The Riga Photography Biennial is an international contemporary
art
event, focusing on the analysis of visual culture and artistic
representation. The term ‘photography’ in the title of the biennial
is used as an all-embracing concept encompassing a mixed range of
artistic image-making practices that have continued to transform the
lexicon of contemporary art in the 21st century.
The biennial covers issues ranging from cultural theory to current
socio-political processes in the Baltics and the wider European
region. Using the format of an art festival, Riga Photography
Biennial attempts to record changes taking place all over the world
and invites us to collectively interpret them – something we not
only need to see but also imagine whilst translating the complicated
and oversaturated contemporary visual language into meaningful
relationships between our daily reality, the camera lens, historic
material, contemporary art, technologies and the future. How has our
understanding of photography and image changed because of digital
technologies, and how does it manifest itself in the work of art?
For the organisers of the biennial these are important questions to
present and analyse, whilst at the same time introducing Latvian
audiences to leading works of international art as well as the ideas
of prominent art theoreticians presented in the form of symposiums,
discussions and publications in parallel with exhibitions and
performances. The first Riga Photography Biennial took place in
2016.
Riga Photography Biennial – NEXT
The biennial’s Off-year Programme - NEXT focuses on young and promising artists from the Baltics, Nordic countries and Europe who are still in the early stages of their careers. By introducing young and promising artists, the NEXT Programme offers visibility and provides a platform for artists to announce themselves to a wider context. The biennial’s Education Programme provides opportunities for artists as well as the general public to learn more about current trends in image culture, which is a subject not often covered by higher education institutions in Latvia.
The word ‘next’ (used in its original form in English and not translated) embodies the idea of movement. ‘Next’ is a transition – never safe, predictable or known in advance, it has a direct and irrevocable presence that constantly poses the question: ‘Does whatever comes next in any way link to what was before? Can the new really be radically new?’