{"id":878,"date":"2026-05-21T06:25:14","date_gmt":"2026-05-21T06:25:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/kim.wrong.lv\/?post_type=exhibition&p=878"},"modified":"2026-05-21T06:26:06","modified_gmt":"2026-05-21T06:26:06","slug":"wearable-memory-and-body-techniques-featuring-solomon-levitanus-and-ljuba-monastirsky","status":"publish","type":"exhibition","link":"https:\/\/kim.wrong.lv\/en\/exhibition\/wearable-memory-and-body-techniques-featuring-solomon-levitanus-and-ljuba-monastirsky\/","title":{"rendered":"Wearable Memory and Body Techniques. Featuring Solomon Levitanus and Ljuba Monastirsky"},"content":{"rendered":"

From November 4 to December 29, Kim? Contemporary Art Centre will host\u00a0Wearable Memory and Body Techniques\u00a0<\/em>f<\/strong>eaturing Solomon Levitanus and Ljuba Monastirsky,\u00a0<\/strong>a group exhibition, research, and an extensive public program. The multilayered narrative that permeates the project focuses on the legacies of two Riga-bound individuals: tailor, pattern maker, and self-publisher of textbooks Solomon Levitanus and Bauhaus textile student and designer Ljuba Monastirsky. The exhibition makes a compelling argument for the import of their legacies to the present moment, opening up a dialogue and exchange between the living and the deceased.<\/strong><\/p>\n

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Conceived 80 years after their murder in Riga Central Prison and Rumbula forest, respectively,\u00a0Wearable Memory and Body Techniques\u00a0<\/em>is an act of remembrance of Latvian Jewish cultural heritage. Highlighting the precarity of knowledge and the fragility of archives, the project confronts the collective amnesia caused by the brutal rupture of the Holocaust, expanding the space for contemplation of body politics in historical and contemporary contexts.<\/p>\n

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Gathering unique archival material, new commissions by\u00a0Krista Dzudzilo\u00a0<\/strong>and fashion designers\u00a0MAREUNROL\u2019S<\/strong>, restaged installations by cross-generational artists\u00a0Alba D\u2019Urbano<\/strong>\u00a0and\u00a0Daiga Granti\u0146a<\/strong>, filmmaker\u00a0Sergei Loznitsa,<\/strong>\u00a0and geo-archaeological research by\u00a0Ground Penetrating Radar<\/strong>\u00a0group, the exhibition addresses questions of collective memory making, methods of translation, and the creative transformation of matter.<\/p>\n

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Wearable Memory and Body Techniques<\/em>\u00a0is the first exhibition to spotlight the innovative practices of Levitanus and Monastirsky. While recognizing the information gaps about these important figures, the exhibition aims to generate interest and precedence for further conversations, research, and interpretations. The inclusion of contemporary artists of various disciplines extends the exhibition\u2019s narrative, weaving in a wide range of references and connections to expand the historical-contextual frame surrounding the two figures.<\/p>\n

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Solomon Levitanus (1875\u20131941),<\/strong>\u00a0born in Kaunas, published textbooks on pattern making every year from 1902 to ca. 1936, with a 10-year break between 1913 and 1923. His books were translated into Latvian, Lithuanian, German, French, Polish, and Russian and have won numerous prizes internationally in Brussels, Mariupol, Rome, and Rostov, as well as from various schools and ateliers in Riga, Paris, and Lodz. In his introductions, Levitanus always stressed the importance of sharing his knowledge among tailors and clothing makers, expressing his desire for textbooks to serve as a tool for cultivating their practices and craft. He understood the dissemination of his knowledge as a means of thinking and building networks, often reprinting readers\u2019 feedback in his books. Levitanus also put a particular emphasis on the way he shared his instructions, which was always with a generous and playful tone. Crucially, he emphasized an understanding of the body and its diverse shapes and figures, arguing for the construction of clothing to be considered through a medical lens, aspiring far beyond fashion\u2019s fleeting trends and aesthetics.<\/p>\n

