Until 2 October, young artists from Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia are invited to submit their work for the Riga Photography Biennale Next 2023 Award «Seeking the Latest in Photography!». The winner of the award will be chosen by an international jury and will have an opportunity to hold a solo exhibition at the ISSP Gallery at the time of the biennale.
«Seeking the Latest in Photography!» is an award founded by the Riga Photography Biennale (RFB) — an international contemporary art event focusing on the analysis of visual culture and artistic representation. Every other year, the festival holds the programme «Next» which focuses on young and promising artists from the Baltics, Nordic countries, and Europe who are still in the early stages of their careers. The award for the young Baltic artists is presented since 2016.
The goal of the award is to discover and appraise the creative efforts of young artists who demonstrate the power of the image in their works and offer an original point of view and conceptual depth, reflecting our current times. The curators of RPB Next are seeking portfolios of artists who stimulate discussion and offer diverse ideas. At the same time, the organisers wish to provide a public platform for young artists at the beginning of their creative journey in photography or a medium associated with it, so that they can present themselves to a wider audience. The competition is open to emerging artists and photographers from the Baltic states, provided that the work they are entering in the competition was created within the last three years.
The winner of the prize will be determined by an international jury — Camille Gajate (France), the founder of the BZH Photo festival and coordinator of the Photo Days event in Paris art critic, historian and curator Adam Mazur (Poland), Marge Monko (Estonia), artist, professor, and Head of the Photography Department at the Estonian Academy of Arts, artist and curator Paulius Petraitis (Lithuania), as well as artist and teacher Ieva Epnere (Latvia).
Besides the main prize — an opportunity to hold a solo exhibition at the ISSP Gallery in Riga — the jury members will nominate four more finalists, who will present their work at the exhibition launch, and ten finalists who will be granted the opportunity to participate in the Next 2023 programme portfolio review of the industry professionals free of charge. For the second time, the VV Foundation is to choose a laureate for a 1000 euro prize and an opportunity to spend a month working at their residency PAiR vin Pāvilosta, Latvia. Gytis Skudžinskas and Vilma Samulionyte (Lithuania), the founders of the independent publishing initiaive NoRoutine Books, will select one of the participants who will get the opportunity to publish a photo book.
More information about the award and the application — on the RFB website.
Viedokļi