The first solo exhibition in the UK of Latvian artist Sabīne Šnē
23 Aug 2023 – 29 Aug 2023
Lot Projects, 2 Broadway Market, London E8 4TS
Opening: 23 Aug 2023, 18:00 - 21:00
Curated by Nastia Svarevska
To Be We Need to Know the River is the first solo exhibition in the UK of Latvian artist Sabīne Šnē, who explores the intersections between culture and nature, informed by historical and current ideas. Her broad interdisciplinary practice combines video, 3D animation, sound, sculpture, and drawing.
Merging scientific facts, science fiction and 3D worldbuilding, To Be We Need to Know the River speculates different possibilities for re-worlding, centred around new symbiotic relationships between humans, non-humans, and nature.
As the threat of climate change intensifies, it forces us to confront difficult questions about the future of our planet. What might Earth look like? Can it continue to support both human and non-human life? How will ecological, existential, legal, and political frameworks shape our world? And what can we learn from our non-human neighbours - from blue mussels and dung beetles to lichens and mycelium?
The public program features a multimedia performance by Bestiary (23/08), Circle of Listening by Hayley Harrison (26/08) and Attendant Writing by Fiona Glen (28/08). These workshops invite participants to explore their own relationship with nature and other beings.
The exhibition also includes a publication titled Beyond Human Horizons with contributions from Micol Curatolo, Martina Francone, Fiona Glen, Hayley Harrison, Chantelle Mitchell, Sabīne Šnē, and Jaxon Waterhouse.
Additionally, one of the artworks is augmented by audio and text descriptions created by writer Joe Rizzo Naudi. Drawing from conversations in front of the artwork with the artist and curator, they translate the artwork into language, providing visitors with a parallel experience in a non-visual form.
*To Be We Need to Know the River takes its title from a poem by Ursula K. Le Guin.
Supported by State Culture Capital Foundation of Latvia and the Embassy of the Republic of Latvia to the United Kingdom
Exhibition images by Chris Denoon
Workshop images by Antonia Gangi