TUR is pleased to present “Field of Exercises,” a new solo exhibition by Līga Spunde, opening on August 20th at 18:00. Running through September 20th, the exhibition transforms the space of TUR into an installation that invites visitors to explore a series of physical gestures that together form a quietly subversive choreography of care, empathy, and strength.
The sense that the world is sliding into irreversible decline is no longer abstract, it is pervasive and inescapable. Political systems lean toward authoritarianism, the climate crisis accelerates without reprieve, and global conflicts are driven by the whims of the powerful with near-total impunity. Faced with this escalating powerlessness, Līga Spunde responds with a precise and quietly radical “Field of Exercises” which playfully proposes a return to the body, to physical expression, to the irreducible gestures that define our shared humanity. Here, in an abstract training ground of sculptural forms, we are invited to rehearse tenderness, confidence, empathy as a form of imaginative resistance.
Spunde is known for her meticulous, visually rich environments where digital prints, cinematic compositions, and sculptural elements converge to examine how subjective experience collides with social architecture. In this latest body of work, she departs from her signature use of flat image and ventures further into three-dimensional form, employing large-scale 3D printing with an experimental yet assured hand. The shift in medium is not merely a technical expansion, it marks a conceptual one as well. While previous works often navigated themes of psychological fracture, digital overload, and emotional dissonance, “Field of Exercises” traces the possibility of emotional repair. It does not ignore the crises of the present – Spunde remains acutely attuned to global injustice, ecological collapse, and collective fatigue – but it pivots toward a different kind of response. Not solution, but gesture. Not escape, but rehearsal.
Each work functions as an open-ended instruction, inviting interaction without requiring it, hinting at bodily participation while remaining resolutely sculptural and simultaneously an object of thought. There is a rigor to this ambiguity. The sculptures are not props or sentimental symbols, but precise formal objects imbued with both technical sophistication and conceptual clarity. The embrace, the interlocked hands, the upright stance, all carry echoes of physiotherapeutic practices such as mirror therapy, in which a damaged or missing limb is tricked into healing through the image of its healthy twin. Spunde translates this principle into metaphor: can we, in the face of emotional paralysis, perform gestures of belief until they take root?
There is a note of play in this premise, a lightness of tone that edges toward the childlike, but never becomes childish. It would be easy to misread this as naïveté. But the sincerity in Spunde’s approach is deliberate and exacting. In a cultural moment where irony and exhaustion often dominate, “Field of Exercises” proposes something unexpectedly subversive: a space in which to practice feeling. Not because feeling is easy, but because it has become hard. Spunde’s refusal to retreat into cynicism is not a turn away from complexity, but a confrontation with it, a recognition that the simplest gestures are sometimes the most difficult to access, and the most necessary to recover.
The installation offers structure as well as openness. A field, after all, is not just an open space – it is a site of repetition, of training, of formation. Visitors move through this landscape as potential participants rather than passive observers. The choreography is only implied, suggesting a reconditioning of the body and imagination through touch, posture, and symbolic movement. Digitally modelled sculptures in resin share the space with a continuous soundscape by Kārlis Tone. This composition blends acoustic and electronic textures, fast but tender, fierce yet inclusive, strong yet kind. They draw on influences that range from the romantic motifs of Sibelius and Wagner to the energising pulse of gym music and the meditative atmospheres of online mindfulness channels. The soundscape acts as a spatial presence, shaping the environment alongside the visual works.
About the artist
Līga Spunde (b. 1990, Riga) is known for her richly narrative and emotionally charged installations that fuse digital aesthetics with speculative fiction, autobiography, and psychological inquiry. A graduate of the Art Academy of Latvia (BA 2014, MA 2016) and former student at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts Antwerp (In Situ3, 2015), Spunde’s work frequently explores the fragile boundaries between perception and reality, often rendered in digital prints, video, and sculptural environments. Her graduation project The Hike was named one of the top three emerging projects in Europe, and she has since exhibited internationally, with recent shows at SLU Contemporary Art Gallery (USA), KINGS ARI (Australia), Tuesday to Friday (Spain), MO Museum (Lithuania) and Garage in Rotterdam (The Netherlands). Twice nominated for the prestigious Purvītis Prize and a recipient of the Kim? Contemporary Art Centre Residency Award, Spunde’s works are held in public and private collections including the Latvian National Museum of Art, the Zuzāns Collection, and VV Foundation.
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, which has made the final selection of nominees; “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).
Exhibition Curator: Edd Schouten
Project Manager: Kristīne Ercika
Production Manager: Ada Ruszkiewicz
Intern: Anita Dille
Sound Design: Kārlis Tone
Technical Support: Maksimilians Kotovičs
Graphic Design: Andris Kaļiņins
The exhibition is supported by VKKF and Education, Culture, and Sports Department of Riga City Council
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