SensUs is a Baltic-Nordic network in development planned to launch in 2025. The network aims to establish a visionary network of Baltic-Nordic artists focused on advancing sustainable art practices to address climate-related challenges. It seeks to trace greener and more sustainable routes for exchange by adapting strategies for collaborative creation and testing sustainability guidelines, while considering specific geographical conditions, such as the Baltic Sea and Iceland.
The goal is to develop a blueprint for an immersive XR/AR platform that showcases innovative ‘naturally-artificial’ artworks. A series of hybrid meetings and modular, extended workshops will advance sustainable art practices, exploring symbiosis-based methods and “climatic imagination.”
Ultimately, this project will lay the groundwork for a long-term, sustainable Baltic-Nordic network with the potential for transformative global impact on environmental issues.
Leader / Partner 1
RIXC Center for New Media Culture (LV) – initiates projects at the intersection of art, science, ecology, and immersive technologies. Activities include running an art gallery, producing artworks, organizing the annual RIXC Art Science festival, and hosting urban and rural residencies.
Rasa Smite – Curator, Project Manager
Agnese Baranova – Producer, Financial Manager
Liva Silina – PR and Information Coordinator
Partner 2
Wild Bits (EE) – non-profit organization focusing on the relationships between art, people, technology, and nature in a rural landscape, running the Maajaam residency center/farm for art and tech in South of Estonia, which includes Masinism (small interaction design studio).
Timo Toots – artist, technical producer
Mari-Liis Rebane – artist, project manager
Partner 3
Institutio Media (LT)–art research organization with a biolab. The aims of Institutio Media are encouraging creative experimentation, expanding artistic research, developing a platform for testing the ideas.
Mindaugas Gapševičius, Dan Hermouet, Justinas Dudenas – artists
Partner 4
SENT (NO)–Contemporary art projects based on site-ecology-nature-technology and art. Founder of Oslofjord Ecologies and the curatorial initiative Oslofjord Triennial. It is a log barn located in Nesodden, a peninsula in the Oslofjord.
Kristin Bergaust – artist, director
Partner 5
Isop (DK)–Artist Duo and Environmentally sustainable art organization, works with human/nature relationships and art and nature with children and young people.
Line Thastum, Sissel Thastum – artists, writers
Partner 6
Lorna (IS)–Association of electronic arts.
Margrét Elísabet Ólafsdóttir – artist, director
Associated partners:
NAIA (DE)
Photinus Studio (UA)
Foundation “Nodibinājums Liepāja 2027” (LV)
SUSTAINABILITY GUIDELINES
We’ve identified key sustainability guidelines for the project, such as:
1. Travel: Only travel when necessary for meetings/events; prioritize sustainable modes of transport.
2. Food: Prioritize vegan, organic, local food; minimize food waste; use compostable packaging.
3. Materials: Avoid plastics or use recycled plastics; avoid hazardous materials.
4. Energy: Always consider energy efficiency; minimize energy consumption during events.
5. Collaboration: Allocate a budget for CO2 emission compensation and create sustainability guidelines for project participants; highlight sustainable choices on social media and at exhibitions.
These guidelines will be discussed and prioritized collaboratively during the kick-off meeting, which will be a hybrid event organized by RIXC in Riga, primarily conducted via an online video conferencing platform. At the kick-off, the partner Isop (Denmark) will lead a workshop, sharing their experience and insights from Line Thastum’s article “Sustainability in Cultural Research and Art Projects” (Hybrid Matter, 2023, p. 224) from State of the Art: Elements for Critical Thinking and Doing.
See the PDF file of the book:
https://hybridmatters-production.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/media/SOTAN_DIGITAL_PAGES.pdf
In this workshop, we will adapt these guidelines specifically for this project, later testing them in practice throughout the project, taking into account the specific conditions of this new network, such as regional specificity, remote locations like Iceland, and the Baltic Sea area between Nordic and Baltic countries, which may challenge sustainability standards. At the workshops in Oslo, organized by SENT (Norway), we will also reflect on curatorial experiences in Oslofjord Triennial 2024 based on sustainable art production and dissemination learning from circular economy principles. Overall, with this project, we aim to seek better, greener solutions for travel and exchange between Nordic and Baltic countries, with the intention of involving partners from Iceland and beyond.
KONTAKTI
rixc@rixc.org
+371 67228478 (birojs)
+371 26546776 (Rasa Šmite)
+371 25358541 (Līva Siliņa)