ASTE in cooperation with researchers from the Art Research Laboratory, MPLab of Liepaja University has started work on collecting and archiving evidence of activities and art developments of the active Liepaja community of young media artists in the project “New Media Art Archive 2000-2020” and the first research results are available to the public and art researchers at https://arhivs.aste.gallery/.
The Liepāja New Media Art Archive currently contains data on the period from 2000 to 2010 – on the activities of the culture and information center K@2 in Karosta, where guest events organized by various other institutions took place – Latvian Academy of Arts student summer schools, international Cast Iron Art Festival , RIXC international conferences and symposia and many more. In 2007, the study program “New Media Art” was opened, but in 2006 the Art Research Laboratory of the Liepāja Pedagogical Academy (now – Liepāja University) was established, which continued to maintain the communication processes and infrastructure necessary for the development of media art. In Liepāja, it would not disappear even after the closing of K@2 operations in 2008. The new study program also created a unique, unprecedented study model in Latvia – interdisciplinary, collaborative and research-based digital art education, which denied the obsolete image of a lone artist – genius, and instead created a 24-hour study environment equipped for students with the latest media. technologies in which to engage in collective artistic experiments. New media art projects are too complex to be developed in excellent quality by the author alone without the help of other fields of art or science.
Since the first graduation of Liepaja University “New Media Art” in 2010, many talented young artists have entered the Latvian art environment – Andris Vētra (-8), Artis Kuprišs, Paula Vītola, Maija Demitere, Rihards Vītols, Zanda Puče, Ieva Vīksne, Andrejs Poikāns, Gustavs Lociks and others, whose creative activity is characterized by interest in scientific achievements and technological innovations, not only the inner experience of a person, and issues of interest to them are explored by artists using both aesthetic and science-inspired methods.
Diana Lelis, Anna Priedola, Pauls Vītols, Maija Demitere, Kaspars Jaudzems, Jekaterina Jevdokimova, Elza Zīverte, Elizabete Punka, Kristīne Petrovska, William Jefferson Brick, Kate Karīna Cebre and Anžela Timofejeva participated in the creation of the archive. Interpretative articles on the unique features of Liepāja’s new media art environment have been published on the archive website by media and art researchers Ilva Skulte, Maija Demitere, Anna Priedola and Kristīne Briede. The archive was created with the financial support of the target program of the State Culture Capital Fund “Creating the future cultural offer in all cultural sectors” and the informative support of the Liepaja University.
Many thanks to Kristīne Briede, Andrew Paterson, Andris Vētra, Anna Trapenciere, Rasa Šmite, etc. for sharing their time, impressions and materials, especially to art historian Santa Valivina in creating the Liepāja New Media Art Archive.
The archive will continue to be constantly updated, both with the addition of information and articles for the period up to 2010 and with the development of a new section with profiles of the most active new media artists working between 2010 and 2020 and an overview of their key works with audiovisual materials.
Please also refer to contemporaries of K@2 or the study program “New Media Art” who would like to share their memory stories, video, photo and audio materials to supplement the data repository of the Liepāja New Media Art Archive. Contact: info@mplab.lv
Archive editor: Anna Priedola