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The National Library of Latvia holds several Levitanus\u2019s textbooks in its collection. Publishers are still distributing some editions for today\u2019s practical use. In addition to loaning the original exemplar for display in this exhibition, the library has digitized all existing material relevant to Levitanus. This information is available in the\u00a0Digital Library of Latvia<\/em>\u00a0and other Latvian Jewish cultural heritage materials.<\/p>\n

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Ljuba Monastirsky (1906\u20131941)<\/strong>\u00a0is a reminder that while design has predominantly been the domain of white men, there are and have been talented exceptions: women who overcame the limitations imposed upon them to make significant contributions to art and design. Riga-born Monastirsky entered the Bauhaus in 1926, where she took preparatory courses led by the artist and teacher Josef Albers. She would later enroll in a weaving class run by Gunta St\u00f6lzl. Working at the leading textile factories of the time,\u00a0Pausa AG<\/em>\u00a0and\u00a0Mosa L\u00f6w-Beer<\/em>\u00a0family company, Monastirsky mastered artistic designs for decorative and upholstery fabrics, worked as a colorist, designed exhibition stands, and eventually designed samples for\u00a0Mosa L\u00f6w-Beer\u2019s<\/em>\u00a0women\u2019s collections. Upon forced return to Riga in 1933, she opened a decorative textile weaving workshop and founded\u00a0Teksma<\/em>, a company that produced woven clothing and fashion accessories. Information on this final chapter of Monastirsky\u2019s creative life is scarce for various reasons. One might be that the prevailing national doctrine of romanticism in Latvia at the time was less aligned with Monastirsky\u2019s avant-garde design language.<\/p>\n

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The TextielMuseum in Tilburg holds three fragile, unassuming studies in textile patterns \u2013 the only surviving pieces by Monastirsky \u2013 presumably designed at the Bauhaus and later produced at\u00a0Pausa AG<\/em>. These tiny samples are displayed to the public for the first time in the show.<\/p>\n

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The public program<\/b>\u00a0accompanying\u00a0Wearable Memory and Body Techniques<\/i>\u00a0consists of workshops, conversations, and encounters that aim to expand and contextualize the artworks on display and the biographies of Monastirsky and Levitanus, cultivating new patterns and shapes of perception.\u00a0Different activities will activate various locations throughout Riga, encouraging collective reflection on the material by engaging it\u00a0in situ.<\/i><\/p>\n

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Complete program and participants to be announced.<\/i><\/p>\n

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Project managers:<\/strong>\u00a0Evita Goze, Katr\u012bna Jau\u0123iete
\nCommunications & Public program:<\/strong>\u00a0Austra Stupele
\nDesign:<\/strong>\u00a0Anna Ceipe
\nInstall and art handling:<\/strong>\u00a0M\u0101rti\u0146\u0161 Aulmanis, Aldis Bu\u0161s, Andris Mara\u010dkovskis, Rom\u0101ns Medvedevs
\nTranslation:<\/strong>\u00a0Valts Mi\u0137elsons
\nEditing:<\/strong>\u00a0Lily Bartle, Ilze Jansone<\/p>\n

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Curator\u2019s acknowledgments<\/strong>:
\nIlya Lensky, Norbert Weber, National Library of Latvia.<\/p>\n

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Supported by:
\n<\/strong>Ministry of Culture, State Culture Capital Foundation, Riga City Council, Uniting Foundation, Goethe-Institut Riga, KRASO, iMaster, Absolut, Valmiermui\u017eas alus.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":863,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false},"class_list":["post-878","exhibition","type-exhibition","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kim.wrong.lv\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/exhibition\/878","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kim.wrong.lv\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/exhibition"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kim.wrong.lv\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/exhibition"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kim.wrong.lv\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/863"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kim.wrong.lv\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=878"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}