kuš!

Exhibition, Micēlijs, Marijas iela 13/1, Riga, 27.09-12.12.2018

Liisa Kruusmägi’s masterful use of colors and detailed representation of people, things and environment is like a sauna on the top of the skyscraper- deeply personal yet with a faraway horizon.

Exhibition, Goethe-Institut Riga, Riga, 26.09.-20.12.2018

Exhibition of the results from the workshop with Anna Haifisch at the Goethe-Institute Riga.

Opening 26.09.2018, 18.00

2018. gada maijā Leipcigas komiksu māksliniece Anna Haifiša Gētes institūtā Rīgā vadīja divu dienu radošo komiksu semināru. Godinot Latvijas simtgadi, semināra dalībnieki iedvesmojās no Latvijas vēsturē nozīmīgām personībām. Aspazija, Vaira-Vīķe Freiberga, Marks Rotko un virkne citu ievērojamu latviešu tagad nu ir arī komiksu varoņi. Divkrāsainie risogrāfijas tehnikā izdrukātie darbi no 26. septembra līdz 20. decembrim būs aplūkojami Gētes institūtā Rīgā.

Iepazīstiet biogrāfiskos komiksus, ko veidojuši jaunie talanti no Latvijas, Lietuvas un Igaunijas, un atklājiet Latvijas vēsturi no jaunas perspektīvas!

Participating artists: Beāte Gredzena, Dāvis Lapa, Diāna Kaijaka, Jana Ribkina, Karlīna Marta Zvirbule, Kate Rasa Ozola, Kristiāna Doroščonoka, Mārtiņš Zutis, Raitis Kalniņš, Rasa Pavilona, Rebeka Lukošus, Sabīne Moore, Tonijs Strods from Latvia, Ieva Gvazdaitytė, Rita Dmitrijenko from Lithuana and Liisa Kruusmägi from Estonia.

Illustration by Anna Haifisch

Festival, Rue Adolphe Lavallée 39, Brussels, Belgium, 21.-23.09.2018

Kuš! is happy to have a table at Cultures Maison. Our editor Sanita Muižniece will represent us and present the newest books! Don't miss!

Festival, Exhibition, Parc de Bruxelles, Brussels, Belgium, 14.-16.09.2018

Together with Mārtiņš Zutis, Rebeka Lukošus and Lote Vilma Vītīna we'll be representing the Latvian comics scene at the EUNIC stand at the Brussels Comic Strip Festival and also exhibit the results of last year's summer school!

Latvia will particpate or lead the following activities:
- a leporello workshop (6-10 y, held in English) on Saturday, 15 September from 12.30 until 13.30.
- discussion panel with introductions to the contemporary Latvian comics’ art on Saturday, 15 September, at 15.00 (in English). Panel discussion together with colleagues from Estonia, Hungary, Romania and Poland.
- Signing session of all three Latvian artists: on Sunday, 16 September, from 13.00.

Facebook event

Supported by: Embassy of Latvia in Belgium

Exhibition, Teātra nams JŪRAS VĀRTI, Ventspils, 14.08-07.09.2018

kuš! was invited by the Finnish contemporary comics association KUTIKUTI to edit a special issue of their free quarterly magazine and to make an exhibition. During the past 11 years the Latvian comics scene has grown into a lively community of artists who have discovered comics as a relevant medium of expression for them. In this exhibition you'll see only twelve. Many of them have had their work published abroad, while some are just starting out - but all are full of bright and sometimes slightly weird ideas.

Artists: Līva Kandevica, Ernests Kļaviņš, Rebeka Lukošus, Anete Melece, Oskars Pavlovskis, Ingrīda Pičukāne, Pauls Rietums, Vivianna Maria Stanislavska, Anna Vaivare, Lote Vilma Vītiņa, Zane Zlemeša and Mārtiņš Zutis.

Curators: David Schilter, Sanita Muižniece, kuš! Editors

Exhibition is part of international graphic art festival “Printmaking In” with theme ““Heaven’s underground”. Festival organized by the association "Grafikas Kamera" and an artists' association 'NON GRATA ". The festival is supported by the State Culture Capital Foundation, Nordisk Kulturfond and Nordisk Kulturfond.

