Collections
13.02.2026–10.05.2026
Collections are shaped by the simple yet powerful act of bringing things together. It’s an innate and fundamental human activity which can be found and displayed in museums and in memory boxes, in institutions and in childhood bedrooms. Whether of paintings, porcelain, or postcards, a collection reflects on who we are and lets us remember where we come from. Encompassing nearly 35,000 works, the Zuzāns collection is a living record of Latvian art and a portrait of collecting as a cultural and personal act. What is more, it is a reflection of the creative effort of countless individuals. The character of such a collection emphasizes the singular nature of art: how each work asserts its own identity, yet gains depth and resonance through the context of others around it. This exhibition approaches the act of collecting as an extension of artistic thinking by bringing together works through intuition and association. Selected from the wider collection, the artworks are arranged into sets that follow no fixed system, but instead draw connections through form, colour, gesture, or mood. Some connections are immediate and visible, others may be more subtle and suggestive. What unfolds is an archipelago of collections, a landscape to explore with attention and curiosity, an invitation to discover what draws us in and why.
Exhibition’s creators
Edd Schouten is an artist and curator from The Hague, The Netherlands, whose work is interdisciplinary and choreographic in nature. Since 2023, he has applied this approach as artistic director and curator of TUR, a contemporary space for art in Riga. His practice often explores the intersections of movement, time, and spatial composition – whether in visual art, performance, or exhibition-making. For Collections, Schouten applies choreographic thinking to curatorial work, engaging the Zuzāns collection as a rich field of potential through which he proposes new relationships, spatial dialogues, and modes of viewing.
Andris Kaļiņins is a scenographer and painter whose works are characterized by an investigative and conceptual approach. In scenography, Andris’s solutions are minimal, precise interventions in the space. In both scenography and painting, one of the most important means of expression is the chosen colour and its context. As a scenographer, he has worked at the Latvian National Theatre, Dailes Theatre, Valmiera Theatre, Ģertrūde Street Theatre, and with the theater troupe KVADRIFRONS, among other projects.
Artwork:
Karl Gothard Grass. Italian Landscape with Baloon, 1814. Zuzāns Collection.
