Science and Art Centre "Brūzis" opens its doors to JCE Biennale

On a sunny evening on the 20th of August, the Science and Art Centre "Brūzis" which is owned by IES, opened its doors to the travelling contemporary art exhibition biennale Jeune Creation Europeen. On display are the latest trends in the European contemporary art-scene created by 56 emerging artists from Denmark, France, Italy, Latvia, Poland, Portugal and Spain.

Like a living organism, the JCE Biennale constantly evolves through the series of exhibitions and events over the two years. It feeds on the local energy, thereby inspiring new perspectives during each stage of its journey. Now it is time for Latvia. It is the first of the Baltic countries that participates and hosts the JCE Biennale. Latvia’s involvement is based on the partnership between IES and Kaņepes Culture Centre (KCC). IES is excited about the cooperation with KCC and the opportunity to support aspiring artists by increasing their visibility and exposing them to a wide array of network opportunities as we believe that future progress will come from places where art, science and technology fuse their creativity and create something new.

Contemporary art biennale Jeune Creation Europeene started in Montrouge, Paris in 2000. It is already at its eight edition. JCE Biennale aim is to give a launching platform for young artists and promote their visibility across the Europe. Each partner organisation develops its own selection criteria and implements a nationwide competition.

More than 40 artists took part in the first nationwide selection in Latvia. The representatives of jury was a photographer Ilze Vanaga, curator Diana Barcevska, and curators Davis Kanepe and Alberto Di Gennaro, who selected eight talented artists to participate in the travelling exhibition of JCE Biennale. They are Klāvs Loris, Oskars Pavlovskis, Margrieta Dreiblate, Linda Vigdoricka, Paula Pelse, Lauris Vitolins, Lauris Aizupietis, Atis Izands.

All 56 artist work from seven countries was evaluated by an international jury. One of the three Grand Prix award winners was Latvian artist Klavs Loris. The two other Grand Prix went to Magdalena Sawicka from Poland and Willem Boel from France. All three winners received a 2000 EUR scholarship and a six-month paid art residency in Paris, during which they created new artworks that were displayed in the prestigious art gallery HANGAR in Brussels, Belgium.

The exhibition in Science and Art Centre "Brūzis" (Address: 9/11 Lenču Street, Cēsis, Latvia) will be open until the 18th of September, from Thursday – Sunday. Entry fee: 2 Eur.

More about the JCE Biennale