Illustration by Rebeka Lukošus

Exhibition, Helsinki Comics Festival, Tiivistämö, Helsinki, 01.-02.09.18

kuš! was invited to guest edit the current issue #49 of the Finnish comics anthology Kuti. For this we invited 12 Latvian comics artist to represent our local scene. For the exhibition at the Helsinki Comics Festival we decided to put a spotlight on Zane Zlemeša, one of the currently most productive comics artists in Latvia. Her shorter comics have been published by Studio Pilar (Italy), Colorama (Germany), VICE (USA) among others and in 2017 her book Fenix was published by kuš!. The exhibition will allow you to dive into the painted city jungles full with cats, business men and other shady characters.

Exhibition, Micēlijs, Marijas iela 13/1, Riga, 20.07-10.08.2018

The Finnish contemporary comics association KUTIKUTI invited the Latvian comics publisher kuš! to edit a special issue of their free quarterly magazine. kuš! followed the call and asked 12 young Latvian comic artists to contribute their works and be part of the Kuti kuš! exhibition in the framework of Printmaking In Latvia.

Līva Kandevica, Ernests Kļaviņš, Rebeka Lukošus, Anete Melece, Oskars Pavlovskis, Ingrīda Pičukāne, Pauls Rietums,  Vivianna Maria Stanislavska, Anna Vaivare, Lote Vilma Vītiņa, Zane Zlemeša and Mārtiņš Zutis responded and submitted stories in their very unique styles. It's time to discover the heavenly Latvian comics underground!

Opening: Friday 20 July, 6 pm (Facebook event)

Printmaking In Latvia 2018 is organized by the association “Grafikas kamera” (Latvia) and “Non grata” (Estonia).
Support: Valsts Kultūrkapitāla fonds, Nordisk Kulturfond.

Exhibition, MAT Laboratorio Urbano, Terlizzi, Italy, 08.-12.08.2018

Kuš! is very happy to exhibit at Chiù - Festival of illustration in Italy!

Exhibition, Micēlijs, Marijas iela 13/1, Riga, 10.-14.07.2018

RAD revue is a drawing correspondence with digital and analogue colours between Paul d’Orlando and Lukas Weidinger - printers by day, lovers by night! The new RAD revue #2 was just freshly printed in Strasbourg and the silkscreen book has it’s world premiere in Riga!

Opening: Tuesday 10 July, 6 pm, comic reading by Lukas Weidinger at 7 pm
Exhibition open daily from 4-8 pm (Facebook event)

Paul d’Orlando (FR), illustrator, silkscreen master, art patron
Lukas Weidinger (AT), Illustrator, comic artist, kuš! intern

Illustration: Lukas Weidinger

Exhibition, Micēlijs, Marijas iela 13/1, Riga, 08.-29.06.2018

Ieva Filatova, Marta Kalniņa, Rebeka Lukošus, Dāvis Ozols, Rasa Pavilona, Luīze Elizabete Rukšāne, Jānis Šneiders, Pauls Rietums, Zīle Ziemele, Lote Vilma Vītiņa, Anna Malicka and Jānis Klaučs attempt to answer the question by a child  "what is sex?"

Opening: Friday, 8 June, 18:00 with DJ Švāns

Exhibition open from Tuesdays to Saturdays, 16:00-20:00

Illustration: Lote Vilma Vītiņa

Support: Malduguns

Art Book Fair, Kaserne Basel, Basel, Switzerland, 13.-16.06.2018

kuš! was selected to be an exhibitor at I Never Read, the Basel Art Book fair. The kuš! table will be manned by regular kuš! contributor König Lü.Q.

Festival, different venues, Riga, 23.05.-03.06.2018

The second edition of Riga Zine Fest happens this year. Expect some fine exhibitions by local and international artists, a zine fair and talks and presentations. Don't miss!

Exhibition, Micēlijs, Marijas iela 13/1, Riga, 23.05.-01.06.2018

Anna Haifisch’s Drifter is a large, spiral-bound book of brightly colored drawings each accompanied by a short text. It opens with a mid-sex break-up: a couple–rendered as two, Matisse-like shapes–embraces on top of one another, beneath which black text states, “Listen, I…it’s over.” This begins the lead character’s story; we watch as they ask if they can keep the dog, draw animals at the zoo, have said illustrations rejected by the New Yorker, and fantasize about being a dog. The drawings have a quick, gestural quality, while the text is kept simple–vague statements about a drifting person.

