State of Concept
Athens

State of Concept is proud to announce the opening of the group exhibition Ghosts of Impossible Present, on Friday the 31st of May at 18:30, curated by Solvita Krese, organised by Latvian Centre for Contemporary Art. 

In the exhibition Ghosts of Impossible Present, artists from the Baltic states address the ghosts of our shared ecosystems – the traces left by ecological disasters and wars in the environment, plants and creatures.

For a long time, ecological concerns in the Baltic region have been overshadowed by geopolitical problems, imperialist aggression, the polarization of society, and social inequality, among other issues. Yet the undeniable impact of human activity on the environment and the climate have shifted perceptions. Ecological problems are now recognized as pressing political issues, closely tied to our survival and the future of our ecosystems. 

Addressing ecological and climate crises entails confronting not only the pressures of global capitalism but also the legacies of colonialism, the roots of which are deeply embedded in the history of the Baltic states. The need for processes of decolonization is increasingly evident, especially amidst the current period of socio-political upheaval marked by the war in Ukraine. 

The artists in this exhibition invite us to face the ghosts of our pasts, which appear to us today in the form of wars and ecological catastrophes, in order to actively respond to the climate crisis and to analyse the connections between climate catastrophe and colonisation. As we face the challenges of the future, such as adapting to climate change and navigating new geopolitical landscapes and structures of power, it becomes increasingly important to learn new strategies and skills and forge new alliances. It’s by doing so that we might hope to avoid falling into the traps of the past and the ghosts of the impossible present.

Artists: Linda Boļšakova, Eglė Budvytytė, Līva Dudareva, Elo-Reet Järv, Kristina Õllek, Liene Pavlovska. Curator: Solvita Krese. Exhibition design: Līva Dudareva. 

The exhibition has been organised by the Latvian Centre for Contemporary Art in collaboration with State of Concept Athens, the Estonian Centre for Contemporary Art, and Nida Art Colony of Vilnius Academy of Arts and is supported by the Baltic Culture Fund, the Embassy of Latvia in Greece, the Embassy of Estonia in Athens and the Cultural Endowment of Estonia.

The Latvian Centre for Contemporary Art is a non-governmental organization that has been promoting the development of contemporary art processes in Latvia and abroad since 2000, with a focus on the critical and creative appraisal of events in today’s society. The LCCA organizes art events and exhibitions, runs research and educational projects, regularly produces publications, and is the founder and organiser of the annual international contemporary art festival Survival Kit.