The Art Academy of Latvia exhibition ‘Academia’ will open on 20 September until 17 November 2019 at the ARSENĀLS Exhibition Hall of the Latvian National Museum of Art (Torņa Street 1, Old Town, Riga).

Nulla dies sine linea - Not a day without a line! This motto adopted by the Art Academy of Latvia (AAL) marks several centenary celebration events in 2019 produced by the AAL. One such event is a special exhibition at the ARSENĀLS Exhibition Hall of the Latvian National Museum of Art. 

The Platonic Academy in ancient Greece and its unique approach to teaching philosophy serves as a starting point for this exhibition. The Academy, founded near Athens and known for its liberal atmospherein the enclave of olive tree gardens, facilitated the formation of philosophical theses and deductions following conversations and exchanges of opinions.In contemporary language, the term ‘academic’ often acquires heavy overtones, therefore the format of this exhibition seeks to provide viewers with an opportunity to embrace the original meaning of this term as a free and creative process of thought. Inspired by the Platonic Academy, this exhibition will bring the atmosphere and essence of the AAL to ARSENĀLS, presenting a continuously changing display where the exhibited works will be enhanced and developed on site for the duration of the exhibition. More than 40 students and recent graduates will contribute to this exhibition, creating work that reflects the interests of emerging artists in the field of creative research. The novelty of this exhibition is expressed through its open format of action. Each exhibition area will invite audiences of all ages to participate in the creation of artworks and witness the beauty of a virtual reality garden.

A living archive will run on set days throughout the exhibition, inviting former and current students, academic and professional staff to share their personal photo archives documenting the life of AAL. Under the leadership of young researchers, these materials will be documented and presented as part of the exhibition with new acquisitions added every week.

Special architecture will be designed for the ARSENĀLS Exhibition Hall to emphasise interrelationship between a creative space and the creation of art objects. The ajourstructure and garden atmosphere on the second floor will serve as a location for talks with the AAL’s graduates that will take place every Saturday as part of the discursive programme. It will introduce personal stories about the study years and subsequent professional practice, sometimes quite removed from art. Creative workshops will take place every Sunday led by the AAL’s academic staff. This space will also be used for teaching current AAL’s students and exhibition visitors will be welcome to join in.

• Upcoming events:

21.09 at 13:00             Conversation with Sandra Kalniete

22.09 at 13:00             Creative drawing workshop with the AAL’s rector Kristaps Zariņš

26.09 at 18:00             Arnis Rītups in conversation with Jevgēņijs Ass ‘Architecture as art’

28.09 at 13:00             Conversation with the same-sex international collaboration tandem Skuja Braden

19.09 at 11:00             Curators-led media tour of the exhibition

More information: antra.priede(abols)lma.lv, +371 28350287

The project is supported by the State Culture Capital Foundation programme ‘Latvijai – 100’.