Can the Others Have Someone “Their”?

A Curator's Interpretaon of the works of the Arsts of the GRATA AWARD 2026

During the atmosphere of the Third Awakening (Naonal movement in the 1980s), during the decline of the USSR, the repertoire of Latvian rock music was able to mobilize different cultural

groups in a common struggle against the colonial regime. “Our own group will understand...” went the lyrics of a song that shaped the experience of a new community and encouraged people to create a new world while remembering a lost and forbidden history.

All of us, today's nomads—whether by choice and curiosity or by necessity—are at some point compelled to answer the quesons that form the fabric of the GRATA Award 2026 exhibion.

Who are the Others, and where do we encounter them? How do we become the Other to someone else?

Bringing together 106 works, this internaonal exhibion offers an opportunity to understand who, for whom, and under what circumstances becomes the Other, and whether it is possible to find its Own place —to belong,connect, and become integrated.

This queson is relevant to all contemporary European sociees, and arsts from different countries reflect on the Other whom they encounter in the urban environment—a space saturated with diversity and signs.

This year's exhibion is a fascinang anthropological journey in which several tendencies and paerns of reflecon can be observed. What makes this process especially engaging is that, unl the very last painng or sculpture is unpacked, no one knows what awaits them.

As the curator of the exhibion, I idenfied three main narrave lines within this broad collecon of works, which is itself highly diverse in genres, forms, materials, and symbols.

The first, and in my opinion dominant, narrave is the opposion—or conflict—between the city
and the countryside, between nature and technology. Its roots run so deep and are so ancient that the opposing sides can no longer remember how it all began. Perhaps it started with the never-ending industrializaon of Riga more than a century ago; perhaps in the Soviet-era story of the
disintegraon of nature and the agricultural cycle of life; or perhaps much more recently, in consumerist obsession, where rural grass and trees are made of supermarket plasc and
arficial greenery.

The second scenario of reflecng on Otherness is born and lives within the imaginaon and
psyche of arsts,filled with the interacon of reason and madness, games of alienaon, and various forms of escapism. Outer space, its coldness, and planetary loneliness have given birth to several creatures of the imaginaon that visitorswill encounter during the exhibion.

The rarest and smallest group of works presents encounters with the Other as an element of metropolitan bustle, as one of the construcons of normality in the metropolis, where skin colors,
social and religious idenes, and countless other forms of identy intersect. Here, a person can become their own Other, change and dress themselves in a different costume of identy, experience themselves through play while simultaneously observing the game.

Does this mean that it is difficult for us to open ourselves to Riga and to unbuon the coat of our idenes? I do not think so. The parcipants of the exhibion offer you, the viewer, a visual

revelaon of their souls, a confession, and their dreams—all at once, just as in the moving and ever-changing urban space.

The Other is also being formed and living within you. Come and discover this year's versions of the GRATA Award...

Dear Artists, Participants of GRATA BALVA 2026, Friends and Partners of MuseumLV Gallery,

It has been a month since the GRATA BALVA 2026 exhibition opened its doors on 11 June. Since then, your submitted artworks have taken on a life of their own within the gallery, forming a rich and multifaceted narrative about what the Other might mean in the urban environment and how we might imagine an encounter with it.

At the same time, once brought together in the gallery space, your works begin to engage in dialogue with one another—creating moments of synergy and, at times, even productive disagreement. They challenge both artists and visitors to reconsider their own works as well as the interpretations offered by fellow participants.

Would you like to discover the new life your artworks have taken on through the curator's vision?

The MuseumLV Gallery team warmly invites you and your colleagues to visit the exhibition and join a guided tour led by the curator, Dr. Deniss Hanovs. This is an opportunity to discover the works of fellow artists and perhaps see your own work transformed through a new curatorial context.

Curator's Tour
Date: 15 July
Time: 5:30 PM

To attend, please register by 14 July by emailing info@museumlv.com.

We look forward to welcoming you to the gallery!

