Discussion: Art and Ethnography: Borderlands of Research

In connection with Madara Kvēpa's solo exhibition “The Sea Does Not Speak, Yet I Return”, which is currently on view at the ISSP Gallery, on September 18 at 6:00 PM we invite you to a discussion “Art and Ethnography: Frontier Areas of Research”, in which artists and researchers will share their experiences of ethnography and autoethnography approaches in art and science.

How is the ethnography carried out by artists related to the science of ethnography and the field of anthropology? What is ethnography in Latvia, and what was it like in Soviet Latvia? What can artists and researchers from other fields gain from each other's experience?

The discussion will feature: artist Madara Kvēpa, artist Ivars Drulle, historian Daina Bleiere and anthropologist Māra Neikena. Inese Sirica, Associate Professor of the Latvian Academy of Arts, will moderate the discussion.

In the exhibition “The Sea Does Not Speak, Yet I Return,” Madara Kvēpa focuses on the analysis of everyday bodily experience and personal relationships with natural elements, using an autoethnography approach. Artist Ivars Drulle is known for long-term projects that focus on the contemporary social environment, for example, documenting abandoned houses and environmental changes in the Latvian countryside. Anthropologist Māra Neikena focuses on the relationships between people, the environment and other beings, and will also share her experience in projects where artistic and anthropological approaches overlap. Ethnographer and historian Dr.hist. Daina Bleiere will talk about the science of ethnography and related research approaches.

Admission to the event is free.