Opening: Wednesday, 23 May, 18.00. At 19.00 will be comics readings by Anna Haifisch and Lukas Weidinger.

The exhibition is part of Riga Zine Fest. Support: Goethe-Institut, Riga

Residency Exchange Program, Graz - Vienna, Austria, 30.04-13.05.2018

Lote Vilma Vītiņa and Līva Kandevica are invited by HOUSE books and kuš! to take part in the international exchange program 'work-stay'. It focuses on the interaction of international comic art networks, providing short term stays to refreshen perspectives and update regional developments.

Supported by: Latvian State Culture Capital Foundation, HOUSE Books, Tonto Comics, kuš!

Illustration by Lote Vilma Vītiņa

Exhibition, The Royal Over-Seas League, London, U.K., 09.04.-20.05.2018

Celebrate with us the outcomes of the Arts Council England funded Pop Up Creators Project - an international exchange of outstanding and emerging illustrators and comics artists across the UK, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania! 18 published children’s illustrators and comics artists across the four countries have been commissioned to work with multilingual groups of talented 16-24 year-old visual artists in 16 universities and colleges. Guided by their artist-mentors, the 150 young artists have produced their own illustrated stories in a distinct ‘leporello’ format.

The stories, exhibition of artwork and digital showcase will be launched at ROSL, coinciding with the London Book Fair 2018 ‘Baltic Countries Market Focus’. Co-curated by Pop Up and House of Illustration, the exhibition tells the story of the project and showing some of the oustanding work by the young artists and will run at the Royal Over-Seas League (ROSL Arts) for 6 weeks from 9th April to 20th May 2018.

The Latvian stories were created during the kuš! summer school with Alexis Deacon and Hamish Steele. The young artists who participated were:  Alise Gluškova, Diāna Jarmakova, Diāna Kaijaka, Diāna Sīmane, Gvido Vizulis, Ilze Ance Kazaka, Karlīna Marta Zvirbule, Mārtiņš Zutis, Liāna Mihailova, Lote Vilma Vītiņa, Marta Folkmane, Pauls Rietums, Rebeka Lukošus, Renāte Kloviņa, Roberts Rūrāns, Tonijs Strods, Vivianna Maria Stanislavska, Zane Zlemeša and Zozefs Diango Amadu Kulibali.

RSVP to the opening on 09.04 at 17.30

Presented by Pop Up, House of Illustration & ROSL Arts

Illustration: Pop Up logo customized by Roberts Rūrāns

Comic Workshop, Goethe-Institute Riga, 19.05.-20.05.2018

Anna Haifisch will come to Goethe-Institute Riga to teach a comic workshop in celebration of the 100 year anniversary of Latvia and the other Baltic states. How can you celebrate such an event with fun and charming comics? You'll only find out if you take part! And for sure you'll learn a bunch more tricks to create comics!

More infos and details how to apply on our blog!

Organized by the Goethe-Institut Riga in collaboration with kuš! as part of Riga Zine Fest.

Exhibition, Micēlijs, Marijas iela 13/1, Riga, 06.04. – 04.05.18

The exhibition “Forêt Noire” showcases the original drawings of comics and illustrations devoted to the theme of forest and elements of forest Ingrīda Pičukāne has created during the last ten years. Since 2007 her comics have been regularly published in the comics culture magazine “kuš!” and comics anthologies “š!”, her mini comic “Three Sisters” was published in the mini kuš! series in 2016. Ingrīda Pičukāne’s comics have been showcased in kuš! group exhibitions in Lithuania, Finland, Spain and Italy, however, this will be the first time when they will be showed in Latvia.

For this exhibition Ingrīda Pičukāne has created a wall painting, and garments using the natural materials such as acorns, grass, needles and the garbage such as tin can, bottle lids, cigarette packs and yoghurt cups that people have left behind in the forests thus showing the contemporary forest landscape instead of a romanticized impression of fairy tale forest.