Electronic Catalogue of the International Visual Art Competition "GRATA BALVA 2026: “Multilayered Identity: Encountering the Other in Urban Space”

Dear colleagues and friends of the MuseumLV Art Gallery at the Grata JJ Cultural Centre,

From 11 June to 8 August 2026, the MuseumLV Art Gallery at the Grata JJ Cultural Centre presents the annual international visual art competition exhibition "GRATA BALVA 2026: “Multilayered Identity: Encountering the Other in Urban Space”. The exhibition is curated by Deniss Hanovs, cultural researcher and Professor at the Art Academy of Latvia.

About GRATA BALVA 2026

GRATA BALVA is an annual international visual art competition established in 2018 by the creative team of the MuseumLV Art Gallery at the Grata JJ Cultural Centre.

Each year, the project brings together professional artists from around the world, inviting them to share their creative visions and engage in an international dialogue through exhibitions at MuseumLV.

The theme of this year's exhibition explores the phenomenon of the Other within the urban environment. The complex interplay of identities, the interests of individuals and communities, and experiences of inclusion and exclusion have shaped the curatorial concept for the 2026 edition.

This year's exhibition features approximately 113 works representing a broad spectrum of contemporary artistic practices, including painting, sculpture, printmaking, ceramics, textile art, and digital art.

We invite you to explore the electronic catalogue of the international visual art competition "GRATA BALVA 2026: “Multilayered Identity: Encountering the Other in Urban Space",  featuring the exhibited artworks together with information about the participating artists.

Exhibition Tour & Talk with Curator Dr. Art. Deniss Hanovs

On 8 July 2026, from 5:30 PM to 6:30 PM, Gallery MuseumLV (2 A. Pumpura Street, Riga) invites visitors to join a guided tour of the international exhibition-competition "Encountering the Other in Urban Space", led by the exhibition's curator, Dr. Art. Deniss Hanovs.

During the tour, participants will explore the visions of Latvian and international artists as they reflect on the concept of the Other—within ourselves, the city, diverse environments, and across artistic genres. The exhibition examines the presence of otherness in everyday urban life, addressing questions of identity, belonging, imagination, and urban experience. Through the curator's insights, visitors will discover the connections between the exhibited works, their symbolic meanings, and the broader cultural context.

Event Information

• Date: 8 July 2026
• Time: 5:30–6:30 PM
• Venue: Gallery MuseumLV, 2 A. Pumpura Street, Riga
• Guide: Dr. Art. Deniss Hanovs
• Language: Latvian, with English available upon request
• Admission: €5 (tickets available at the venue or online)
• Registration: Not required
• Capacity: Maximum 25 participants

We warmly invite everyone interested to join this conversation about art, urban space, and the presence of the Other in our everyday lives.

Congratulations to the first winners of the annual international competition Grata Award 2026 “Multilayered Identity: Encountering the Other in Urban Space”!

The Grata Award has been presented to the artwork “Forgiveness”.

Artist: Baiba Zalcmane

2025 | Splinters. Acrylic, wool, novelty yarn, fabric | 192 × 290 cm

The Curator’s Award, together with the opportunity to hold a solo exhibition at MuseumLV Gallery, has been awarded to the artwork “Water Tower. Autumn on Ganību Dambis”.

Artist: Ieva Kalēja

2026 | Oil on canvas | 65 × 45 cm

Dear colleagues and friends of the Grata JJ Cultural Centre and the MuseumLV art gallery,

We kindly invite you to attend the opening ceremony of the exhibition “Multilayered Identity: Encountering the Other in Urban Space” on June 12, 2026, at 16:30, at the MuseumLV art gallery, located at 2 Andreja Pumpura Street, Riga, in the Grata JJ Cultural Centre.

From June 11 to August 1, 2026, the MuseumLV art gallery and the Grata JJ Cultural Centre will host the annual international visual art competition exhibition Grata Balva 2026, titled “Multilayered Identity: Encountering the Other in Urban Space”.

The exhibition is curated by Deniss Hanovs, cultural researcher and professor at the Latvian Academy of Art.

We would appreciate it if you could confirm your attendance at the opening by June 11.

About the GRATA BALVA project
GRATA BALVA is an annual international competition project established in 2018 by

MuseumLV Gallery in cooperation with the Grata JJ Cultural Center.

