Exhibition “Where to Hide!”

Where to Hide!

From 9 February to 19 May

From 9 February to 19 May 2024, the exhibition Where to Hide! is on show in the Great Exhibition Hall of the Zuzeum Art Centre. The exhibition is curated by Sandra Krastiņa and designed by Reinis Liepiņš and Silver Architecture. The exhibition presents more than 350 works created by Latvian artists under Soviet occupation from the Zuzāns Collection, Latvian National Museum of Art and private collections as well as materials from the Latvian State Archive of Audiovisual Documents.

Where to Hide! – not a question but a scream of realisation in the face of Soviet reality appears in the spontaneous caption for a 1954 drawing by artist Roberts Stārosts. This text, with its grammatically uncorrected Latvian form, is a poignant indicator of the existential choices people had to make. This title underlines curator Sandra Krastiņa’s intention to structure the exhibition around two points of reference – the set of themes co-opted by the authorities and the artists’ endeavours in the language of free expression. These works, produced during the Soviet occupation from 1945 to 1990, are authentic witnesses to the dues paid to the powers that be as well as to the spirit of resistance and disobedience which the artists have succeeded in incorporating in their works, constructing a space freed from Soviet ideology. At the same time, the exhibition highlights the lack of the Contemporary Art Museum and permanent exhibitions showing the period of Soviet occupation.

How to represent an entire era within a single gallery? How to represent the power or powerlessness of the artist’s personality to resist or collaborate with the occupying power within a single time frame? Architect Reinis Liepiņš deals with these questions in his exhibition design. In order to trace in a nutshell the artistic heritage of almost fifty years, in this exhibition Sandra Krastiņa presents artefacts from different artistic disciplines: painting, graphic art, sculpture, graphic design, posters, photography, original and industrial design.

Curator’s bio:

Sandra Krastiņa (1957) is a painter, establisher and head of the Museum of the Artists’ Union of Latvia (2001–2006), editor-in-chief of the Neputns Publishers magazine Dizaina Studija (2006–2012), book editor, exhibition curator. Member of the Coin Design Commission of Latvijas Banka (2010–). Having taken part in exhibitions since 1980, she has also worked in book illustration and animation, designed collector coins for Latvijas Banka. Her works are held in the  Latvian National Museum of Art (Riga, Latvia), Collection of the Artists’ Union of Latvia (Riga, Latvia), Ludwig Forum for International Art (Aachen, Germany), State Tretyakov Gallery (Moscow, Russia), Rothko Museum (Daugavpils, Latvia), Tartu Art Museum, Zuzāns Collection (Riga, Latvia), the collection of Matti Milius (Tartu, Estonia), Ola Foundation Collection (Riga, Latvia), Art Hub Collection (Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates), private collections in Latvia and abroad. In 2018, she was awarded the Order of the Three Stars.

Architect’s bio:

Reinis Liepiņš (1970) is an architect whose field of activity encompasses the adaptation of culture-historical heritage, design, interior design and architecture. In his recent significant projects, such as Hanzas Perons in Riga, the Kurtuve of Valmiera Drama Theatre, and the restoration of the Riga Castle convent / National History Museum of Latvia, R. Liepiņš combines the preservation of historical values with the addition of new, economically viable architecture in high-quality aesthetics. In 1998, he established the architecture studio Silver Architecture. Under Reinis Liepiņš leadership more than 60 architectural projects have been developed in Latvia as well as other European countries.

Featured artists:

