Baltic Collectors
Riga, Latvia
completed, 2022
The exhibition “Growing Out? Growing Up? Contemporary Art Collecting in the Baltics” at Zuzeum Art Centre in Riga was on display from June 4 until November 20 in 2022.
commission: Art center ZUZEUM
exhibition architecture, drawings & visuals: Toms Kampars
Full credits:
artistic director: Olga Temnikova
project director: Ieva Zībārte
partner advisory group: Ugnė Bužinskaitė, Agnese Kleina, Karin Laansoo, Giedrė Marčiulaitė
graphic designer: Karola Rubene
financial manager: Ilze Baumane
project manager: Katrīna Jurkevica
technical director: Raivis Švarcs
researcher: Antonio Quint Vila
conservation specialists: Evita Melbārde, Liene Muceniece, Anastasija Skopenkova
exhibition technicians: Andris Konošonoks, Māris Mikāns
photos: Madara Kuplā, Ansis Starks, Anna Matule
Exhibition “Growing Out? Growing Up? Contemporary Art Collecting in the Baltics” at Zuzeum Art Centre showcases 10 unique collections, each with a distinct and selective taste. Organizing them into separate groups or "rooms" helps to highlight their differences. At the same time, the transparency of the exhibition allows visitors to view the various collections as a cohesive whole, representing the art collecting practices in the Baltic states.
The exhibition hovers between the contrasts: light and heavy; natural and artificial, digital and analog. Each art piece carries an emotional "weight" and a backstory, and thus, the architecture endeavors to minimize its impact on the space, delicately teetering on the edge of visibility. The outcome is a seamless cluster of floating art, visible from both its front and back, showcasing transparency and authenticity.
Two distinctly different materials are combined to enhance the display - timber and transparent plastic. Both materials symbolize our contemporary era, representing eco-friendly and carbon-neutral construction aspirations, as well as accessibility and practicality. Transparent plastic walls, which have surged in popularity due to the covid-19 pandemic, and glued timber products, experiencing a renaissance in construction, embody the concept of contrasts.