Every year the project team invites professional artists from various countries, including

Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Ukraine, France, China, the United Kingdom, the United States, Switzerland, South Korea, and others, to share their creative experience and new ideas in the exhibition halls of MuseumLV Gallery.

On average, more than 200 artworks form a multifaceted representation of contemporary art in painting, sculpture, graphics, ceramics, textile art, digital art, as well as performance art had been received in previous years.
The exhibition takes place on both floors of the gallery.

The aim of the project is to encourage communication and exchange of experience among artists and to promote their creative work.
The cash prize serves as an additional motivation for artists’ professional development.
All exhibited works are available for purchase.

Participants and audience include professional artists whose work meets the gallery’s quality standards, as well as visitors from various countries.

Previous GRATA BALVA themes

• “Mystery. Ritual Art”
• “Source of Power”
• “#artifact #fifthcivilization”
• “#illusory #reality” (supporting Ukrainian refugees) • “Golden Age”

Among the laureates of the Grata Balva competition are artists such as Juris Ģērmanis, Aleksejs Naumovs, Dita Lūse, Vadims Markevičs, Linda Kozule, Anita Paegle, Ilze Muceniece-Adamaite, Leo Preiss.

Cash prizes in the competition
The GRATA BALVA visual arts competition provides several monetary awards:

• Main Prize – GRATA BALVA (500 €) awarded by the gallery representatives based on cooperation experience and the artist’s contribution to the activities of MuseumLV Gallery.

• Curator’s Prize – 300 € and the opportunity to hold a solo exhibition at MuseumLV Gallery are determined by visitor voting during the exhibition.

To ensure maximum transparency and objectivity, all works are exhibited anonymously, marked only with a number.

Voting takes place in person throughout the exhibition period.

Award ceremony

Awards are presented in two stages:

• GRATA BALVA – 500 € is awarded during the opening of the exhibition.

• Curator’s Prize - 300€ are presented during the opening ceremony. 

• Audience Choice Award – results are counted and announced on the last day of the exhibition, while the award itself is presented at the opening of the next exhibition in September at MuseumLV Gallery.

Jury

• Deniss Hanovs – exhibition curator, cultural researcher, professor at the Art Academy of Latvia
• Representative of GRATA ECO HOUSE, the general sponsor
• Jūlija Eresko, director of MuseumLV Gallery

• Representatives of sponsors and partner companies

Dear gallery MuseumLV and Grata JJ cultural centre friends and colleagues!

From April 18 to May 30, 2026, the exhibition “Faņķiki” by artist Sandro Čhaidze will be on view at MuseumLV Art Gallery, located in the Grata JJ Cultural Center.

“Faņķiki” reveals the artist’s personal reality—a world constructed through lines, rhythms, and pure colors. Within this world, painting becomes a structured experience, where the viewer encounters not merely an image but a system that is both rational and intuitive. It is precisely within this tension between construction and freedom that the energy of the works emerges.

Since the beginning of the so-called “Striped Period,” stripes have occupied a central role in the artist’s practice. They function as a grid, a skeleton, or a backbone that organizes the pictorial space. This structure is not merely a formal device but also a tool for thinking. It allows the painting to develop as a constructed entity in which every color, plane, and rhythm enters the composition through a sequential process: first the line, then the stripes, followed by color, plasticity, and finally the emergence of freedom.

The artist’s background in graphic design is reflected in this disciplined and systematic approach, yet it is translated into the field of painting. As a result, the works function as visual objects that exist somewhere between painting, design, and conceptual construction. The artist himself refers to his works as products—autonomous visual units that possess both material presence and conceptual clarity.

The exhibition title “Faņķiki” introduces another layer to the works’ aesthetic language. The word evokes associations with colorful candy wrappers—bright, graphic, and visually playful surfaces that attract attention through rhythm and color. Beneath this apparent playfulness, however, lies a strict internal order. The artist deliberately distances himself from random or purely spontaneous abstraction; instead, his paintings emerge from a controlled process in which elements of deconstruction appear only in measured doses, maintaining tension within the structure.

