention of its visitors, but also significantly expand the context of contemporary art.

3) “Design in Contemporary Art. An Exhibition of Process at the Sigulda Castle Complex”
NGO MAD International Summer School of Design
Exhibition Curators: Rihards Funts and Liene Kuplā
Timing: July-August 2017
Venue: Sigulda Castle Complex

The goal of the project is to meld the boundaries between the practicalities of a design object and aesthetics, emphasising the trend in contemporary art to span the diffuse definitions of architecture, design and art, while remaining completely faithful to the authentic process of creating a work of art. In other words, the aim of the project is to create an experimental project based on the synergy between contemporary art and design – an Exhibition of Process, over a 10 day period at the Sigulda Castle Complex, offering the public the chance to experience the process of creating design and art, and to follow the process of the creation of works of art; participating in it, judging and being inspired by it. Parallel to this, an educational project for students will be organised – giving them the chance to take part in open workshops, where they will create contemporary art and design objects together with professionals.

Through the interaction of various fields of art and technical media, spanning a range of widely-used materials, experimenting with application and media, new aesthetic and physical values are created. This, in turn, leads to the discovery of new mutual relationships between form, function and material.

4) Exhibition “The White Wanderers”
NGO Minus Plus
Exhibition Curator: Kaspars Groševs
Timing: September-October 2017
Venue: to be announced

As a result of the project, a quality contemporary art exhibition will be created that will introduce the Latvian and foreign target audience to the work of innovative Scandinavian and Baltic artists. The exhibition will foster the development of Latvian contemporary art, as well as awareness of Latvian art events and collaboration with international artists and art organisations. The target audience will get the chance to study the creative output of internationally recognised artists, as well as new practices and experiences. Artists’ lectures and masterclasses will introduce art students and professionals to the working methods and ideas of the guest artists, thus expanding the scope of their knowledge.

To receive more detailed information about the aforementioned projects, follow the news on the ABLV Charitable Foundation‘s homepage: www.ablv.org.

About ABLV Charitable Foundation
The ABLV Charitable Foundation was founded in 2006 by ABLV Bank shareholders Ernests Bernis and Oļegs Fiļs, in order to put their core values into practice in real life and support the responsibility of entrepreneurs towards society and the environment. The Foundation functions as ABLV Bank’s main partner in the realm of charitable activity, supporting creative people and outstanding organisations that invest their efforts and knowledge, in order to achieve universally important goals – to create a united, abundant and safe society. From the time it was established, the Foundation has focused its attention on contemporary art, the welfare of children and adolescents, the development of education and civic society. Moreover, ABLV Charitable Foundation is the co-founder of the future Latvian Museum of Contemporary Art, which will open its doors in 2021. In the years leading up to the opening of the Latvian Museum of Contemporary Art, in collaboration with the Ministry of Culture, ABLV Charitable Foundation has undertaken to be the main supporter of the Latvian Pavilion at the Venice Art Biennale. It is worth highlighting that a record sum of EUR 1,046,173 was donated to the Foundation’s 10th anniversary charitable campaign, of which EUR 810,995 in donations were made under the “New Riga“ programme to fund civic improvements in the centre of the capital and to support the establishment of the Latvian Museum of Contemporary Art. Over the years, the Foundation has supported 300 projects, allocating co-financing to them amounting to over EUR 3 million.

For more detailed information, please contact:
Ksenia Pegasheva,
Project Manager,
ABLV Charitable Foundation,
Phone: (+371) 67281383
E-mail: maksla@ablv.org
www.ablv.org