SustainARTability exhibition ‘NO WHITE FLAGS’ opens at Art Academy of Latvia
“We tend to nurture the hope that our failure to give up can save us.”
– Ieva Stalšene, opening speech of NO WHITE FLAGS, 05/09/2024
On September 5th, the Art Academy of Latvia opened its doors to NO WHITE FLAGS, an exhibition which has been sculpted, woven, filmed, written, painted and grown by 17 art students from across Europe and which concludes the 10-day SustainARTability residency. The exhibition is open to the public until September 27th at the art space DUO, 4 Kronvalda Boulevard.
In the exhibition, 9 art students from Latvia, and 8 art students from Austria, Denmark, Germany, Greece, Finland, France, Italy, and the UK display their personal and artistic reflections on sustainable living, created during the 10-day residency under the mentorship of artists Kristians Brekte and Ieva Stalšene. During the residency, workshops and lectures helped the artists to refine their ideas and delve into the concept of sustainability. Starting from just a simple square of white cotton textile—the traditional flag of surrender—the artists have transformed the classical symbol into powerful messages of defiance.
In the installation Altar by Antonella Fiumara, a student at the Royal Danish Academy, the white textile is increasingly stained by water from several unburnt clay pots slowly disintegrating, symbolizing the fragile balance of our ecosystems and the marks left by our exploitation. Similarly, other works reflect on the frailty of nature, but also on its permanence and persistence. They defy the need to create anew and counter the urge to surrender. Through various artistic languages, the artists encourage visitors to explore and experience the emotions, determination, pain and humanity associated with sustainability and ecological change.
With NO WHITE FLAGS, The European Union National Institutes for Culture (EUNIC) has cooperated with the Art Academy of Latvia to show that just as ecological crises defy borders, so are we able to connect across localities to meditate on contemporary challenges and manifest our visions for a sustainable future.
The project is organised by the EUNIC Cluster Latvia in cooperation with the Art Academy of Latvia and funded by the EUNIC Cluster Fund. The European Union National Institutes for Culture (EUNIC) has 39 members from all EU member states and associated countries. The British Council in Latvia, the Danish Cultural Institute in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, the Goethe-Institut Riga, the French Institute in Latvia, the Embassy of Austria in Latvia, the Embassy of Greece in Riga, the Embassy of Italy in Riga, the Embassy of the Kingdom of Spain in Latvia and the Nordic Council of Ministers Office in Latvia are participating in EUNIC Latvia.
EUNIC is the European network of organisations working in the field of cultural relations. Together with its partners, it brings European cultural cooperation to life in more than 100 countries worldwide through a network of 140 clusters, drawing on the wide experience of its members from all EU Member States and Associated Countries.
