Agate Lielp\u0113tere and Lu\u012bze Ruk\u0161\u0101ne<\/p>\n[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row type=”in_container” full_screen_row_position=”middle” column_margin=”default” column_direction=”default” column_direction_tablet=”default” column_direction_phone=”default” scene_position=”center” text_color=”dark” text_align=”left” row_border_radius=”none” row_border_radius_applies=”bg” overflow=”visible” overlay_strength=”0.3″ gradient_direction=”left_to_right” shape_divider_position=”bottom” bg_image_animation=”none”][vc_column column_padding=”no-extra-padding” column_padding_tablet=”inherit” column_padding_phone=”inherit” column_padding_position=”all” column_element_spacing=”default” background_color_opacity=”1″ background_hover_color_opacity=”1″ column_shadow=”none” column_border_radius=”none” column_link_target=”_self” column_position=”default” gradient_direction=”left_to_right” overlay_strength=”0.3″ width=”1\/1″ tablet_width_inherit=”default” tablet_text_alignment=”default” phone_text_alignment=”default” animation_type=”default” bg_image_animation=”none” border_type=”simple” column_border_width=”none” column_border_style=”solid”][vc_column_text]\n
Gallery Kresija, Stritarjeva ulica 6, Ljubljana, Slovenia<\/strong> The exhibition\u2019s title \u2018Zemlja\u2019 considers all the meanings of the word: soil, earth, a piece of land, our piece of land, our planet. It marks a path that leads us from microorganisms to a planetary scale. The two artists invite us to explore where we belong in this chain, and what our relationship with it is. How does our soil smell? What grows in it? What did our grandparents grow in it? How do we tend to it? The answers to these questions offer insight not only into our agricultural practices but also into the cultural framework of our identity. By understanding our soil and land, we can also learn something about our roots. Ignoring grand narratives of national belonging, the artists zoom into smaller units of land, questioning identity as an intimate reality.<\/p>\n Historically, Latvia has been a nation of devoted potato consumers. In 2018, it ranked third in Europe for potato consumption per capita, at 113 kg per person (FAO). Many domestic potato varieties have been cultivated in response, often named after women significant to their breeders \u2014 their mothers, wives, or daughters. Thus, Agate Lielp\u0113tere argues that potatoes and women are Latvia\u2019s national treasures. Meanwhile, Lu\u012bze Ruk\u0161\u0101ne expands on these themes by investigating the intricate connections between femininity, fertility, labour, and the Latvian landscape. The exhibition forms a conversation around the natural and the cultured, nature versus nurture in a search of an understanding of one\u2019s sense of self.<\/p>\n Lielp\u0113tere\u2019s silkscreens and sculptures portray women and the potato varieties that bear their names. These pieces enable viewers to look both the women and the potatoes in the eye simultaneously. As well as the \u2018Latvian women\u2019, the artist includes the once popular Slovenian variety Igor, nearly wiped out by the Y virus. In an effort to keep him in our collective memory\u2014and hoping for new love to spur\u2014she introduces him to the Latvian varieties such as Magdalena, Z\u012ble, Laimdota. For her sculptures, she uses stones primarily found in potato fields to emphasise their connection to the natural world. \u201cA stone is a mass of hard, compacted mineral that has formed over a long period of time. Somehow, I think this is a fitting metaphor for Latvian women,\u201d Lielp\u0113tere reflects. She also notes, with a touch of irony, that to this day, no Latvian potato variety bears her name, though there is a corydalis named after Lu\u012bze that was bred by her grandfather.<\/p>\n By contrast, Ruk\u0161\u0101ne\u2019s large-scale graphite and charcoal drawings provide context and more concretely visualise the environments that characterise the Latvian landscape, as seen from an intimate, secluded viewpoint. She omits colour, enabling viewers to experience these spaces through light, shadow, texture, and composition, free from the distraction of hue. The motifs she depicts are small excerpts of the land, gently inviting us to search for traces of identity under a rock, in a stork\u2019s nest, or in the labour of a potato harvest \u2014 places where one might not expect to find it, but where, with intention, it quietly reveals itself.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Agate Lielp\u0113tere<\/strong> (b. 1995, Latvia) is a visual artist living and working in Ljubljana. She holds a BA in Arts and Humanities (graphic art) from the Art Academy of Latvia. She has held six solo exhibitions in Riga and Ljubljana, and has participated in numerous group exhibitions both locally and abroad, including Ljubljana, London, Riga and Tokyo, exhibiting, e.g., in Moderna galerija in Slovenia and Kim? Contemporary Art Centre, and the Latvian Centre for Contemporary Art in Latvia. Her work is included in the Zuz\u0101ns private collection of contemporary art. Lielp\u0113tere\u2019s artistic work can be described as subtly humorous, focusing on social narratives and questions of identity. Lu\u012bze Ruk\u0161\u0101ne<\/strong> (b. 1995, Latvia) is a visual artist working primarily with drawing, distinguished by its sensitivity to surface, light, and emotional tone. Her work navigates themes of memory, time, and domesticity, offering subtle reflections on personal and collective histories. <\/p>\n Text: Agate Lielp\u0113tere With support of Latvian State Culture Capital Foundation and Gallery Kresija\/Municipality of Ljubljana.