and suddenly it all blossoms - The 2nd Riga International Biennial of Contemporary Art

The RIBOCA2 Catalogue is available in English, Latvian and Russian. It provides a valuable retrospective insight into the second edition of Riga International Biennial of Contemporary Art.

RIBOCA2, and suddenly it all blossoms, was proposed as an alternative to the torrent of hopeless narratives, taking the notion of 're-en­chantment' as a frame for building desirable presents and futures. The exhibition, which opened for only 3 weeks in 2020 with 46 international artists, sought to reflect on the end of an epoch, investigating new paths of existence with space for other voices, sensitivities and relationships. The biennial was hit by the rapid spread of COVID-19 just a few weeks before the opening, and thus Chief curator Rebecca Lamarche-Vadel decided to transform the exhibition into a film set, reimagining the biennial as a feature film. The catalogue of and suddenly it all blossoms was released in September 2021, alongside the premiere of this film.

This limited edition publication is a wander through the exhibition and a supplement to the film, bringing together artists’ concepts, COVID imposed curatorial changes, and thoughts on themes central to the Biennial with full page installation shots, alongside excerpts from the Public Programmes series of talks and conversations (curated by Associate Curator Sofia Lemos).

This collectable item is uniquely constructed with a complex architectural structure, featuring an impeccably removable segment, developed by Laboratory of Manuel Bürger/Collaboratoires MB, printed by Jelgavas Tipogrāfija.

Featured artists:

Pawel Althamer, Kristaps Ancāns, Félicia Atkinson, Alex Baczynski-Jenkins, Nina Beier, Oliver Beer, Hicham Berrada, Dora Budor, Eglė Budvytytė, Valdis Celms, Edith Dekyndt, Vinciane Despret, Erika Eiffel, Vija Eniņa, Miķelis Fišers, Heinz Frank, Cyprien Gaillard, Bendik Giske, Honkasalo-Niemi-Virtanen, Katrin Hornek, Marguerite Humeau, Pierre Huyghe, IevaKrish, Mikhail Karikis and Uriel Orlow, Agnese Krivade, Lina Lapelytė and Mantas Petraitis, Eva L’Hoest, Hanne Lippard, Mikhail Maksimov, MAREUNROL'S, Berenice Olmedo, Dominika Olszowy, Sarah Ortmeyer, Philippe Petit, Bridget Polk, Ugo Rondinone, Jaanus Samma, Tomás Saraceno, Augustas Serapinas, Timur Si-Qin, Nikolay Smirnov, Anastasia Sosunova, Daina Taimiņa

Excerpts of talks by:

CAConrad, Marisol de la Cadena, Federico Campagna, Avery F. Gordon, Boris Groys, Jack Halberstam, Tim Ingold, André Lepecki, Sophie Lewis, Michael Marder, Birgit Menzel, Astrida Neimanis, Tobias Rees, Boaventura de Sousa Santos, Marina Simakova, The Institute of the Cosmos, Nikolay Smirnov, Anton Vidokle, Jackie Wang, McKenzie Wark, Arseny Zhilyaev

The RIBOCA2 Catalogue is available in English, Latvian and Russian. It provides a valuable retrospective insight into the second edition of Riga International Biennial of Contemporary Art.