On June 20th musician and composer Vija Moore will perform a concert in response to the Rūdolfs Štamers exhibition “Voices in my Heads” at TUR_telpa

On June 20th at 19:00, contemporary art space TUR_Telpa, in Tallinas ielas kvartāls, will present a unique concert by musician and composer Vija Moore. In a one off event, she will engage and respond to the current exhibition “Voices in my Heads” by Rūdolfs Štamers.

Percussionist Vija Moore has been invited to react and respond to “Voices in my Heads,” TUR_telpa's  first contemporary art exhibition in the summer series “Monumental Encounters” by artist Rūdolfs Štamers. For the concert on Tuesday, she will contribute a new voice to the exhibition, one of the fundamental themes for Štamers who has included contributions by Sabine Vernere, Uģis Albiņš and Dianna Payton in the installation he has made for the space. Moore says she resonates strongly with the title of the show as it is similar to the title of the work she made for her Bachelors Degree at the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki, Finland and she looks forward to finding interesting departure points from which to create a unique performance. In what is likely to be a clash of styles and backgrounds, the “conversation” between the work of Štamers and the performance by Moore, promises to be a unique engagement that will bring new perspectives to voices that currently inhabit TUR_telpa.  

This musical event is part of TUR_telpa's initiative to stimulate interdisciplinary collaborations and unexpected crossovers between creative genres. As Edd Schouten, curator of the summer series explains, “it is exciting to see how an artist might interpret and respond to the work of another artist, especially when they come from completely different disciplines and perspectives as is the case with Rūdolfs and Vija.” The fact that TUR_telpa is closely aligned to the music and performance venue Tu jau zini kur means that they are uniquely situated to bring different disciplines together. Both spaces are dedicated to bringing high quality, cutting edge art to their audience and this format, where experimentation and crossover are highly valued, fits perfectly in their development of new and exciting content.

The entrance fee is 10,00 EUR, tickets will be available on the day of the event in the TUR_telpa. To reserve your seat at the concert, please write your name and amount of seats needed  to [email protected].

About Vija Moore

Vija Moore has been making music from childhood when she played the kokle, violin and sang in the folklore ensemble “Kokle.” After graduating from the percussion department at Emīla Dārziņu Music School of NMV, she continued her studies at the Sibelius Academy of Music in Helsinki, Finland where she earned a Bachelor of Global Music. During her studies, Moore's focus was on traditional marimbas, studying the West African marimba - the diatonic balaphone. Her musical interests extend widely and besides playing in diverse projects, she composes and is the founder of the experimental art and music festival, Optižūns. She was a finalist in last year's Sansusī mūziķu kautiņu (musician battles) at Tu jau zini kur, losing to Robert Fleitz who has previously performed several well received concerts responding to the exhibition series “From the Cold into the Light.”

About the exhibition

Rūdolfs Štamers space engulfing installation invites the viewer into the voices in his heads. His heads are his experiences with what feel like different personalities residing inside him; the voices refer to the dual influences he faces in his life. On the one hand, the inspirational impact of his peers, other artists, his interest in readymades and the materials he encounters. On the other hand, the darker and more sinister influence of his pessimistic thoughts caused by personal artistic crises exacerbated by the depressing global events of the times in which we live. At TUR_telpa he brings together the impressions his various personalities encounter in the form of large scale sculptural paintings made of repurposed advertising banners extending from corner to corner, up and down across the exhibition space and interlaced with his ready made sculptures, interventions and other sensory elements like sound and smell. In the characteristic typical of Štamers, he creates surrealistic ambiance where all senses are engaged, playing with a dreamlike aura that invites the visitor into a daydream about our subconscious cravings. The orchestrated chaos is amplified through the interventions of several of his artistic inspirations, works by Sabine Vernere, Uģis Albinš and OFF ME ON (Diana Payton) interact, creating harmony and dissonance depending on the perspective from which they are perceived. It is the visitor that completes the installation - their presence creating yet another one of the many “voices in my heads.”

Riga born artist Rūdolfs Štamers currently lives and works mainly in Paris, France but maintains strong ties to his home city. He is, along with Uldis Trapencieris, one of the founders of TUR_telpa and still a driving force behind its continued success. He is a graduate of the Art Academy of Latvia (LMA) and holds a masters in sculpture from the Royal Academy of Fine arts in Antwerp, Belgium.

Although in his works he likes to use industrial and raw materials, his themes are often fragile and sensitive. Štamers works with the space between the real and the dream world, using states of mind as instruments. He reflects on the unconscious sensations invoked when encountering lust, fear, amazement etc. His installations, revolving around lust, love and unattainable desires, are often based in fictional scenarios and absurd situations. Emotions and mental states are juxtaposed through the use of  construction materials from home depot stores mixed with composite materials, paint and found object elements.

About the TUR_telpa

TUR_telpa is an independent art space that values experimentation and process-based art. Since 2020, TUR_telpa has become an important contemporary art space in Riga, organizing contemporary art exhibitions as well as concerts, performances and poetry readings. Three of the exhibitions have been nominated for the Purvītis Prize, most recently “Lapa uz lapas” by Maija Kurševa from April this year. The other nominated exhibitions were "O" by Sabine Verners who is also contributing to this coming show, and Kristine Krause-Slucka's solo exhibition "Forced Movements of the Past." 

The three exhibitions of the summer series “Monumental Encounters” are curated by Dutch artist Edd Schouten in close collaboration with the artists and team at TUR_telpa. The space is open to the public from Tuesday to Saturday, from 17:00 to 22:00. The exhibition runs from 1 June till 1 July.

TUR_telpa is a non-profit art initiative supported by the Latvian State Culture Capital Foundation. For the latest news and events, please follow TUR_telpa's Instagram (tur_telpa) and/or Facebook page (TUR)