Residencies

ISSP Riga Residency

The ISSP Riga Residency provides an opportunity for concentrated work on a personal research or art project informed by interaction with Riga and its residents (or elsewhere in Latvia), or much needed time to rethink and complete ongoing work. We welcome photographers, artists and curators interested in exploring the local social and cultural context and connecting to ISSP platform of activities and other contemporary art and culture actors in Latvia. 

Information about the 2024 programme will follow. 

NB! We are friends with a couple of wonderful artist residency centres outside Riga. So in case you wish to spend time in Latvian countryside, we can help you - send us your ideas together with your portfolio at residencies@issp.lv. 


Who can apply?
Our residency programme is open for photographers, artists and curators working with photography. There are no limitations regarding age, background or photographic style of the participants. The residents will be chosen based on the strength of their applications and fit to the residency calendar.
Special priority will be given to participatory art projects involving local inhabitants. 

Thanks to our cooperation partner kuš!, the residency also hosts illustrators and comics artists – if you are one or the other and want to come to Riga, get in touch with kuš! through their website. 

Duration and timing 
In general, we recommend longer stays of 2 – 3 months in order to get to know the new location and make some serious work. Stays of 1 month can still be possible, depending on the individual circumstances and residency schedule. 
The residency calendar is based on full month slots, from 1 to last day of the month.

Participation fee
The residency participation fee is 400 EUR per calendar month; a partial advance is payable to confirm the participation. 
The participants are responsible for their travel and production costs. We will provide you with an official invitation letter to apply for funding in your country. 

Nordic scholarship
NB! 3 selected artists from a Nordic or Baltic country* will be awarded a Nordic Culture Point scholarship - 500 EUR stipend, residency stay free of charge and covered travel costs to Riga.
* residents of following countries are eligible for the scholarship: Denmark, Finland, Faroe Islands, Greenland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden, Åland, Estonia, Lithuania.

What we offer:
- a private room in a comfortable residency apartment in the center of Riga (3-bedroom apartment), shared with 2 other artists. The rooms are spacious and equipped with working tables; the artists share a common living room, fully equipped kitchen, bathroom, fireplace, wifi, scanner, printer.
- a possibility to use the library and extra equipment at the ISSP premises;
- contact with a dedicated staff member to provide local support, and access to the ISSP local network;
- a possibility to meet with the local community at an artist talk, and to organise a pop-up exhibition or a small workshop.

What we expect from the residents:
- to work on their artistic project in Riga / Latvia for the period of the residency;
- to be open to present their work to the local audience in the form of an artist talk or other public event;
- within one month upon the completion of the residency, to send us a selection of the images produced for publicity purposes.

TO APPLY 
Please fill in APPLICATION FORM with short information about yourself & why would you like to come to Riga (your project idea).
If you have any questions, please contact us at residencies@issp.lv. 
 

Organisers  
The Riga Residency is curated by ISSP – a platform for contemporary photography, art and education. The residency is run in partnership with kuš! – a comics art anthology born in Riga in 2007, who publish comic editions and organise exhibitions, workshops, comics jams and other comics-related events, besides travelling to international festivals to spread the Latvian comics fever. For more info contact Kuš! Comics Residency.

Host town
Riga stands at a geographical and cultural crossroads between Eastern and Western Europe and has a multicultural history. The largest city in the Baltic States, Riga offers plenty of tradition and historical charm, while its urban neighbourhoods still bear witness to post-Soviet reality. There is an active art and culture scene with plenty to discover; the countryside with beautiful forests and beaches can be easily reached by public transport. 

During 2018 – 2023 we had an opportunity to host over 80 artists from different corners of Europe and some from further away in the world. You can get an insight into the work produced in the galleries below.  



Contacts
In case of questions, contact us at residencies@issp.lv 

In the period July 2021 - December 2023 the Residency is supported by the Nordic Culture Point (project "United Riga Residency for photographers and illustrators").