"Don't Dream It's Over" is the first international exhibition of the Art Academy of Latvia's professional doctoral student group: fifteen artists exploring diverse topics and solutions in different art media in their daily practice and studies. The interests of these artists vary between natural symbols and traces of history, ecofeminism and social observations; therefore, the exhibition focuses on how the qualities of traditional art integrate into a contemporary context, incorporating new techniques in the process of creating an art piece. It is also possible to look at the Professional Doctorate study program from the same perspective: it provokes already practicing artists to objective but simultaneously empathetic research.

Having reached professional goals individually, these artists return to the study process intending to analyze and learn about their practice. It can become a big challenge for artists because it forces them to scrutinize their creative activity through research-based constructs. Conceptually the exhibition's narrative presents three main topics that unite these different creators. The first topic, Presence, includes the works of female artists who speak through the experience of corporeality. The second topic, Existence, brings together artists who discuss the points of contact between nature and man, including space, from different perspectives. Whereas the third topic, Observation, is supported by art pieces exhibited on the basement floor; it represents contrasts between history and the present. Artworks for the exhibition were selected from the existing arsenal of the creative practice of each artist/doctoral student; therefore, the project can be seen not only as an international representation of a specific study program but also as an individual exposition of each creator.

The name of the exhibition, "Don't Dream It's Over", is a direct reference to the 1986 legendary song of the same name by the group "Crowded House," which encouraged listeners not to succumb to the influence and consumerism of mass media, and also an ironic reminder of the potentially long-term nature of the study process.

Exhibition "Don't Dream It's Over"
06.05. – 27.05.2023.
Gallery Pallas
Riia tänav 11, Tartu linn, Tartu

Artists

Rasa Jansone, Atis Jākobsons. Rute Marta Jansone, Nils Jumītis, Madara Kvēpa, Liene Mackus, Anna Pommere, Ansis Rozentāls, Līva Rutmane-Kalniņa, Sandra Strēle, Laura Veļa, Sabīne Vernere, Linda Vilka, Martins Vizubulis, Veronika Voļska

Curator: Auguste Petre
Exhibition artist: Kristians Brekte
Visual identity: Anna Ceipe
Project manager: Inese Rozentāla

The exhibition is organized by the Art Academy of Latvia in cooperation with Pallas University of Applied Sciences.