Līga Spundes’s solo exhibition The Mind The Heart “Prāts, sirds”

7.11.2026 - 3.1.2027

Līga Spunde
The Mind The Heart  “Prāts, sirds”
solo exhibition

Opening: 6 November, 6–9 p.m.

Exhibition dates: 7 November 2026 – 3 January 2027
Venue: Kim? Contemporary Art Centre, Sporta 2, Riga
Curators: Johan Gustavsson and Clara Pallí Monguilod

Kim? Contemporary Art Centre is pleased to present The Mind The Heart, a solo exhibition by Līga Spunde, following her Kim? x ISCP residency in New York in autumn 2023. The exhibition was first presented at 1646 in The Hague, curated by Johan Gustavsson and Clara Pallí Monguilod, marking Spunde’s first solo exhibition in the Netherlands.

Transforming the exhibition space into a “gym for the heart”, Spunde uses humour, sculpture, graphics, and moving images to confront a sense of emotional numbness and confusion, exploring why feelings have become increasingly difficult to access in a world shaped by efficiency and information overload. In a capitalist society driven by profit and productivity, rationality is privileged over emotion, while knowledge systems rooted in care, reciprocity, and collective responsibility are often devalued.

Why has it become so difficult to feel deeply amid the constant flow of information and a seemingly endless succession of crises? As visitors move through the exhibition’s spaces – the reception, rehearsal, and recovery areas – they encounter different manifestations of the everyday struggle between emotion and rationality, the heart and the mind. Spunde holds on to the belief that our capacity to care for others, to care for ourselves, and to act with kindness has not been lost, but rather left undertrained. Like a muscle, empathy can be strengthened through practice.

The exhibition is organised in collaboration with 1646, an experimental art space in The Hague.

Accompanying the exhibition is a conversation between Līga Spunde and journalist and writer Lena Bril, conducted in preparation for Spunde’s exhibition at 1646 and first published on that occasion. The conversation is available in English and in Latvian translation.

Līga Spunde (b. 1990, Riga) is known for her richly narrative and emotionally charged installations that fuse digital aesthetics with speculative fiction, autobiography, and psychological inquiry. A graduate of the Art Academy of Latvia (BA 2014, MA 2016) and former student at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts Antwerp (In Situ3, 2015), Spunde’s work frequently explores the fragile boundaries between perception and reality, often rendered in digital prints, video, and sculptural environments. Her graduation project The Hike was named one of the top three emerging projects in Europe, and she has since exhibited internationally, with recent shows at 1646 (NL), TUR (LV), Publiek Park (BE), MMCA Changdong (KR), SLU Contemporary Art Gallery (USA), KINGS ARI (AUS), Tuesday to Friday (ES), MO Museum (LT), and Garage in Rotterdam (NL). She has participated in several international residencies, including the MMCA Changdong Residency (Seoul) and ISCP (New York). Spunde has twice been nominated for the Purvītis Prize. Her works are held in public and private collections, including the Latvian National Museum of Art, the Zuzāns Collection, VV Foundation, and TAAD Foundation.

About 1646
1646 is a place in the heart of The Hague where visitors experience contemporary art, discover new perspectives, and engage with the world around them. It is a space to step into and spend time in, while being surprised by work that challenges familiar ideas and assumptions.
The encounter with art takes centre stage. As well as exhibitions, 1646 hosts a vibrant programme of events, such as artist talks and guided tours, publications, and artist residencies. The programme offers space for wonder, reflection, and exchange.
Through a focus on solo exhibitions, 1646 supports local and international artists to develop new work. These are presented within an immersive context, where visitors are offered a layered and in-depth experience of the work.
The artists presented at 1646 use strategies like fictioning, complicating, and humour to spark dialogue and offer alternative points of view. Fiction is treated as an essential tool for imagining the world differently. Likewise, complexity, contradiction, and paradox are embraced as natural parts of human life. Playfulness and humour are used as tools to keep an open, curious mindset.

Artist’s acknowledgements: Kim? team, Clara Pallí Monguilod, Johan Gustavsson, the 1646 team, Liāna Mihailova, Linda Stūre, Sabīne Moore, Mārtiņš Skuja, Oskars Plataiskalns, and Dekorāciju darbnīca, Elizabete Ance Spožuma, Marta Kariņa-Burkāne and Varis Burkāns, Oto Holgers Ozoliņš, Ance Strazda, Klāvs Mellis, Edd Schouten, and David Schilter.

The works were produced with the support of the Mondriaan Fund and the Municipality of The Hague.

Supported by: the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Latvia, the State Culture Capital Foundation, Riga City Council, Altum, KRASO, Valmiermuiža, and Media Port. The exhibition is co-financed by the European Union’s support for social entrepreneurship.

Kim? Contemporary Art Centre and exhibition team:     
Executive Director: Evita Goze 
Programme Director: Zane Onckule 
Communications Manager: Kristiāna Bērza 
Project Manager: Katrīna Jauģiete
Mediators: Poļina Gasparoviča, Emīlija Austra Lodiņa, Anna Annemarija Samsone, Alise Sedleniece, Marlēna Sniega, Patrīcija Sabīne Vaskāne
Technical team: Andris Maračkovskis, Mārtiņš Aulmanis, Aldis Bušs, Romāns Medvedevs, VPT
Latvian proofreading: Inguna Sudmale
Translation from English: Irma Marija Tukāne
English proofreading: Will Mawhood