Latvia 2026

Title: Untamed Assembly: Backstage of Utopia
Commissioner: Solvita Krese
Curators: Inga Lāce, Adomas Narkevičius
Exhibitors: MAREUNROL’S, Bruno Birmanis

Linking past and present, the exhibition examines utopian thinking during periods of political and economic transition. It explores how collective imagination and new forms of togetherness are rehearsed in “backstage” spaces of preparation and invisible labour.

The installation by MAREUNROL’S rethinks the legacy of the UFA, utilising the clothing rack as a central architectural element. Recurring motifs, such as birds and textile sculptures, reference themes of flight, risk, and fragility.

The UFA emerged during a decade of transformation, expanding fashion into visual art, music, and club culture while defying post-Soviet social norms. The assemblies provided an alternative to Western commercial markets, using costume and bodily display to negotiate new identities. Newly digitised footage from the Birmanis archive traces themes of transnational community building, creative scarcity, and fragile political freedom, questioning what remains of these utopian visions today.