Tuomo Rainio. ‘Giverny (convolution)’, Digital video, 2016
Riga Photography Biennial
Archaeology of Reality
May 29, 2020 – November 8, 2020
http://www.rpbiennial.com
The culminating events of the Riga Photography Biennial (RPB) 2020 international contemporary art event will take place in Riga from September 7 to 26. This year, with a diverse programme of exhibitions, discussions, a symposium and masterclasses, the biennial has been exploring the archaeology of reality by surveying the layers of the past, as well as the oeuvre of the contemporary digital era and its effects on our perception, cognition and image culture in general.
Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the biennial had to adjust its planned programme of events, but since the end of May several exhibitions have successively opened to the public. The biennial’s organisers and their partners have successfully retained all of their planned activities by scheduling the main events in September and extending the whole programme to as late as early November in Riga and Daugavpils.
The current programme of RPB 2020 focuses on how the image, as one of the carriers of information, has largely lost its documentary, representative function. At the same time, the image has gained the autonomy to create and imitate infinite meanings and realities. Rapid technological development has not only brought unprecedented levels of comfort but also changed our consciousness and perception. More than 60 biennial participants from 13 countries address these issues from various perspectives. We should note that several of the exhibiting artists, including internationally acclaimed and award-winning artists, have created work exclusively for the Riga Photography Biennial 2020.
