Riga Photography Biennial 2024 focuses on identity issues

The themes of the Riga Photography Biennial range from cultural theory to current socio-political processes, focusing on the Baltic, Nordic, and European regions. Riga Photography Biennial 2024’s international programme addresses a range of existential questions, including the impact of technology on human nature, the relationship between man and nature, as well as the informative code of the contemporary image in nine exhibitions, an extensive educational programme, and the annual RFB catalogue. «Using the format of an art festival, the 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,» says Inga Bruvere, the director and one of the curators of the Riga Photography Biennial 2024.

The central event of the Biennial, the exhibition Human Computer at the Riga Art Space, seeks to capture the essence of contemporary humans, which has changed under the influence of the fast pace of life and the constant development of technology. The international group exhibition, on display from April 19 to June 16, will feature works by eight artists. In the meantime, the Intro Hall of Riga Art Space will host the exhibition Vamp(yre) Reality by British artists Lindsay Seers and Keith Sargent. Artists’ concerns are the nature of consciousness and how it shapes human life. But the relationship between artificial intelligence and photography will be the focus of the exhibition A Breaking Point, A Delicate Balancing Act, which will be on view from April 20 to June 15 at the RIXC Gallery.

On April 27, the Cultural Centre Siguldas Devons will open the exhibition To Be We Need to Know the River, where three Baltic artists share their thoughts and emotions about nature as a living, unified system, one of whose elements is human. In May and June, the National Library of Latvia, the ISSP Gallery, and the Smilga Culture Space will open their doors to the Biennial’s visitors, while Riga’s public transport stops will host the project The Apparent — Un/believable made in collaboration with the Latvian Museum of Photography from May 13 to 26, offering an insight into the experiments of photographers from the first half of the 20th century.

The programme will be complemented by lectures and discussions continuing to analyse the themes of the exhibitions and explore the role of photography in today’s world. Additionally, children and young people are invited to participate in creative workshops with the artist Liga Spunde. A RFB catalogue, a collection of articles by international authors, will further expand on the issues covered in the Biennial’s events. The catalogue will be available at the Riga Photography Biennial 2024 exhibition and event venues.

The Riga Photography Biennial (RFB) 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. For more information on the Riga Photography Biennial 2024 programme visit RFB website.