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 Places, Owners, Offers Marita Batņa, Culture Theorist Agija Sūna Art Gallery | |
| Agija Sūna Art Gallery Agija Sūna Art Gallery asserts its professional standards with the reputation of the owner's name, a sign of quality in the art world, and by boasting 16 years of operation. Agija Sūna herself states the fundamental purpose of the gallery: "trust and mutual respect between the gallery and artists, and the gallery and buyers". During sixteen years of existence, "form" and "content" of the gallery have remained stable. It is located in a lively area of Old Riga (9/11 Kalēju Street): there are always visitors at the gallery, and the pedestrians cannot help but notice artwork through the large windows. The gallery focuses on dynamic exhibitions, with a special spotlight on painting. The gallery's aim of providing an opportunity to hold exhibitions may seem slightly too democratic, however, the owner does care about the quality. The key standard is: superiority of creative growth over commercial purposes, and the exhibiting artist's name is not crucial. Agija Sūna pays special attention to young artists - Painting of the Year has grown into one of the most efficient ways to endorse promising authors. This competition has been held annually for 16 years already, thanks to the support from Swedbank - Sūna considers it true patronage of art. All works displayed in the gallery are owned by their authors, and a few are available for some time after the shows. | |
 Agija Sūna | |
| The experience and knowledge of Agija Sūna is a great benefit. Throughout years she has cooperated with numerous contemporary artists; for many of them, she has provided a starting platform, and followed their careers. Her special thing is organizing thematic shows and projects in other countries. For example, she has organized an exhibition "European Cities in the Paintings of Latvian Artists" which is open at the Permanent Representation of the Republic of Latvia to the European Union in Brussels till March of 2009. Latvian modern-day classical painters are widely represented - Biruta Baumane, Džemma Skulme, Inta Celmiņa, Edvards Grūbe, Helēna and Ivars Heinrihsoni, Aija Zariņa, Aleksejs Naumovs, Irēna Lūse, Ilze Avotiņa, as well as many artists who have acquired a well-known personal style, such as Madara Gulbis, Artūrs Akopjans, Vita Merca, and some young artists - Andris Eglītis, Patrīcija Brekte, Zane Balode, Ansis Butnors. The artwork exhibited abroad is also available for purchase. Agija Sūna admits that prices of Latvian contemporary paintings have reached European levels. Interaction on the international level is highly important for artists, but it has been one of the reasons leading to increase of prices. Good art can be expensive - for example, work by Sigita Daugule, awarded "The Painting of the Year" in January, has been priced at 3200 lats - the artist's gallery in Germany adjusts the price levels. Agija Sūna admits that Latvian galleries don't have instruments of price setting because in most cases they do not represent the artists: the authors themselves establish the base price. Appraisal becomes one of the tests for mutual understanding, and, respectively, frequency of cooperation. Sūna considers artists Valdis Bušs, Artūrs Akopjans, Inta Celmiņa, Edvards Grūbe to be some of her best partners. Working with the buyers, the gallery owner has acquired versatile experience. Some customers clearly know what artwork they wish to purchase, but some are very uncertain. Serving the needs of the latter is more complicated, but provides a good challenge to arrive at a favourable result. Agija Sūna thinks that there is considerable market potential in developing media such as glass art, textiles, ceramics and photography - these areas must be expanded to maintain professionalism and creative resources. Therefore, much effort is directed into "Glass Art Gallery" located at 6 Laipu Street in Old Riga, managed by her daughter. Sūna admits that the current "renaissance of glass in Latvia" requires a new approach to make this art appealing and desirable to the public. | |
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