about the project
researched artists
The project Collective memory is everything I don’t remember maps the art practice of Latvian millennial women artists whose work, visual language and communication strategies are influenced by or directly stem from the phenomenon of collective memory. At the same time, the project also deals with the situation when collective and individual memory intertwine, influence and co-constitute each other.
The project is created as a PhD. research of Diana Kněžínková at Faculty of Art and Design at Jan Evangelista Purkyně University in Ústí nad Labem in the Czech Republic.
Ieva Balode
Vika Eksta
Ieva Kraule-Kūna
Liene Pavlovska
Diāna Tamane
Krista Vindberga (Dzudzilo)
Elīna Vītola
The project Collective memory is everything I don’t remember maps the art practice of Latvian millennial women artists whose work, visual language and communication strategies are influenced by or directly stem from the phenomenon of collective memory.At the same time, the project also deals with the situation when collective and individual memory intertwine, influence and co-constitute each other.
The project is created as a PhD. research of Diana Kněžínková at Faculty of Art and Design at Jan Evangelista Purkyně University in Ústí nad Labem in the Czech Republic.
about the project
researched artists
Ieva Balode
Vika Eksta
Ieva Kraule-Kūna
Liene Pavlovska
Diāna Tamane
Krista Vindberga (Dzudzilo)
Elīna Vītola
stages of the project
Double Truth: Reveal
solo exhibition of Elīna Vītola
curated by Diana Kněžínková
Emil Filla Gallery in Ústí nad Labem (CZ)
12. 9. — 9. 11. 2025
The Double Truth: Reveal exhibition will present works of Elīna Vītola, who has been in the past years, untangling her great-uncle’s life and legacy and used it as a source or an inspiration for her own art practice. As she knew he was also an artist and disappeared in the Second World War. While Vītola was looking for traces of his later life, she found out through her research that he was presumably a member of a group responsible for the Latvian Holocaust.
Through this exhibition project, we are exploring how to use, exhibit, and talk about artworks inspired by the person who had been unmasked, and overall, how to personally deal with such a discovery. The exhibition will feature both new works inspired by the exposure of this truth, as well as works that were created earlier in connection with the inspirational elements of her great-uncle; these works will be shown in a new context and updated interpretations.
collective memory is everything I don't remember
collective exhibition of Ieva Balode, Vika Eksta, Ieva Kraule-Kūna, Liene Pavlovska, Diāna Tamane, Krista Vindberga (Dzudzilo) and Elīna Vītola
curated by Diana Kněžínková
H40 space in Prague (CZ)
March 2026
The exhibition project Collective memory is everything I don’t remember presents the works of seven Latvian millennial women artists whose work is influenced by or directly stems from the phenomenon of collective memory. Simultaneously, the exhibition examines the interplay between collective and individual memory, exploring how they mutually inform and constitute one another, and how this relationship shapes artistic practice and the strategies employed to articulate it.
The authors represented in the exhibition are Ieva Balode, Vika Eksta, Ieva Kraule-Kūna, Liene Pavlovska, Diana Tamane, Krista Vindberga (Dzudzilo), and Elīna Vītola, who work with a variety of media and techniques, such as objects, drawing, photography, analogue film, or site-specific installations. The themes presented in the exhibition will be both family motifs or intimate stories, as well as themes arising from the socio-economic sphere or work with artifacts in public space or myths woven into the landscape.
Collective Memory in the Work of Latvian Millennial Women Artists
bilingual monograph (CZ/EN)
editor Diana Kněžínková
publication is scheduled for May 2026
The monograph Collective Memory is Everything I Don’t Remember: Collective Memory in the Work of Latvian Millennial Women Artists will contain a comprehensive summary of the collected material – research results, artists profiles, photographic documentation and accompanying texts by international experts in the field of visual culture.
public presentation
Ingredients for the Cauldron: Women, Myths, Family, and a Pinch of Faith
article (print & online)
writen by Diana Kněžínková
English translation by Michaela Ritter Konárková
Flash Art magazine (76th edition)
June 2025
The fascination with myth, spirituality, magic, and mystery has permeated artistic creation since time immemorial. Even in eras when humanity leaned toward “rational” explanations and science-based evidence, there were always those who turned their attention toward the spiritual. It is no surprise, then, that our own time is no exception. The 21st century has brought with it a deluge of knowledge, scientific studies, technological breakthroughs, and the massive spread of both information and disinformation. This often leads to the notion that what lacks “rational” substantiation becomes inherently mysterious, or, for some, even forbidden. But what exactly does “rational” mean?
Collective memory in the work of Latvian millennial women artists
doctoral conference Communication and Art
presented by Diana Kněžínková
Faculty of Fine Art and Music, University of Ostrava (CZ)
18. 6. 2025
The paper will present a dissertation project ongoing since 2021, which aims to map the work of selected Latvian women artists of the millennial generation, whose work is influenced by the phenomenon of collective memory.
The contribution will not only present the theoretical anchoring of the project in the context of communication principles, but will also present, through the principles of cooperation and communication with selected authors and across the research team, communication strategies when preparing a large-scale project, such as a project within the Student Grant Competition (SGS).
Heritage, memory and loss: in art practice of Latvian millennial-generation women artists
international conference Heritage and Depopulation in Europe
presented by Diana Kněžínková
Faculty of Humanities, Charles University (CZ)
27. – 29. 8. 2025
The presentation will introduce the artistic practices of Latvian female artists of the millennial generation, whose work focuses on collective memory and memory itself. Closely it will bring out the motives of abandonment of places, its heritage and memory artefacts that artists use in their work.
Additionally, it will explore the fluid and often fractured nature of identity – how shifting borders and evolving paradigms have complicated the sense of self. Through an artistic lens, this contribution will navigate the tension between belonging and loss, history and erasure, offering a thought-provoking reflection on identity in transition.
team
curator & creator of the project: Diana Kněžínková
supervisor: Anna Vartecká
photographer: Elis Kondelíková
graphic designers: Nikola Iljučoková & Barbora Tomová (Duotone Studio)