LATVIA – ART
In a design competition organised by the Ministry of Culture for the concept of Latvia’s exposition and its implementation at the 18th International Architecture Exhibition of the Venice Biennale in 2023, the design of the «T/C Latvija» team from the architecture firm DEI ARH has been declared the strongest among the eight applicants.
The exhibition will be run by the following team: pavilion concept authors Ernests Cerbulis and Ints Mengelis, curator Uldis Jaunzems-Pethersons, project manager Austra Berziņa, architect Toms Kampars and communications specialist Kalvis Kidals.
The commissioner of the Latvian pavilion, chosen by the Ministry of Culture, is Dr.arch. Janis Dripe is an adviser to the National Library of Latvia in the field of architecture and cultural policy and a leading researcher at RISEBA School of Business, Art and Technology.
The exhibition will be run by the following team: pavilion concept authors Ernests Cerbulis and Ints Mengelis, curator Uldis Jaunzems-Pethersons, project manager Austra Berziņa, architect Toms Kampars and communications specialist Kalvis Kidals.
The commissioner of the Latvian pavilion, chosen by the Ministry of Culture, is Dr.arch. Janis Dripe is an adviser to the National Library of Latvia in the field of architecture and cultural policy and a leading researcher at RISEBA School of Business, Art and Technology.
The concept of the Latvian pavilion is revealed by the supermarket as an architectural and contemporary consumer culture phenomenon. The developers of T/C Latvija want not only to show and tell about the shop as a space or architecture, but also to encourage reflection on its role and meaning, rejecting criticism and creating an interdisciplinary dialogue for the future. In the historic exhibition halls of the Arsenal of Venice, where goods were once stored, the 70-square-metre Latvian pavilion will offer everything needed for everyday life and «even more».
Moreover, today the supermarket is no longer limited to merchandise, but allows one to practically «travel» around the world and be indirectly involved in everything that is happening around the world, so the exhibition is meant to emphasise the global dialogue with the content of the local supermarket. The shop is a story about the senses – sight, hearing, smell, touch and taste. A story about the cosmos and man in it, and his place in the world.
Niklavs Paegle, chairman of the Metu competition jury, stresses:
«T/C Latvija is an ambitious entry with potential on several levels. It attracts attention and has the potential to appeal to the Biennale visitor. The supermarket as a cultural communication platform through which we directly experience all the fluctuations of the world – rising resource prices, conflicts, global networks, empty shelves. The ideas of trash space go without saying, but the Latvian pavilion in Venice can serve as a small, locally specific extension, in which supermarkets take on the function of community centres – families and children go there to celebrate September 1, and in smaller towns they also serve as public transport stops, notice boards, and book exchange points. Spatially this topic has not been studied in Latvia, but for 30 years it has been one of the main vectors of development, transforming the environment and therefore valuable and necessary».
The jury of the Metu competition selected the winners of the first three places after assessing the eight entries submitted to the competition. The 2nd place went to SIA Sampling in cooperation with SIA KID Design and the 3rd place went to SIA Open Architecture and Design. This year’s prize fund of 4000 euros (excluding VAT) was also planned for the first time in the competition, from which the 1st place winner, architectural bureau DEI ARH, will receive 2000 euros (excluding VAT), and the 2nd and 3rd place winners will each receive 1000 euros (excluding VAT).
Further information:
The Venice Architecture Biennale is one of the most important architecture fairs in Europe and the world and takes place every two years.
The 18th International Architecture Exhibition of the Venice Biennale will take place from 20 May to 26 November 2023. Latvia will be represented at the Venice Architecture Biennale next year for the tenth time with its national pavilion, and has participated in this international forum since 2002.
At the 17th International Architecture Exhibition of the Venice Biennale in 2021, the Latvian pavilion, «It’s not for you! This is for the building» was realized by the creative team of the NRJA (No Rules Just Architecture) architectural bureau. Last year the Latvian exposition was visited by 300,000 people.
Read more about the biennale at: www.labiennale.org
Data source: km.gov.lv
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