Opening: 27.04.2023, 18:00
Exhibition: 28.04–18.06.2023
Place: Riga Art Space, Kungu Str. 3, Riga, Latvia
Curator and scenograoher of the exhibition: Inga Brūvere
Michalina Kacperak’s first solo exhibition Soft Spot opens the Riga Photography Biennial – NEXT 2023!
Getting out of the house. An ordinary activity, like going out to do some shopping or to take a walk? Or getting out metaphorically – separating yourself from your family home? Such separation is not easy when you are leaving a home full of contradictions – a place that is both a shelter and a prison, a place that is both cosy and uncomfortable.
Soft Spot is Michalina Kacperak’s personal story. Born in 1993, Michalina is the oldest of four daughters of an alcoholic. Having lived in a dysfunctional family for years, she felt the need to share her experience. She was inspired by the courage and imagination of her youngest sister Zosia, now thirteen years old. At first, Kacperak photographed mostly for herself. She wanted to hug herself as a child.
Zosia has created a safe world for herself in a menacing home. She has turned her room into a colourful shelter. For years, she has covered its walls with drawings, created structures from colourful yarn and pieces of popped balloons, and filled the small space with countless dolls, figurines, toys and games.
Riga Photography Biennial – NEXT 2023: 27.04–23.07.2023
Fragment of a text by Katarzyna Sagatowska.
Partners: Jednostka Gallery, Łódź Film School, State Culture Capital Foundation, Riga City Council, Association of Culture Institutions of Riga City Council, Exhibition hall Riga Art Space, Rixwell Hotels, Valmiermuiža Brewery, Printing house Adverts, Arterritory.com, Echo Gone Wrong, Noba.ac, BLOK
Michalina Kacperak, from the ‘Soft Spot’ series (2021–2023)