At the same time, the exhibition functions as a condensed overview of the artist’s work from the past three years, revealing the consistency and evolution of his visual language. The predominantly medium-sized acrylic paintings create a spatial rhythm within the exhibition space, where repetition, variation, and chromatic relationships generate visual movement.

“Faņķiki” reveals the artist’s personal reality—a world constructed through lines, rhythms, and pure colors. Within this world, painting becomes a structured experience, where the viewer encounters not merely an image but a system that is both rational and intuitive. It is precisely within this tension between construction and freedom that the energy of the works emerges.Sandro Chkhaidze

Author’s CV

''I was born in Kandava (a city in Latvia) in 1969.

In 1987 I entered the Tbilisi State Academy of Arts – the faculty of Graphic Design.
In 1992 I returned to Riga, worked as a graphic designer, organized my personal exhibitions in Riga, Latvia and some other European countries. Now I live and work in Tbilisi (Georgia) since 2006.

I have drawn professionally and participating in exhibitions since 1990. During the last 15 years,
I mostly work in acrylic technique on canvas. Acrylic best matches the modern rhythm. Before that, most works were in oil and graphics with gouache and mixed media, as well as collages. The sizes of my works are mostly medium format, starting from 50x50cm up to 150x150cm. Until 2010 my works were created in different manners, but then the “STRIPE PERIOD” began, which continues nowadays as well.

I have the feeling that I don't just paint my paintings, I build and model them. The task of drawing a Typewriter or whatever is not interesting to me in itself. The result must be something more than just a painting. Something that nowadays could boldly be called a PRODUCT. Yes, exactly!

Stripes are a sort of grid or backbone through which I build my world. First there is the line, then the stripes, then comes the color, then the plasticity and finally there is freedom. Order and no coincidences, pure colors. Accidental art is unacceptable to me. A little deconstruction, but in the right dose, and then my personal reality comes in, which I share without hesitation.

This exhibition is like a retrospective to show you as much as possible what I've been working on over the last three years."  

PERSONAL ART EXHIBITIONS:

03/1990 - Tbilisi “White Gallery”

08/1993 - Riga, “ASŪNA” gallery

12/1993 - Riga, Christmas exhibition “HOTEL DE ROME”

01/1994 - Riga, Christmas exhibition in Orthodox Cathedral

09/1994 - Riga, ARSENĀLS “My black-and-white cinema”

05/1995 - Riga, Gallery “ARS MODERNA”, “Reflection”

09/1995 - Denmark, Copenhagen “GALLERY 68”

05/1996 - Riga, gallery “ARS MODERNA”

11/1996 - France, Dijon Conference hall, Georgian days

03/1998 - Denmark, Copenhagen “GALLERY 68”

02/1999 - Riga –BALTARS’99

03/2011 - Gallery “Tiflis Avenue”, Tbilisi (Exhibition “Striped Period”)

01/2018 - TBC Art Gallery, Tbilisi (Exhibition “BEYOND THE STRIPES”)

11/2019 - Rietumu Bank Art Gallery, Riga (Exhibition “BEYOND THE STRIPES”) 

07/2025 - GALERIE ORANGE, Tegernsee, Germany (Exhibition “I’m Still Standing”)

10/2025 - CRA office Munich, Germany 



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Dear fellow artists,

The MuseumLV Gallery invites you to participate in the annual international visual art competition GRATA BALVA 2026.

The exhibition curator is Deniss Hanovs, cultural researcher and professor at the Art Academy of Latvia.
The description of the exhibition theme by the curator is attached.

About the GRATA BALVA project

GRATA BALVA is an annual international competition project established in 2018 by MuseumLV Gallery in cooperation with the Grata JJ Cultural Center.

Every year the project team invites professional artists from various countries, including Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Ukraine, France, China,  the United Kingdom, the United States, Switzerland, South Korea, and others, to share their creative experience and new ideas in the exhibition halls of MuseumLV Gallery.

On average, more than 200 artworks form a multifaceted representation of contemporary art in painting, sculpture, graphics, ceramics, textile art, digital art, as well as performance art had been received in previous years.
The exhibition takes place on both floors of the gallery.

