From April 26 to May 30, the ISSP Gallery will host the exhibition “Difficult Objects” by Estonian artist Ruudu Ulas, winner of the Riga Photography Biennial – NEXT 2025 Award “Seeking the Latest in Photography!” The exhibition dissolves the boundaries between the real and the perceptible, inviting viewers to become aware of their presence and interaction within a shared space. Join us for the opening on April 25 at 6 PM!
The Riga Photography Biennial – NEXT competition “Seeking the Latest in Photography!” was first held in 2016 and has been organized in collaboration with the ISSP Gallery since 2019. As part of the exhibition opening, six finalists of this year’s competition will also present their work: Ruudu Ulas (EE), Klaus Leo Richter (LT), Riin Maide (EE), Keiu Maasik (EE), Gedvile Tamosiunaite (LT), and Paula Punkstiņa (LV).
In her series “Difficult Objects,” award-winning Ruudu Ulas highlights the connections between objects and human experience, exploring both tangible and psychological intersections through photography. The artist’s flowing colors and contrasting objects create an emotional space of contemporary life – one filled with hopes and dreams, but equally capable of becoming a stage for fears and worries.
Ruudu Ulas (1987) is an Estonian artist who lives and works between Tallinn, London, and Berlin. Her creative practice encompasses photography, object-making, and performative actions. Ulas’s work explores the interaction between the individual and the environment, highlighting the tension and imperfections that emerge when public and personal spaces intersect. Working within the field of expanded photography, her research often takes the form of large-scale installations.
Curator: Inga Brūvere
Exhibition partners and supporters: State Culture Capital Foundation of Latvia, Riga City Council, ‘VV Foundation’, ‘NoRoutine Books’, Estonian Embassy in Riga, Embassy of Sweden in Riga, ‘Riga Art Week’ (RAW), printing house ‘Adverts’, ‘Rixwell Hotels’, ‘Arctic Paper’, Valmiermuiža Craft Brewery, Arterritory.com, Echo Gone Wrong, NOBA