How are you today? Emotional intelligence
From July 2 to September 13 at the Riga Contemporary Art Space
“How are you today?”
A seemingly simple question that we are not always able to answer honestly. At the same time, it is one of the fundamental questions in our relationships with ourselves and others.
From July 2 to September 13, the Grand Hall of the Riga Contemporary Art Space will host the multimedia research exhibition HOW ARE YOU TODAY? EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE, dedicated to Dr. Ilze Aizsilniece (1966–2025), who passed away last year. The exhibition continues the conversation she began on the significance of emotions in one’s life, inviting viewers to examine them through the prism of art, science, medicine, and personal experience.
Emotions influence our choices, relationships, and physical and mental health, as well as our ability to get along with others and with ourselves. They also determine how we perceive the world and make decisions. In this project, art becomes a way to experience, recognize, and understand emotions.
Artūrs Virtmanis. GEOMETRY OF MELANCHOLY. Cardboard, paper adhesive tape. 2011–2026
“It is often difficult to talk about emotions directly. Art approaches them differently, even before words, helping us see what we are not always able to acknowledge or articulate to ourselves. Emotions are our reaction to what is happening in the world, so it is especially important to be able to recognize, understand, accept, and channel them,” say exhibition curators Una Meistere and Daiga Rudzāte.
Helēna Heinrihsone. The White. Oil on canvas. 2024. Photo: Kristine Madjare
The exhibition’s narrative will be shaped by works from 28 Latvian artists. It focuses on the six so-called basic emotions – fear, anger, joy, sadness, disgust, and surprise – which, based on the theory by the world-renowned American psychologist Paul Ekman, are considered universal and significant in the course of human evolution.
The exhibition features Latvian artists from various generations: Kristaps Ancāns, Ēriks Apaļais, Kristians Brekte, Andris Breže, Aleksandrs Breže, Anna Ceipe, Kristiāna Dimitere, Reinis Dzudzilo, Miķelis Fišers, Indriķis Ģelzis, Helēna Heinrihsone, Brenda Jansone, Marks Halsons, Frančeska Kirke, Maija Kurševa, Katrīna Lipšāne, Laimdota Malle, Sarmīte Māliņa, MAREUNROL’S, Ģirts Muižnieks, Pauls Rietums, Ilze Rukšāne, Līga Spunde, Krista Vindberga-Auzniece, Artūrs Virtmanis, Amanda Ziemele, Otto Zitmanis, and Paula Zvane.
As part of the project, the question “HOW ARE YOU TODAY?” will expand beyond the exhibition’s spatial boundaries by also appearing in the urban environment. It is already catching the eyes of passersby from the window of the building at Amatu iela 4, which features work by artist Krista Vindberga-Auzniece. Immediately after the Midsummer celebrations, visitors will have the opportunity to reflect on their answer to the question posed by the exhibition while sitting on benches designed by architect and artist Pauls Rietums that will be installed in Dome Square, Reformation Square, Janis Rozentals Square by the Latvian National Museum of Art, and the entrance plaza of the Latvian Academy of Art.
The exhibition will also be complemented by four new volumes in the book series Veselīga Latvija. Emociju pratība (A Healthy Latvia. Emotional Intelligence), created in collaboration with the foundation “Dr. Ilzes Aizsilnieces fonds” and the publishing house “Zvaigzne ABC.” The new volumes are dedicated to joy, sadness, anger, and disgust—emotions that significantly influence our relationships with ourselves and others.
Continuing the series of discussions on emotional intelligence initiated by physician Ilze Aizsilniece (1966-2025), the exhibition will feature talks and discussions with artists, psychologists, neuroscientists, psychiatrists, musicians, architects, designers, and philosophers.
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Curated by Una Meistere & Daiga Rudzāte
The exhibition has been created in collaboration with Arterritory, Veselīga Latvija, and the Ilze Aizsilniece Foundation.
The exhibition is organized by the Riga City Municipality Institution RIGA CONTEMPORARY ART SPACE. The exhibition is supported by the Riga City Municipality, the association Veselīga Latvija, and the Dr. Ilze Aizsilniece Foundation. Main media partner: Rīgas Viļņi.
Partner: the arts and culture platform Arterritory.com.
Title image: Līga Spunde.GRUMPY ORANGES. Acrylic on synthetic resin. 2023