[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][vc_column column_padding=”no-extra-padding” column_padding_tablet=”inherit” column_padding_phone=”inherit” column_padding_position=”all” column_element_spacing=”default” background_color_opacity=”1″ background_hover_color_opacity=”1″ column_shadow=”none” column_border_radius=”none” column_link_target=”_self” column_position=”default” gradient_direction=”left_to_right” overlay_strength=”0.3″ width=”1\/5″ tablet_width_inherit=”default” tablet_text_alignment=”default” phone_text_alignment=”default” animation_type=”default” bg_image_animation=”none” border_type=”simple” column_border_width=”none” column_border_style=”solid”][\/vc_column][\/vc_row]\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" [vc_row type=”in_container” full_screen_row_position=”middle” column_margin=”default” column_direction=”default” column_direction_tablet=”default” column_direction_phone=”default” scene_position=”center” top_padding=”40″ bottom_padding=”40″ text_color=”dark” text_align=”left” row_border_radius=”none” row_border_radius_applies=”bg” overflow=”visible” advanced_gradient_angle=”0″ overlay_strength=”0.3″ gradient_direction=”left_to_right” shape_divider_position=”bottom” bg_image_animation=”none” gradient_type=”default” shape_type=””][vc_column column_padding=”no-extra-padding” column_padding_tablet=”inherit” column_padding_phone=”inherit” column_padding_position=”all” column_element_spacing=”default” background_color_opacity=”1″ background_hover_color_opacity=”1″ column_shadow=”none”…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1355,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.poligon.si\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1354"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.poligon.si\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.poligon.si\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.poligon.si\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.poligon.si\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1354"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.poligon.si\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1354\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1357,"href":"https:\/\/www.poligon.si\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1354\/revisions\/1357"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.poligon.si\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1355"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.poligon.si\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1354"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\n23.7. \u2013 28.8. 2025<\/strong><\/p>\n[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row type=”in_container” full_screen_row_position=”middle” column_margin=”default” column_direction=”default” column_direction_tablet=”default” column_direction_phone=”default” scene_position=”center” top_padding=”40″ bottom_padding=”40″ text_color=”dark” text_align=”left” row_border_radius=”none” row_border_radius_applies=”bg” overflow=”visible” advanced_gradient_angle=”0″ overlay_strength=”0.3″ gradient_direction=”left_to_right” shape_divider_position=”bottom” bg_image_animation=”none” gradient_type=”default” shape_type=””][vc_column column_padding=”no-extra-padding” column_padding_tablet=”inherit” column_padding_phone=”inherit” column_padding_position=”all” column_element_spacing=”default” background_color_opacity=”1″ background_hover_color_opacity=”1″ column_shadow=”none” column_border_radius=”none” column_link_target=”_self” column_position=”default” gradient_direction=”left_to_right” overlay_strength=”0.3″ width=”1\/5″ tablet_width_inherit=”default” tablet_text_alignment=”default” phone_text_alignment=”default” animation_type=”default” bg_image_animation=”none” border_type=”simple” column_border_width=”none” column_border_style=”solid”][\/vc_column][vc_column column_padding=”no-extra-padding” column_padding_tablet=”inherit” column_padding_phone=”inherit” column_padding_position=”all” column_element_spacing=”default” background_color_opacity=”1″ background_hover_color_opacity=”1″ column_shadow=”none” column_border_radius=”none” column_link_target=”_self” column_position=”default” gradient_direction=”left_to_right” overlay_strength=”0.3″ width=”3\/5″ tablet_width_inherit=”default” tablet_text_alignment=”default” phone_text_alignment=”default” animation_type=”default” bg_image_animation=”none” border_type=”simple” column_border_width=”none” column_border_style=”solid”][vc_column_text]When focusing on the ‘culture’ in agriculture, we talk about caring or tending, yet globalisation and growing demands push us to expand into natural environments. Efficiency-driven farming reduces the presence of native varieties in the land we care for \u2014 plants that have become part of our culture and identity.<\/p>\n
\n\u2192 www.agatelielpetere.com<\/a><\/p>\n
\nRuk\u0161\u0101ne holds a BA from the Art Academy of Latvia and is currently studying at HFBK Hamburg. Her solo exhibition Folding Lines (2024) received critical acclaim and won the public vote for the 2025 Purv\u012btis Prize, Latvia\u2019s most prestigious visual art award. She has participated in exhibitions across Europe, and her work is included in the collections of the Latvian National Museum of Art, the VV Foundation, and private collections.
\n\u2192 www.luizeruksane.com<\/a><\/p>\n
\nProducer: Luka Pi\u0161kori\u010d<\/p>\n