On Thursday, May 8, the exhibition Gauja Manuport No. 2 by artists Artūrs Punte and Jēkabs Voļatovskis opened at the RIXC Gallery, Lenču iela 2. It is a continuation of the artists' research on the use of free energy in art and invites visitors to experience the landscape of the Gauja riverside in a kinetic installation, highlighting natural energy as a creative material.

In the summer of 2024, the Strenči Sonification Station experimented with "free energy" to create sound, using both innovative methods and traditional renewable resources. Extended field recordings were also made, combining acoustic atmospheres with the inaudible electrical oscillations created by natural processes.

In the gallery, these recordings are transformed into a 'landscape-scale model', a kinetic installation that reflects the plein-air environment in miniature. In the title of the work, Manuport refers to the concept of archaeology and anthropology, which refers to finds that were once displaced - manually moved from elsewhere and not specific to the excavation site.
Most often, it is a beautiful shell or stone that an ancient person found attractive and interesting enough to take with them and carry far away from the seashore - to their place of residence. The authors of this work do something similar, manually "moving" an entire corner of nature into the city gallery.

This installation is the second in the "manuport" series. The first one was created in 2023, when the authors went downstream with the Gauja rafters, and was exhibited in Strenči in the same year. The work included field recordings made on the raft and fragments of old rafting stories.

Artūrs Punte is a poet, artist and one of the founders of the collective Orbīta. Author of four poetry books and co-author of several exhibitions. He is curating the projects Strenči Sonification Station and Riga Poetry Map. In recent years he has focused on sound installations and the creation of unconventional instruments.

Jēkabs Voļatovskis is a metal sculptor and one of the most prominent, yet also arguably the most "invisible", figures in the Latvian experimental music scene. He is passionate about unconventional, handmade musical instruments and the unique sounds they produce, which give his performances their unique character. 

The exhibition is on view at the RIXC Gallery, Lencu iela 2 from May 8, 2025 to June 21, 2025. | Wed.–Sat., 12:00–18:00. 

Supported by the State Culture Capital Foundation, Riga City Council.