Title of the course: Interaction between Culture and Nature III
Intensive course dates: Monday, April 28th - Friday, May 2nd, 2025 (arrival to Riga by 5pm on April 27th, departure to Riga at 9am on the May 3rd )
Level: BA & MA
ECTS: 5
Project partners:
Estonian Academy of Arts, Estonia
Art Academy of Latvia, Latvia
Vilnius Academy of Arts, Lithuania
Hosted by: Art Academy of Latvia, Latvia
Location: Kuldiga, Latvia
Eligible students:
4 curatorial (and related fields) students at BA and MA level from each of the following institutions:
VDA, Vilnius
EKA, Tallinn
AAL, Riga
Additionally, 2 slots will be open to other students from across the KUNO network.
Application deadline: February 23rd, 2025. Selection results will be announced by the 3rd of March 2025.
How to apply: please submit an online application by the deadline. The application must include a short (max 400 words) letter of intent answering the question – “Why is this intensive course relevant to your areas of interest and curatorial practice?”
Intensive course description:
Interaction between Culture and Nature III will be held in Kuldiga, Latvia. The city of Kuldīga gained its UNESCO title just a few years ago and for a decade has been a hosting city for different types of educational activities by the Art Academy of Latvia.
Kuldīga on one hand is a picturesque historical city, with its rich restoration traditions and unique environment landmarks, but is also a hub for interdisciplinary collaboration projects. This intensive course edition will collaborate with one of initiatives – Studija_Space, which is led by an independent curator Maija Rudovska.
The course will focus on the locality of the city and the region, visiting nearby manor houses, which are currently led by culture initiatives and collectives, to research development of contemporary art in more marginal areas. With an aim as well as to develop young curators' ethical ways of working, we will focus on aspects such as – care culture, stereotypes of thinking and how we can develop accessibility to contemporary art if we work in more peripheral areas, taking into account different types of auditoriums. Also asking questions – what it is – contemporary culture and why it is needed in all regions of a country as such.
Objectives and outcome:
The course aims to provide the students with: 1) experience of curatorial practice through collaboration in small international teams, 2) a case-study of concept-making, strategy concept guidelines tailored to the specific context of Kuldīga and its region, and 3) an understanding of the necessity to adapt exhibition formats to fit the unique characteristics of the landscape.
The main goal of the course is to create a site-specific curatorial proposal for the city of Kuldiga in small teams composed by students of different art academies.
The main outcome of the course is a detailed curatorial proposal in the written form for the cultural institutions of the city of Kuldiga that aims at situating contemporary art practices and discourses in this touristic city under UNESCO heritage protection and also through the collaboration with local activists.
The course is based on learning by doing. It will include individual and collective re-search for information; teamwork during the course: ‘mind mapping’, on-site discussions, lectures, the consolidation of working group proposals to the joint project of an exhibition, exploration of the nearby cultural; institutions and meeting with local activists. Writing individual reports after the course.
Lectures and teaching modules will be provided by the academic staff of VDA, EKA, AAL, Studija_space, local museum staff and researchers, artists and residents as well as workshops led by local craftsmen.
About the location:
The Interaction between Culture and Nature III will be held in Kuldiga.
Kuldīga is a town in the Courland region of Latvia, in the western part of the country. It is the center of Kuldīga Municipality with a population of approximately 13,500. Kuldīga was first mentioned in 1242. It joined the Hanseatic League in 1368.
https://kuldiga.lv/en/town/places-of-interest
“Studio” is a new art space in Kuldiga, a creative district of Kalka Street that acts primarily as a residence and artists "studio”, inviting practitioners from different fields and theorists to stay there, supporting creativity, research and education of contemporary developments.
Dialogue between invited authors and the local community is an important highlight in the functioning of the space, with a particular focus on promoting sustainable cooperation on an international dimension. The studio is run by an independent curator Maija Rudovska, who has 15 years of experience of running and curating international art projects.
https://www.instagram.com/studija_space/?hl=en
The workshop is funded under the Nordplus/KUNO framework.
Contact for further enquiries: lina.koseleva@vda.lt