The aim of the project is to encourage communication and exchange of experience among artists and to promote their creative work.
The cash prize serves as an additional motivation for artists’ professional development.
All exhibited works are available for purchase.

Participants and audience include professional artists whose work meets the gallery’s quality standards, as well as visitors from various countries.

Previous GRATA BALVA themes

• “Mystery. Ritual Art”
• “Source of Power”
• “#artifact #fifthcivilization”
• “#illusory #reality” (supporting Ukrainian refugees)
• “Golden Age”

Among the laureates of the Grata Balva competition are artists such as Juris Ģērmanis, Aleksejs Naumovs, Dita Lūse, Vadims Markevičs, Linda Kozule, Anita Paegle, Ilze Muceniece-Adamaite, Leo Preiss.

Cash prizes in the competition

The GRATA BALVA visual arts competition provides several monetary awards:

• Main Prize – GRATA BALVA (500 €) awarded by the gallery representatives based on cooperation experience and the artist’s contribution to the activities of MuseumLV Gallery.

• Second Prize – 300 € and the opportunity to hold a solo exhibition at MuseumLV Gallery are determined by visitor voting during the exhibition.

• Curator’s Prize – 300 €

• Sponsor prizes

To ensure maximum transparency and objectivity, all works are exhibited anonymously, marked only with a number.
Voting takes place in person throughout the exhibition period.

Award ceremony

Awards are presented in two stages:

• GRATA BALVA – 500 € is awarded during the opening of the exhibition.

• Audience Choice Award – results are counted and announced on the last day of the exhibition, while the award itself is presented at the opening of the next exhibition in September at MuseumLV Gallery.

• Sponsor awards are presented during the opening ceremony.

Jury

• Deniss Hanovs – exhibition curator, cultural researcher, professor at the Art Academy of Latvia
• Representative of GRATA ECO HOUSE, the general sponsor
• Jūlija Eresko, director of MuseumLV Gallery
• Representatives of sponsors and partner companies

Important information

Submission deadline for artworks:

May 30, 2026 (during gallery working hours)

Works submitted after May 30 will not be accepted.

Application deadline:
May 18, 2026.

Before delivering the artwork to the gallery, please send to the gallery email with :

• updated CV in Latvian

• portrait photo
• photo of the artwork in good quality (recommended size 74–200 KB) for the gallery website and social media
• information about the work: title, size, year, technique, price

This information must be sent at least 2 working days before delivering the artwork to the gallery (until May 18).

Without this information and the gallery’s confirmation email, the artwork will not be accepted.

If the number of submitted works exceeds the gallery’s capacity for a quality exhibition display, the gallery reserves the right to refuse later applications according to the principle “first come – first registered.”

Artwork size

This year artworks of any size will be accepted, including non-standard formats.
However, the gallery reserves the right to decline certain works.

After prior approval, the following works may be accepted:

• paintings
• sculptures
• installations / objects

Each participant may submit one additional or two additional works related to the main competition work in order to deepen the viewer’s understanding of the artist’s creative approach.
However, the gallery reserves the right to decline additional works.

Officially only one artwork from each artist participates in the competition.

If the artist wishes to add a concept description, please send it in advance so that it can be included in the exhibition.

To participate in the competition, please send by May 30, 2026 to:

info@museumlv.com

• confirmation of participation
• portrait photo
• updated CV
• photo of the artwork
• title, size, year, technique, price

After receiving the email, the MuseumLV Gallery team will reply with confirmation and the schedule for artwork delivery.

Artworks are accepted only after official confirmation from the gallery.

Final deadline for artwork delivery:
May 30, 2026

Works not accepted

• works with aggressive content
• works provoking conflicts
• works offending people’s feelings
• works inciting ethnic hatred
• works not corresponding to the competition theme

We support all your initiatives in the field of visual arts and wish you success in the competition and in your creative work.

See you at the gallery!

Spletnik.lv

Arterritory

Opening hours during the holidays:

03.04 — the gallery is closed
04.04 — 11:00 AM to 5:00 PM
06.04 — the gallery is closed