Liene Pavlovska’s exhibition “The Smoldering Flashes” will open at TUR on January 8th

TUR is excited to announce the first solo exhibition of 2025 with new space transforming and thought provoking work by artist and scenographer, Liene Pavlovska. “The Smoldering Flashes” opens on January 8th at 18:00 and can be seen at TUR, Contemporary Space for Art on Tallinas Street Quarter for five weeks until February 8th.

Liene Pavlovska’s artistic practice emerges from the intersection of personal memory, socio-political history, and spatial transformation, reflecting the complexities of being born and growing up in Soviet and newly independent Latvia. Her work delves into the residues of collective and private trauma, exploring themes of domesticity, surveillance, and the fraught interplay between family, state power, and individual agency.
Through large-scale, abstract installations that seem to have been wrestled from the subconscious, Pavlovska transforms materials such as vintage Soviet-era wallpaper and the paper used in old photo albums into evocative visual narratives. These installations incorporate abstract watercolors that evoke fleeting, dreamlike fragments of her past, mirroring the layered, often contradictory nature of personal and national histories. Her use of found materials and fragmented imagery critiques systems of control while gesturing toward the reclamation of space for improvisation and memory. Pavlovska’s art bravely approaches the shadows of domestic struggles, including alcohol and physical abuse, as well as the lasting impact of state control. Yet her work is not accusatory; it offers a quiet space for reflection and invites viewers to acknowledge unspoken truths that shape collective identity.
Drawing from theoretical frameworks such as Guy Debord’s critique of spectacle and Hannah Arendt’s explorations of public and private realms, Pavlovska constructs a stage where personal experience plays out against historical forces. The exhibition “The Smoldering Flashes” forges connections between the personal and the universal. Amongst the glowing embers and bright fleeting sparks of both personal and collective memory, Pavlovska invites the audience to engage in collective healing through recognition, dialogue, and the acknowledgment of shared histories.

About Liene Pavlovska

Liene Pavlovska is an artist, scenographer, and spatial designer. She holds a Bachelor's and Master's degree in scenography from the Art Academy of Latvia, as well as a Master's degree from the Sandberg Institute in Amsterdam, The Netherlands. Her work explores the intersection of desire and collectivity, examining how desires are expressed through space and how they shape the living environments of humans and other beings. In addition to her artistic practice, Pavlovska is a founding member of Amsterdam based collective Fabulous Future and recently co-founded a new exhibition space in Riga, Part Time Gallery, with her partner, Oskars Pavlovskis.

About TUR, Contemporary Space for Art

TUR organizes seven contemporary art exhibitions each year: three solo exhibitions in the winter months, three in the summer, and a group exhibition in the fall. TUR’s mission is to enrich Riga's contemporary art scene by providing a platform for experimentation, collaboration, and close engagement with selected artists to produce high-quality, curated exhibitions. Working with the unique characteristics of its space—which combines elements of the traditional white cube with the building’s industrial past—TUR invites artists to create new work and encourages them to experiment beyond their usual practices. Since its founding, TUR has hosted contemporary art exhibitions alongside concerts, performances, and poetry readings connected to its programs. Notably, three of TUR’s exhibitions have been nominated for the 2025 Purvītis Prize: “Folding Lines” by Luīze Rukšane, “Voices in My Heads” by Rūdolfs Štamers, and “Lapa uz lapas” by Maija Kurševa, each receiving critical acclaim.

TUR_telpa is a non-profit art initiative supported by the Latvian State Culture Capital Foundation. For updates on exhibitions and events, follow TUR on Instagram (@tur_telpa) and Facebook (TUR).

Curator: Edd Schouten

Project manager: Kristīne Ercika

Production support: Ada Ruszkiewicz and Andris Freibergs

Light Design and Technical Support: Maksimilians Kotovičs

Graphic design: Andris Kaļiņins