Levons Agadžanjans, Arturs Apinis, Māris Ārgalis, Anda Ārgale, Leonīds Āriņš, Visvaldis Asaris, Elīza Atāre, Lidija Auza, Ojārs Ābols, Juris Baklāns, Biruta Baumane, Auseklis Baušķenieks, Aleksandra Beļcova, Boriss Bērziņš, Gunārs Binde, Ilmārs Blumbergs, Andris Breže, Aleksandra Briede, Valdis Celms, Gunārs Cilītis, Pēteris Čivlis, Biruta Delle, Juris Dimiters, Ingrīda Drāzniece, Aivars Drāznieks, Ilga Dreiblate, Arvīds Egle, Laima Eglīte, Ģederts Eliass, Ēriks Ellers,  Kristaps Ģelzis, Eduards Geners, Vladimirs Glušenkovs, Alberts Goltjakovs, Edīte Gornova-Rasmusena, Andrejs Grants, Andris Grinbergs, Ērika Gulbe, Helēna Heinrihsone, Ivars Heinhirsons, Inārs Helmūts, Atis Ieviņš, Ieva Iltnere, Juris Jansons, Rūdolfs Jansons, Gvido Kajons, Andrejs Kalnačs, Eduards Kalniņš, Zigurds Kampars, Beatrise Kārkliņa, Frančeska Kirke, Gunārs Kirke, Artūrs Kiršfelds, Gunārs Kļava, Aleksandrs Kramarevs (juniors), Sandra Krastiņa, Jānis Kreicbergs, Leonards Laganovskis, Daina Lapiņa, Zenta Logina, Visvaldis Lācis, Gunārs Lūsis, Ivars Mailītis, Vija Maldupe, Sarmīte Māliņa, Vilhelms Mihailovskis, Jānis Mitrēvics, Artūrs Mucinieks, Ģirts Muižnieks, Ivars Osiņš, Jānis Osis, Edgars Ozoliņš, Jānis Ozoliņš, Arnolds Pankoks, Felicita Pauļuka, Jānis Pauļuks, Ojārs Pētersons, Arnolds Plaudis, Ivars Poikāns, Miervaldis Polis, Andrejs Porietis, Līga Purmale, Juris Artūrs Putrāms, Georgs Šenbergs, Laimonis Šenbergs, Pāvils Šenhofs, Oļegs Skarainis, Džemma Skulme, Marta Skulme, Georgs Smelters, Aleksandrs Stankevičs, Margarita Stāraste, Roberts Stārosts, Maija Nora Tabaka, Romans Tilbergs, Oļegs Tilbergs, Zina Ulste, Oļgerts Urbāns, Juris Utāns, Rīta Valnere, Bruno Vasiļevskis, Žanis Ventaskrasts, Edgars Vērpe, Hilda Vīka, Marģers Vītoliņš, Vilnis Zābers, Aija Zariņa, Indulis Zariņš Mārtiņs Zaurs, Gunārs Zemgals, Visvaldis Ziediņš, Anastasija Zumente, Zigurds Zuze, Aleksandrs Zviedris.

Exhibition team:

Curator: Sandra Krastiņa
Exhibition architect: Reinis Liepiņš and “Sudraba Arhitektūra”
Head of Zuzāns Collection: Ingūna Ģēģere
Curators of the Zuzāns Collection: Laura Briede, Annija Grīsle, Jevgēnija Hamudajeva, Marta Šuste
Conservators: Liene Muceniece, Anastasija Skopenkova
Project manager: Melisa Debora Kaškura
Technical manager: Raivis Švarcs
Technical team: Andris Konošonoks, Māris Mikāns, Mareks Ieviņš
Head of graphic design: Karlīne Anete Čepjolkina
Graphic designer: Elizabete Bušēvica
Public relations and publicity: Eduards Grizāns
Head of events and partnerships: Katrīna Jurkevica
Website editor: Katerīna Alijeva
Coordinator of educational programme: Erna Marija Poča
Art pedagogues: Alise Starobina, Tonijs Strods
Art mediators: Vallija Lintere, Gundega Tentere, Līva Indriķe, Gustavs Strads, Katrīna Ērgle
Translators: Valts Miķelsons, Sergejs Timofejevs
Corrector: Sandra Skuja
Photographers: Jānis Pipars, Normunds Brasliņš, Gvido Kajons, Māris Arbidāns
Financial management: Ilze Baumane
Director: Aļona Solovjova
Founder of Zuzeum and Zuzāns Collection: Jānis Zuzāns

The exhibition features works from:

Zuzāns Collection
Collection of the Latvian National Museum of Art
Private collection of Gvido Kajons
Private collection of Ramona Umblija
Private collection of Sandra Krastiņa
Latvian State Archive of Audiovisual Documents, National Archives of Latvia

Supporters:

Foundation “Mākslai vajag telpu”
SIA GUFO
SIA R.A.S.A. un Ko
SIA Mooseberry
SIA Master Glass
Skaistāk Print House
Reklāmu darbnīca PLUS
Ierāmēšanas salons VISS
Ivars Kuišelis
Didzis Grasbergs