Riga Sculpture Quadrennial

by Elona Lubytė, curator of the Lithuanian collection

The Riga Sculpture Quadrennial featuring 50 artists from 25 countries was held on June 4–July 25, 2004 in two venues, the exhibition centre the Arsenals and the Railway Museum of Latvia. Eleven individual works and 25 huge photographic images, featuring sculpture from 1950, were on display at different public locations in Riga. The event’s agenda was to present the cultural diversity of the unified European Space. Three Lithuanian artists, Petras Mazūras, Mindaugas Navakas and Svajonė&Paulius Stanikai took part.
Supported by the Culture 2000, the exhibition was curated by two champions of the new art, Kristaps Gulbis and Aigars Bikše. The Art Academy of Riga hosted workshops of students from the participating countries. A conference, Colonized Space, was organised by the well-established Latvian curator Anders Kreuger. A catalogue in two parts introduced the artists and the curators, as well as the collaborating institutions. The conference reports were also featured.
The Contemporary Art Information Centre of the Lithuanian Art Museum, as a co-organizer of the event, this spring hosted a seminar European Space: Breaking News on Genius Loci.