Today, on 27 August, Survival Kit 17, one of the leading contemporary art festivals in the Baltics, opens at Riga Congress Hall. VV Foundation is proud to support this year’s art mediator programme.

This year’s festival is curated by Elena Sorokina and Simona Markel Dvorák, together with the Initiative for Practices and Visions of Radical Care. Titled Arrow of the Wind: On Artists and Healers, the project explores the shared terrain between art and healing, spanning therapy, incantation and ritual, physical and mental healthcare, and spiritual restoration. It brings together artists whose practices approach art and healing as mutually reinforcing, life-affirming forces.

The curatorial concept draws on Latvian folklore, ancient healing knowledge and ritual practices closely connected to the land, its forests, lakes, the Baltic Sea and peat bogs, and considers their resilience despite historical attempts to suppress them. Across cultures and throughout history, art and healing have been deeply intertwined, taking many forms, from shamanic rituals to clinical art therapy. Rather than treating them as separate fields, the exhibition traces their continuity and ongoing transformation.

Art mediators will be present in the exhibition throughout the festival on Thursday and Friday evenings from 16:00 to 20:00, offering visitors an opportunity to explore the artworks and ideas presented in Survival Kit 17 through conversation and shared experiences. Individual and group tours led by art mediators, as well as tours for schools, can also be booked.

The opening programme begins today, 27 August, and the exhibition will be on view at Riga Congress Hall from 28 August until 27 September 2026. Further information about Survival Kit 17, its programme and visiting details is available here.