Arta Raituma
Artist's country of origin: Latvia
Arta Raituma (1996) is a visual artist from Latvia currently living and working in Lisbon, Portugal. Raituma holds an MA in fine arts having graduated from Art Academy of Latvia, painting department in 2021. She also holds a BA from the same institution. In 2018 the artist took place in an exchange program to study at Accademia di Belle Arte di Venezia in Venice for 6 months. In her practice she is focusing on the exploration of the sublime in nature and liminal states as well as creative placemaking through engaging with communities and investigating relationships between natural and urban environments. The core medium of Raituma’s daily practice is wood burning often combined with painting and organic materials serving as complementary parts of the overall installation. Additionally, documentary photography, video and performance are applied to create a concurrent narrative. The artist has had 6 solo shows, she has participated in more than in 30 group shows and obtained several scholarships, for instance, Valdemārs Tone scholarship in 2019, she is the founder of a contemporary art gallery ‘Riga’s Highest Gallery’ in Riga, Latvia. Raituma has worked at three contemporary art galleries and has been a part of the team of Latvian Pavilion in ‘Venice Biennale 2018’. The artist has been living in Portugal since 2020. She has taken part in artistic residencies in Portugal, for instance: at ‘PADA studios’ where her solo show ‘May Home Stay Within You’ took place and at ‘OSSO residency’ as a part of the project ‘Na Rua’. Artist’s latest solo show ‘T-SG’ took place in Porto in January 2022 at ‘OKNa’ gallery and cultural center. Arta Raituma continues working in Marvila, Lisbon, having her atelier at ‘Mad Marvila’ studios. In 2022 Raituma also returned to Art Academy of Latvia as a guest lecturer.