From left: Ruta Gruma. Take me to se(a), 2026. From right: Rogier Arent. Line 1. līnija, 2026.

Rasa Smite & SensUs XR Platform Presentation
Exhibition: Rogier Arents – Line 1. līnija

How can art extend reality? What becomes visible when artists challenge our habitual ways of perceiving time, space, ecological processes, and the invisible dynamics that shape our everyday lives?

We invite you to attend the Symbiotic Futures: From Invisible Dynamics to Extending Realities event at the RIXC Gallery, Lenču iela 2, Thursday, July 30, 2026, at 18:00,  where the artist and researcher Rasa Smite will introduce the SensUs XR platform and present the outcomes of the Baltic–Nordic pilot project Symbiotic Futures: Slow Travel as Field Work. In conversation with artist Rogier Arent, the event will explore how artistic practices, immersive technologies, and ecological thinking can expand our perception of reality, as well as the artist’s exhibition – Line 1. Līnija, while also offering a first public glimpse into RIXC's upcoming programmes, including RIXC Art Science Festival 2026: Climate Imagination and Extended Realities immersive art symposium and exhibition as part of the Liepaja 2027 programme.

Following the presentation and discussion, visitors are invited to view the Line 1. Līnija exhibition by Rogier Arent until 21:00 featuring a guided tour by the artist.

The event takes place as part of the Riga Last Thursday programme. 

As part of Rogier Arents' exhibition Line 1. līnija, artist and researcher Rasa Smite presents the SensUs XR Platformand reflects on the artistic and conceptual development of the Baltic–Nordic pilot project Symbiotic Futures: Slow Travel as Field Work. Bringing together augmented reality, artistic field research, ecological thinking, and collaborative practices developed across the Baltic and Nordic region, the platform explores new ways of experiencing more-than-human relationships, environmental change, and place-based knowledge.

The event brings into dialogue Rogier Arents' slit-scan explorations of urban space and time with the SensUs XR Platform's artistic investigations of ecological relationships, environmental sensing, and climate imagination. Although working through different artistic media—from analogue image-making to augmented reality—both practices invite us to extend perception beyond the immediately visible, revealing hidden dynamics that shape our everyday environments.

The presentation also offers a first public introduction to the evolving conceptual trajectory of RIXC's upcoming programmes – from Climate Imagination, the theme of the RIXC Art Science Festival 2026, where the newest Symbiotic Futures augmented reality soundscape will be presented, towards Extended Realities, the emerging theme of the RIXC Art Science Festival Liepāja 2027. Rather than presenting a finished programme, the evening opens a conversation about how contemporary artistic practices can expand our understanding of ecological, technological, social, and temporal realities.

The event also marks the public conclusion of the Baltic–Nordic pilot project Symbiotic Futures: Slow Travel as Field Work. The event will present the results of the Baltic-Nordic slow travel routes, during which eight artists from Lithuania, Estonia, Latvia, Norway, Denmark, Iceland, and Sweden travelled exclusively by sustainable means of transport such as a ferry, canoe, electric vehicle and bus to conduct artistic field research and explore terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems through immersive media technologies. The routes culminated in the creation of an immersive soundscape and artwork presented on the SensUs XR platform. 

Artists: Mari-Liis Rebane & Timo Toots (Maajaam / EE), Kristina Zakutauskaite & Ruta Gruma (Institutio Media / LT), Line Thastum & Sissel Thastum (Isop / DK), Kristin Bergaust (SENT / NO), Margrét Elísabet Ólafsdóttir (Lorna / IS).

Rather than an endpoint, it presents a blueprint for a new phase of long-term Baltic–Nordic collaboration, bringing together artistic research, Science and Technology Studies (STS), ecological fieldwork, and XR practices. This emerging framework will continue through the Climate Imagination programme of the RIXC Art Science Festival 2026 and the development of the Baltic Art & STS Network, culminating in the conceptual framework Extended Realities for the RIXC programme as part of the European Capital of Culture Liepāja 2027.

Contact us: rixc@rixc.org,  +371 67228478 (Office), +371 25358541 (Līva Siliņa)

Supported by the Nordic Culture Point, foundation Liepāja 2027.