The Riga Photography Biennial 2026 will open with several exhibitions. On April 16 at 6:00 p.m., the group exhibition “Zoom In: Ecology” will open at the “Riga Contemporary Art Space” exhibition hall, featuring the artwork “Atmospheric Forest” by Rasa Šmite and Raits Šmits.

The first Riga Photography Biennial (RFB) took place in 2016. This year, the RFB program marks a decade-long journey, thematically examining the phenomenon of coexistence in various contexts, including the impact of technology on human nature, the relationship between humans and nature, as well as the informational code of the contemporary image. From April 17 to June 14, the main event of RFB 2026—the exhibition “Zoom In: Ecology”—will take place in the Great Hall of the “Riga Contemporary Art Space.” Among all the important questions that occupy people’s minds, one is eternal: how to survive? It is a question that, in an instant, tends to transform from an everyday, prosaic, rationally solvable problem into a global enigma for which there is no answer. Just as there is no solution to the current contradiction between humanity’s desire to control and exploit natural systems and its meager knowledge of them—no one can fully explain how ecosystems function or what determines biological diversity on Earth. The exhibition features nine reflections on humanity’s merging with digital technologies and/or nature, exploring how digital activities impact ecosystems, natural resources, and human nature, while attempting to navigate the intricately woven web of these relationships. Exhibition curators: Inga Brūvere (LV), Marie Sjøvold (NO). Artists: Astrid Ardagh (NO), Nanna Debois Buhl (DK), Henna-Riikka Halonen (FI), Inka & Niclas (SE), Kristina Õllek & Kert Viiart-Õllek (EE), Rasa Šmite & Raitis Šmits (LV), Sabīne Šnē (LV), Istvan Virag (HU/NO).

The Riga Photography Biennial is an international contemporary art event that focuses on the analysis of visual culture and artistic representation. In the title of the Biennial, photography is used as an umbrella term for a wide variety of artistic practices of image-making that continue to transform the language of contemporary art in the 21st century. The biennial’s themes range from cultural theory to current sociopolitical processes in the Baltic and European regions. The Riga Photography Biennial aims to capture and, in the format of an art festival, offer a shared understanding of the changes taking place in the world—changes that we need not only to see but also to imagine, translating today’s complex and saturated visual language into meaningful relationships—between everyday life, the camera lens, historical material, contemporary art, technology, and the future. How has the understanding of photography and the image changed due to digital technologies, and how does it manifest itself within the context of a work of art? For the curators of the Biennial, these are essential questions to analyze and represent, offering Latvian audiences the most relevant examples of international art in exhibition displays, as well as introducing the ideas of significant art theorists through symposia, discussions, and publications in the formats of exhibitions and performances.

RFB 2026 runs from April 16 to July 3 with an extensive exhibition and educational program. For more information: www.rpbiennial.com.

Partners and supporters: State Culture Capital Foundation, Riga City Council, “Riga Contemporary Art Space” exhibition hall, “ASNI” Gallery, “ALMA” Gallery, the Nordic Council of Ministers’ Office in Latvia, the Embassy of the Republic of Estonia in Latvia, the Embassy of the Republic of Finland in Latvia, “Rixwell Hotels,” the printing house “Adverts,” “Artglass by Groglass,” “Riga Art Week,” Arterritory.com, Echo Gone Wrong, NOBA.