Exhibition is open on Thursdays and Fridays from 16.00 – 19.00.

Support: State Culture Capital Foundation

Media: Punctum

Zine Fest, Ankert, Burapest, Hungary, 28.-29.04.2018

For the first time kuš! will be at Ukmukfukk Zinefeszt in Budapest. kuš! will be represented by the artists Lote Vilma Vītiņa and Līva Kandevica.

Illustration by Zsuzsanna Kreif

Small Press Market, Lucerne, Switzerland, 14.-14.04.2018 and 21.-22.04.2018

kuš! will have a table both weekends at the International Comics Arts Festival Fumetto in Lucerne. kuš! will be represented by it's editor David Schilter and by the artists Vivianna Maria Stanislavska and of course König Lü.Q..

Festival, SibSub Skatepark, Tyumen, Russia, 31.03.-01.04.2018

kuš! is honored to be a special international guest at Comic Arts Tyumen 2018, the first edition of the first comics festival in Siberia! The festival is organised by Space Cow bookstore and publishing company. kuš! editor David Schilter will have a presentation about the Latvian comics scene and will held a zine workshop for local artists and comic lovers.

Supported by: Latvian State Culture Capital Foundation

Workshop, Funhouse, The Drawing Center, New York, USA, 24./25.03.2018

Comic zine workshop, lead by artist Oskars Pavlovskis will be a collaborative comic drawing experience suited for participants of any age and skill level. The workshop will focus on the creation of short experimental comic stories based around the FUNHOUSE theme. Together the participants will take part in creating a unique self-published comic zine, which will be printed and assembled during the workshop and each participant will receive a copy.

Register here!

Exhibition, Micēlijs, Marijas iela 13/1, Riga, 15.02.-09.03.2018

Mārtiņš Zutis' exhibition is the attempt to combine things, if they weren't in one space, it probably would have been best if they all stayed individually - on the wall, or in the aquarium, and without a title.

Opening Thursday, 15 February, 19.00

Open Thursdays and Fridays from 16.00-19.00

Facebook event

Artist talk, ZMP birojs Latvijā, Marijas iela 13/3, Riga, 06.03.2018, 17.30

Open lecture by author, comic artist and animator Rui Tenreiro.

Rui Tenreiro is an author, illustrator and art director living in Stockholm, Sweden. He creates narrative experiences through storytelling, be it a book, film or piece of writing. A Konstfack graduate, in 2014 he received the Stockholms stad kulturpris I illustration (Stockholm city illustration award). In the same year, he had his first solo exhibition at Stadsbiblioteket in Stockholm (Stockholm Public Library). In Sweden he is published by Bonnier Carlsen and Sanatorium Forlag, and his works have been published in 7 different languages. He is currently art directing an animated feature film to be released in SVT and cinemas worldwide in the Spring 2018, and producing artworks for the interior of the new Nationalmuseum in Stockholm in the Fall of 2018

Pictures from the event

The event was organized by the Nordic Council of Ministers’ Office in Latvia in cooperation with kuš!. Supported by the Embassy of Sweden in Riga and Swedish Arts Council.

Exhibition, Micēlijs, Marijas iela 13/1, Riga, 18.01.-09.02.2018

Sabīne Moore's "Zīmētās skaņa" (Drawn Sound) is a performance series which the artists made in Latvia between 2016-2017. The drawings are connected to electronic instruments and during the peroformance the drawing creates sound. In Mičēlijs a selection of those drawings are on display as well as videos of previous performances, and during the exhibition Sabīne will make new performances.

Talk, Comix Home Base, Hong Kong Arts Centre, Hong Kong, 21.01.2018

Talk “Zero to One: The story of Latvian comics miracle, kuš!” for "PLAY! Hong Kong Comix Touring Exhibition", kuš! editor David Schilter was invited by the Comix Home Base of Hong Kong Arts Centre to give a talk and share his way of publishing and his view on the current independent comics publishing scene in Europe. He also shared his criteria in selecting artists for collaboration, and introduced some of his favorite comics works to Hong Kong readers. He also shared his experience in working with Hong Kong comics artists and his future plans with kuš!.

Photos © Comix Home Base