Photo and video

The photo collection offers an insight into the Latvian fine art photography of the second half of the 20th century. One of the most outstanding examples of the represented artists is Egons Spuris, founder of the Riga Photo Club, whose series ‘Riga. Proletarian Districts. Late 19th, Early 20th Centuries’ was included in Latvia’s Cultural Canon. The Collection features early nudes and iconic photographs by Gunārs Binde, a classic figure in Latvian photography, alongside works by other notable artists such as

Inta Ruka, Reinis Hofmanis, Ieva Epnere, Jānis Deinats, Ivars Grāvlejs, Alnis Stakle and Aija Pole. Photographs by Māra Brašmane, Atis Ieviņš, Jānis Kreicbergs and other artists are significant in that they record the emergence and development of Latvian performance art and the hippy movement in Latvia led by Andris Grinbergs. The equally unique 1970s–1980s photo collages by Māris Ārgalis show surreal urban cityscapes and environment projects.

Alongside Latvian artists, the Collection also includes a number of internationally acclaimed artists, including Oleg Kulik, Philippe Halsman, Antanas Sutkus, Romualdas Rakauskas, and Marina Abramović.

The Collection also holds a few video artworks by Latvian artists, the most significant among which are Katrīna Neiburga’s 2007 ‘Topology No. 29’ examining the imprint of someone’s personality and time on space; Miķelis Fišers’ 2016 video ‘Neverforgiveness Express’, part of a video installation aiming at an independent take on the history of art that was created for the ‘#Blumbergs. Eternity’ project dedicated to the legacy of the Latvian artist Ilmārs Blumbergs (1943–2016) and shown at the MVT Summer House in Riga and Art Station Dubulti; Kristaps Ģelzis’ 2001 self-image or ‘self-discipline exercise’ in his video work ‘Nothing Personal’, shown in Latvia, Germany (Bremen) and Finland (Helsinki); Krišs Salmanis’ 2016 ‘Skilando’, a work created during his art residence in Tokushima prefecture in Japan and depicting the impressive ambience of a crumbling mountain resort on the island of Shikoku.