Skiland is a massive reinforced concrete structure in the Japanese mountains on Shikoku Island, which was initially built as a skiing resort and is now a half abandoned, crumbling hotel and trout farm. After an invitation from the Kamiyama local government and development agencies in Japan, following a competitive procedure, artist Krišs Salmanis received an opportunity to partake in a residency program in the Tokushima prefecture to create a new art work.
Krišs Salmanis (born in 1977) studied at the Art Academy of Latvia specializing in Visual Communications and at the Media Art Academy in Cologne. He exhibited in the Latvian National Pavilion at the 55th International Art Exhibition La Biennale di Venezia together with Kaspars Podnieks. In 2010 and 2012 he was nominated for the Purvītis Award in its final selection round. The artist’s work is included in the Latvian National Museum of Art and the future Contemporary Art Museum of Latvia collections, as well as the collections of the Art Museum of Estonia and Transitland: Video Art from Central and Eastern Europe. Gallery ALMA represents the artist.