Biography
For Katrīna Neiburga (b. 1978), art is subordinate to a yearning for emotion, authenticity and the preservation of living memory. One of Neiburga’s chief means of expression is her deeply personal iconography, which is evident in her video installations, both in exhibitions and as theatre set designs. She is interested in sociology, investigating preconceptions about the nature of things. Neiburga holds an MA in Visual Communication from the Art Academy of Latvia and has studied at the Royal Institute of Art in Stockholm, Sweden. She has been exhibiting since 2000 and has participated in biennials in Sydney (2006), Moscow (2007), Venice (2015), and Kochi–Muziris (2016). In 2008, she was short-listed for the Ars Fennica Award and received the first edition of the Purvītis Prize.
Portfolio
Traffic
Having decided to make a temporary change of occupation and become a taxi driver, the artist ferries around residents of the Pārdaugava suburbs in Latvia, talking to her passengers and video recording their stories. The unscheduled taxi routes and somewhat unpredictable behaviour of her passengers reveals a rich urban texture which is also reflected in the stories told by random passengers.
The second part of the project consists of Neiburga’s interviews with female taxi drivers. Women's position determined by social roles and traditions becomes the subject of the artist's analysis. The grey-haired taxi driver's stories of curious incidents dating from the Soviet era, her family problems, adventures and worries about an insecure future create a portrait of a strong woman ― one that is easy to identify with if you live in Latvia.
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