RIGA.- The inaugural edition of the Riga International Biennial of Contemporary Art (RIBOCA), a major biannual event in Latvia, will launch in June 2018.

With a European focus and a strong regional profile, RIBOCA is conceived as a dynamic new site of artistic experimentation and knowledge production which will offer a barometer of current social, political and economic issues filtered through artistic practices. RIBOCA will create new opportunities for leading international and regional artists to engage with the rich cultural, historical and socio-political context of Riga, Latvia and its geographic surrounds. The biennial will be manifested at various points throughout the city, with a full programme and locations to be announced.

RIBOCA is a major initiative of the Riga Biennial Foundation, its commissioning body. Founder and Director of the Riga Biennial Foundation Agniya Mirgorodskaya developed RIBOCA as new global platform for international and Baltic artists to promote contemporary art and provide educational and community support within the region, and to increase artistic engagement between the Baltic region and the rest of the world. For each edition of the biennial, a significant proportion of the commissioned and participating artists were born in, or live and work in, the Baltic states of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, a territory which still remains relatively unexplored despite its prolific artistic production.

The Riga Biennial Foundation has appointed globally recognised, Greek-born curator Katerina Gregos as Chief Curator of RIBOCA 2018. The curatorial concept for the first edition of the biennial will be announced in spring 2017.