In August we are thrilled to welcome Robin Levy. 

Levy creates intimate, durational explorations that push towards a deeper understanding of our complicated world. With a practice spanning four decades, she strives to make works that originate from a highly personal place that can represent shared communal experiences. By translating the experiential into material, she aims to illustrate the impact of human bias on our psyches and relationships, through sculpture, photography, installation and community based collaboration.

Robin’s statement about her time in Kuldiga: I am thrilled to be one of Studija’s international artists invited to see Kuldiga through diverse lenses and to contribute to its creative community! Maija first visited my New Orleans studio in 2019, and despite living worlds apart, we discovered a shared history: U.S. Jim Crow laws which were adapted by Germany’s Nuremberg Laws decimated families and lives worldwide. Our interconnected stories remind how unchecked crimes against humanity—perpetrated anywhere—destroy lives everywhere.

My monthlong stay is focused on learning Latvian history and the lesser-known Jewish history in Kuldiga. Working with local scholars and interested residents, I hope to conduct oral histories with elders, research archival materials, view random items owned by local individuals, sold in shops, and discover any fragments that might reveal the prior Jewish life and culture in Kuldiga. From these activities, together with local acquaintances and collaborators, we will weave together these clues into a celebratory commemorative ritual or community event.

The residency is supported by Valsts Kultūrkapitāla Fonds.