Riga Photography Biennial and ISSP Gallery open call
Riga Photography Biennial – NEXT 2023 and ISSP Gallery announces an open call for the “Seeking the Latest in Photography!” Award 2023. Young artists from Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia are invited to submit their work until October 2. The winner of the award will be chosen by an international jury and will have an opportunity to hold a solo exhibition at the ISSP Gallery as part of the Riga Photography Biennial – NEXT 2023 program held in May 2023. Participants will also receive special prizes from “VV Foundation” and the Lithuanian independent publishing initiative “NoRoutine Books”.
The competition is open to emerging artists and photographers from the Baltic states – Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania – provided that the work they are entering in the competition was created within the last three years.
The winner of the prize will be determined by an international jury comprised of the founder of the "BZH Photo" festival and coordinator of the "Photo Days" event in Paris Camille Gajate (FR), art critic, historian and curator Adam Mazur (PL), artist, professor and Head of the Photography Department at the Estonian Academy of Arts Marge Monko (EE), artist and curator Paulius Petraitis (LT) and artist and teacher Ieva Epnere (LV).
Besides the main prize – an opportunity to hold a solo exhibition at the ISSP Gallery in Riga, the jury members will nominate five finalists (including the winner) who will present their work at the exhibition launch, and ten finalists who will be granted the opportunity to participate in the NEXT 2023 program portfolio review to the industry professionals free of charge. For the second time, the foundation „VV Foundation” is to choose a laureate for a 1000 euro monetary prize and an opportunity to spend a month working at their residency “PAiR” (Pāvilosta Artist in Residency) in Pāvilosta, Latvia. The founders of the independent publishing initiative “NoRoutine Books”, Gytis Skudžinskas and Vilma Samulionyte (LT), will select one of the participants for their own award – the opportunity to publish a photo book.
The winners of the RPB 2016 award “Seeking the Latest in Photography!” were Vika Eksta (LV), Andrejs Strokins (LV) and Alissa Nirgi (EE). The 2018 winners were Diāna Tamane (LV), Taavi Suisalu (EE) and Kristīne Madjare (LV). In 2019, the award was received by Annija Muižule (LV). In 2021, Visvaldas Morkevičius (LT) became the winner, and he also received the first award presented by the “VV Foundation”. The winners of the “NoRoutine Books” award were Ieva Balode (LV) in 2016, Madara Gritāne (LV) in 2018, Reinis Lismanis (LV) in 2019 and Kristīne Krauze-Slucka in 2021.
The goal of the award “Seeking the Latest in Photography!” is to discover and appraise the creative efforts of young artists who demonstrate the power of the image in their works, offering an original point of view and conceptual depth reflecting our current times. The curators of RPB – NEXT are seeking portfolios of artists who stimulate discussion and offer diverse ideas. At the same time, the organizers wish to provide a public platform for young artists at the beginning of their creative journey in photography or a medium associated with it, so that they can present themselves to a wider audience.
Join ISSP for a new series of English-language events: Photowalks around Riga neighborhoods! Together with the best Latvian photographers, we invite you to explore and learn more about Riga's local neighborhoods through the lens.
We invite you to meet our artist-in-residence Kristine Mifsud (CA/LV) on October 2, at 7 PM at Bolderāja! Kristine will speak about the experimental analogue process she undertook during her residency, how she arrived at this project, her previous work, and the importance of experimentation and failure in art making. Welcome!
From October 4 to 6, the ISSP Gallery team will participate in the ArtVilnius’24 contemporary art fair with the exhibition ‘Marmoleum Real 2mm’ by Zane Priede!
ArtVilnius’24 presents exceptional works of art and promotes creativity, cultural dialogue, and international cooperation. The programme of the fair is complemented by an education programme of discussions, lectures, presentations of art publications, and excursions with art critics.
Together with the Riga Photography Biennial, ISSP Gallery announce an Open Call for the ‘Seeking the Latest in Photography!’ Award 2025! Until 6th October 2024, young artists from Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia are invited to submit their work. The winner of the award will be chosen by an international jury and will have an opportunity to hold a solo exhibition at the ISSP Gallery within the framework of the Riga Photography Biennial – NEXT 2025 program held in spring, 2025, where the awarding of other laureates will also take place.
We are excited to announce that you can meet us at the Foto Tallinn 2024 art fair this week!
Foto Tallinn is a biannual international photographic art fair that presents the latest contemporary photography selected by a professional jury and creates an opportunity for the art audience to see, buy, and collect fresh photographic art. For professionals in the field, Foto Tallinn offers a platform for collaboration and discussion, meetings with the art audience, and the presentation of their work to art enthusiasts.
This year ISSP Gallery will be presented by artists Kristīne Krauze-Slucka and Agate Tūna!
We invite image submissions for inclusion in the ISSP Agenda 2025! The ISSP Agenda 2025 will feature 30 original images selected via this open call. Our favourite daily companion, perfect for handwritten notes of all kinds, will traditionally combine the functions of a weekly planner, a bullet journal, and a notebook. Planned release - October 2024.
Aicinām pieteikties un apgūt fotogrāfiju ISSP Jauniešu skolā! Septembrī atsāksies ISSP Jauniešu skolas nodarbības, kurās pusaudžiem vecumā no 11 līdz 18 gadiem būs iespēja apgūt atttēla veidošanas prasmes, iemācīties vizuālo lasītprasmi un radoši izpausties fotogāfijas medijā!
Come to meet our current Artists in Residence - German-raised Vietnamese photographer Lê Quyên Nguyễn, Latvian-born UK photographer Agnese Gutovska, and an artist from Los Angelos Mike Saijo! They will be talking about their work, and we will open a pop-up exhibition delving into the realities of the Vietnamese diaspora in Riga by Lê Quyên Nguyễn!
No 23. augusta līdz 24. oktobrim ISSP Galerijā būs skatāma Zanes Priedes izstāde “Marmoleum Real 2mm”, kas balstīta autores personīgajā pieredzē, uzaugot 1990. gadu vidē un estētikā. Fotogrāfijās attēloti tam laikam raksturīgi priekšmeti un materialitāte, kas bieži vien simbolizē ilgas pēc labākas dzīves un atbrīvošanos no pelēcības, kas piemita padomijas gadiem. Ielūdzam uz izstādes atklāšanu 22. augustā plkst. 18.00!
We invite you to meet our current artist in residence, photographer Theo Elias on 25 July, 19.00 at Bolderāja! Theo will speak about his work, including the project he has been developing in Latvia since 2018 when he was the first artist to take part in the ISSP Riga residency.
We are pleased to invite you to a meeting with two visual artists and educators from Adelaide, South Australia - Amber Cronin and Tom Borgas on 15th July at 7 p.m.! You will have an opportunity to hear about their work as well as share a little about your artistic practice. The event will be held in English. Free entrance!
Ielūdzam uz kino vakaru 23. jūlijā plkst. 19.00 ISSP telpās kontekstā ar ISSP Galerijā skatāmo izstādi “Mūsdienu fotogrāfijas vēstures II” (autori: Annemarija Gulbe un Konstantīns Žukovs)! Izstādē māksliniece Annemarija Gulbe pētījusi fotogrāfa, operatora un režisora Ulda Brauna mantojumu – fotogrāfijā, kā arī viņa vienīgajā spēlfilmā “Motociklu vasara” (1975), veidojot savu refleksiju par to un aicinot atskatīties atpakaļskata spogulī.