Riga Photography Biennial – NEXT and ISSP Gallery announce an open call for the “Seeking the Latest in Photography!” Award 2021
Till 20th September 2020 young artists from Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia are invited to submit their work for the Riga Photography Biennial – NEXT 2021 Award “Seeking the Latest in Photography!”. The award winner will be offered a solo exhibition at the ISSP Gallery in Riga in April 2021. The gallery will also host the RPB award ceremony.
The goal of the award 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 Riga Photography Biennial – NEXT is seeking portfolios of artists who stimulate discussion and offer diverse ideas. At the same time, we 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.
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 Saara Hacklin (FI), curator at the Kiasma Museum of Contemporary Art; Valentinas Klimašauskas (LT), curator, writer and curator of the 14th Baltic Triennial; Adam Mazur (PL), art critic, art historian and curator; Elena Vaninetti (IT), curator and editor at YET Magazine; Audrey Hoareau (SZ), artistic director of Photo Basel; Lura Toots (EE), Curator and project manager of Contemporary Art Museum of Estonia (EKKM) and Evita Goze (LV), artist, curator, journalist and ISSP Gallery representative.
The award winner will be offered a solo exhibition in April 2021 at ISSP Gallery (Berga Baz?rs, Marijas iela 13 k-3, Riga) within the framework of the Riga Photography Biennial – NEXT 2021 programme. 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 free of charge in the NEXT 2021 programme portfolio review. Gytis Skudžinskas and Vilma Samulionyte (LT), the founders of NoRoutine Books, will select one of the participants for their own award – the opportunity to publish a photo book.
The winners of the RPB 2016 Award were Vika Eksta (LV), Andrejs Strokins (LV) and Alissa Nirgi (EE). The 2018 winners were Di?na Tamane (LV), Taavi Suisalu (EE) and Krist?ne Madjare (LV). The 2019 winner was Annija Muižule (LV). The winners of the NoRoutine Books award were Ieva Balode (LV) in 2016, Madara Grit?ne (LV) in 2018 and Reinis Lismanis (LV) in 2019.
The Riga Photography Biennial (RPB) 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. The biennial’s off-year programme, titled NEXT, focuses on young and promising artists from the Baltics, Nordic countries and Europe who are still in the early stages of their careers. The Riga Photography Biennial – NEXT offers visibility and provides a platform for promising young artists to announce themselves to a wider audience and context. The third edition of the NEXT festival will take place in spring of 2021.
ISSP is a platform for contemporary photography that is based in Latvia and operates internationally. Since its establishment in 2006, ISSP has been fostering an active photography scene in Latvia, educating the young generation of artists and promoting international exchange. With the opening of the ISSP Gallery in Berga Baz?rs, Riga, ISSP has made its mark on the cultural map as the only space in Latvia dedicated to contemporary photography.
Website
http://rpbiennial.com/opencall.html