We are delighted to announce that RIXC Art Science Festival 2025 "Plants Intelligence" has been nominated for the Annual Art Award of Latvia 2025 in the category "Event of the Year"!

The beginning of 2026 marks a significant event in the Latvian visual arts sector – for the first time, the nominees for the new national award, the Latvian Art Award (LMGB), are announced. Throughout the year, the jury has evaluated a wide and diverse spectrum of visual arts processes in the Baltics, nominating candidates in ten categories that reflect the most significant developments and trends in Latvian art.

The 2025 jury consists of Maija Rudovska, chair of the LMGB jury, curator, researcher and art critic; Renāte Lagzdiņa, cultural project curator and director of the University of Latvia Botanical Garden; Brigita Zelča-Aispure, artist and head of the Exhibition Centre at the National Library of Latvia; Raivis Alksnis, visual arts curator and producer; Aiga Dzalbe, art historian and critic; Liāna Ivete Žilde, visual culture researcher, curator and member of the ISSP board, and Kaspars Vanags, art curator, critic and theorist, director of the Paula Stradiņa Museum of Medical History.

The Latvian Art Award will be presented in ten categories: Artist of the Year, Artwork of the Year, Event of the Year, Visual Solution for an Exhibition or Event, Research of the Year, Curator of the Year, Debut/Breakthrough of the Year, Text of the Year, Event Promoting Education or Public Engagement, Lifetime Achievement. Each category highlights important aspects of the visual arts sector, emphasizing both individual creative achievements and collective processes, forms of collaboration, and long-term contributions to the development of the sector.

The first Latvian Art Award ceremony will take place in Valmiera in April 2026 and is intended to be a celebration for both visual arts professionals and the wider public. Establishing a new tradition – LMGB Art Week – the award ceremony is planned to be held each year in a different Latvian city in cooperation with the local municipality and residents. The first venue will be Valmiera, where, in collaboration with the local municipality, Art Week will feature exhibitions, lectures, performances, and a variety of activities for different audiences, highlighting visual arts professionals and cultural venues in the city and region of Valmiera.

The award is initiated and funded by the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Latvia, and organized by the creative association "Collective WW". Each winner will receive a cash prize of 1500 euros after tax, as well as a physical award designed by artist Krišs Salmanis.

Latvian Art Awards 2025 nominees

Artist of the Year*:

• Agate Tūna
• Laimdota Malle
• Liene Mackus
• Maija Kurševa
• Viktors Timofejevs

Artwork of the Year:

• Anna Malicka. Solo exhibition “Pūra lāde (((pure lady))) Kim? Contemporary Art Center
• Ieva Kraule-Kūna. Installation "Devils in My Palms" at the exhibition "Naked Life" at the Cēsis Art Festival
• Kate Krolle and Reinis Bērziņš. Exhibition "Organizer" at the Smilga cultural space
• Kristaps Ancāns and Pauls Rietums. Exhibition "A Very Small Celebration" at the Art Station "Dubulti"
• Laura Feldberga. Exhibition "Endless Blue Sky. 2022–2025" at the Sabile Art, Culture and Tourism Center

Event of the year:

• The fifth Latvian Ceramics Biennial, “From Stardust to Juicy Sprouts,” with exhibitions in Cēsis, Daugavpils, and Liepāja. Organized by: Latvian Contemporary Ceramics Center in collaboration with the Rothko Museum
• Exhibition "Silver Girls. The Retouched History of Baltic Photography" at the Lithuanian National Art Gallery. Curators: Šelda Puķīte, Agne Narušīte (Agnė Narušytė) and Indreks Grigors (Indrek Grigor)
• International conference “Monuments of Soviet Occupation as a Controversial Legacy” at the Latvian Academy of Art and online, and a performative walk “Uncomfortable Monuments” (as part of the Latvian Centre for Contemporary Art’s 25th anniversary celebration program). The conference is organized by the Latvian Association of Art Historians and Curators in collaboration with the Latvian Academy of Art, the National Heritage Board, and the Latvian Centre for Contemporary Art. Conference working group: Ieva Astahovska, Rihards Pētersons, Jana Grostiņa, Dana Stuce. Walk curator: Ieva Astahovska
• Contemporary art festival "Riga Art Week". Organized by: Latvian Gallery Association in collaboration with the Riga Investment and Tourism Agency. Team: Elīna Drāke, Elena Šalina, Tīna Pētersone
• RIXC Art Science Festival 2025 Plants Intelligence at the Art Academy of Latvia, Kim? Contemporary Art Center and online. Festival curators: Rasa Šmite and Raitis Šmits, exhibition curators: Yvonne Volkart and Raitis Šmits

