The Latvian Centre for Contemporary Art’s multipart, multicity research and exhibition project Portable Landscapes examines stories of exiled and emigre Latvian artists by locating them within the broader context of 20th-century art history and wider processes of migration and globalization. Exhibition “Portable Landscapes: Memories and Imaginaries of Refugee Modernism” at the James Gallery is the last exhibition in the series of the exhibition and research projects PORTABLE LANDSCAPES that took place starting 2017 with exhibitions at: Villa Vassilieff, Paris (2018), Latvian National Museum of Art, Riga (2018), Körsbärsgården Konsthall, Gotland (2018) and District, Berlin (2019). The project’s culmination is planned in spring 2020 when Latvian Centre for Contemporary Art together with Berlin based publisher K.Verlag will launch a book “Portable Landscapes: Art Histories of Latvian Exile”, that views together all the project’s stories. Portable Landscapes is one of the events of the Latvia’s Centenary Celebrations. It is supported by Latvian Republic Culture Ministry and State Culture Capital Foundation, Polish Cultural Institute New York. Public program in February 2020 is supported by Baltic American Freedom Foundation.
The Latvian Centre for Contemporary Art (LCCA) is the largest institution for contemporary art in Latvia, curating and producing contemporary art events on a national and international scale. Since 1993, it has researched and curated contemporary art processes both in Latvia and abroad, aiming to provoke critical reflection on issues relevant to contemporary society. The LCCA is widely recognized for its annual international contemporary art festival “SURVIVAL KIT” and its regular exhibitions at the Latvian National Museum of Art, as well as for representing Latvia at the Venice Biennale, Manifesta, São Paulo Art Biennial, Kochi-Muziris Biennale, Rauma Biennale of Contemporary Art, and others.
The James Gallery’s multiyear research and exhibition projects Cyclical Modernisms examines the story of modernism through relay of historical timelines and locations in collaboration with contemporary artists and alternative organizations. The series to date includes The Making of Americans, The Story of Two Museums, Foksal Gallery, The Lenin Museum, and NSK: State in Time.
