For his series What Remains the Bangladeshi photographer Protick Sarker photographed his grandparents John and Prova as they navigated old age. Protick began the project as a way to reconnect with his grandparents, both of whom were housebound in their Dhaka apartment due to health problems.
Protick Sarker (1986) was born and raised in Dhaka, Bangladesh. He has studied photography in Bangladesh, United Kingdom and USA, currently is teaching at Pathshala South Asian Media Academy.
The name of artist Baiba Rubine became more widely recognised in 2012 after her exhibition The Ice Age at Riga Art Space curated by Inga Šteimane. In her new exhibition Abreaction (meaning – release of stress), the artist continues to explore alternatives offered by a digital camera, further supplementing her works with video footage and photomontage.
Instead of the accustomed display of adverts, passengers at twenty public transport stops in Riga are now greeted by Latvian proverbs and aphorisms. In his photo collage series, Ivars Grāvlejs continues the ancient tradition of satirical art, a notable example of which is Pieter Bruegel the Elder’s illustrations of proverbs in his paintings.
The work Silbersee slowly but steadily unveils a story of human impact on the Earth from a lake’s perspective. Originally, at the end of the 19th century, Silbersee (meaning ‘silver lake’) was a coal-mine and fuelled the industrial development in the area. Throughout the 20th century it was used as a wastewater deposit by the surrounding factories, becoming the most contaminated place in Germany by the 1990s.
Stefan Sava (1982) lives and works in Bucharest. He holds an MA from the Photo-Video Department, UNARTE Bucharest where he is currently enrolled as a PHD student. His projects combine photography, video, performance and object and are based on a long process of theoretical reflection and research.
The main idea behind the exhibition RESTART is a pronounced necessity to deepen the understanding of our world, by highlighting its dialectical connection with the past and the future. We can all but fantasize whether the future influences today, whilst attempting to guess what will be the shape of our future memories?
In August 2015, the Riga Photography Biennial 2016 launched a competition Seeking the Latest in Photography! with the aim of discovering and introducing to the wider public the creative efforts of young emerging artists. Works by the winners of the top three prizes are now on show at Riga Art Space Intro Hall.
The symposium of the Riga Photography Biennial will turn its attention to image and photography in the post-digital era. During the last 20 years the presence and ever-increasing role of the Internet and technology in our lives has introduced significant changes in society and altered art forms and their subsequent means of expression.
The creative workshops will offer informal education opportunities to young artists and other professionals working in the creative industries, whilst also providing a chance to learn more about culture and art, using photography as a socially effective medium which is profusely present in our lives.
The history of Latvian art photography continues to be a field of research teeming with fascinating discoveries. This is especially true for its first magnificent period – the Golden Age of the industry at the beginning of the 20th century, as well as during the 1920s and 30s. The lecture will highlight the importance of the Latvian Photographic Society and the work of photographers Mārtiņš Buclers, Jānis Rieksts, Vilis Rīdzenieks, Roberts Johansons, Eduards Gaiķis, Indriķis Kalcenavs, Kārlis Bauls and others.
Uldis Briedis (1940) is well-known as a long-time photographer for the newspaper Diena. During the Soviet period he worked as a photojournalist for the newspaper Padomju Jaunatne, as well as the Liepāja newspapers Komunists and Ļeņina Ceļš. Over almost fifty years of active work as a photographer his work has been published countless times in many press publications. On several occasions he was arrested while carrying out his work. Uldis Briedis' name is closely associated with the most significant achievements of photojournalism in Latvia in the second half of the 20th century. He has received several awards, more than once has been recognised as Best Press Photographer (1984 and 1988), and was awarded the Prize of the Latvian Journalists' Union (1988). In 2010 Neputns publishing house released the book Time Hunter, dedicated to the artist and compiled by Laima Slava. In 2011, he was awarded the Order of the Three Stars.
Artists Kristians Brekte and Modris Svilāns present Solaris, an exhibition devoted to analogue photography. Both authors argue that as a result of technological development digital photography has become more accessible and increasingly popular, which has led to the demise of analogue photography - this historically significant way of documenting the world.
The exhibition Portraits RL consists of portraits commissioned for the magazine Rīgas Laiks and photographed by Ansis Starks (1980). Over the past few years, while documenting contemporary artists, scientists, thinkers and patrons, Ansis Starks has amassed an impressive collection of portraits.