Research of the Year:

• Santa Hirša. Monograph “Oļegs Tillbergs”, published by “Neputns”, 2025
• Šelda Puķīte, Indrek Grigor, Agnė Narušytė. Exhibition “Sudrabmeitenes. The Retouched History of Baltic Photography” at the Lithuanian National Art Gallery and book published by NoRoutine Books, 2025
• Edvarda Šmite. Monograph "Aut Caesar, aut nihil! The Case of Arturs Baumanis," published by "Neputns," 2025
• Kristīne Ogle. Monograph "Teodors Paulovics. The Life and Work of Vilhelms Purvītis' Student," published by "Dienas grāmata," 2025
• Silvija Grosa (editor) and a group of authors. Collection of articles "Konstantīns Pēkšēns un viņa laiks" (Konstantīns Pēkšēns and His Time), published by the Latvian Association of Art Historians and Curators, 2025

Curator of the Year:

• Auguste Petre and Elīna Drāke. ASNI Contemporary Art Gallery program
• Edd Schouten. TUR Contemporary Art Space program
• Ieva Astahovska. Exhibition "Atkalāčojums" at the Eduards Veidenbaums Memorial Museum
• Igors Gubenko. Exhibition series at the Chekhov Theater Gallery
• Inga Bunkše. Exhibition "Forget and Remember" at the Liepāja Museum

Debut/breakthrough of the year:

• Liene Pavloska and Oskars Pavlovskis. For the artist-created event space – the gallery “Part Time / Daļa laika”
• Gustavs Grasis and Valters Kalsers. Exhibition “Spacecraft Earth” at the art museum “Zuzeum”
• Filips Šmits. Happening "In the Kiss of the Sun" in Dreiliņkalns
• Contemporary art fair-exhibition "Riga Contemporary" at Hanzas perons. Organized by: Kim? Contemporary Art Center in collaboration with the Riga City Council
• Roberta Atraste. Curatorial work throughout the year

Text of the year:

• Roberta Atraste, Oto Holgers Ozoliņš and Eglė Grėbliauskaitė. Podcast Art and bureaucracy. Punctum magazine in collaboration with Wunderkombinat III, 2025
• Žanete Liekīte (text), Pēteris Vīksna (photography). Serving Naked Truths. GASP Magazine, 2025
• Anna Laganovska. Curator's text for Anna Malicka's solo exhibition "Pūra lāde (((pure lady))) Kim? Contemporary Art Center, 2025
• Megija Mīlberga. "Disarm with Prayer." Internet magazine "Satori," 2025
• The association “Ziemeļu puse” and creative team. Documentary series “Garainis”, with special mention of the series about Inta Ruka and Vladimir Glušenkov, 2025

Events promoting education or social engagement:

• Workshops and discussion cycles organized by the creative association COLORIZE
• The educational program "New Education" by the association "New East"
• The "Art Mediator Program" by the Latvian Center for Contemporary Art
• Latvian National Museum of Art education programs for seniors – "Senior Mornings at the Museum," classes with elements of art therapy for seniors "Art and Well-being"
• Practical research platform "Art" education programs for children and young people

Lifetime Achievement Award – art historian and curator Irēna Bužinska

The Lifetime Achievement Award recognizes persistent and consistent work in shaping Latvia's art ecosystem, significantly expanding public understanding of the diverse role of art in our lives. This year, the award goes to art historian and curator Irēna Bužinska. Her professional activity is characterized by a relentless interest in art historical phenomena that have been forgotten or misunderstood due to political circumstances or changing tastes over time, and her ability to inspire this interest in others. Her research has always focused on artists whose uniqueness contrasts with the aesthetic norms of their time or transcends the boundaries of conventional forms: Irēna Bužinska has done fundamental work in researching the personality of Voldemārs Matvejs and popularizing his contribution in the Latvian and international context. Her focus has been on prominent figures in photography – Egons Spuris, Inta Ruka – as well as pioneers of kinetic art in Latvia. However, she has devoted no less passion and expertise to encouraging people not to be elitist and to seek aesthetic enjoyment in profane creative works or applied art.