Those who frequent the south part of Andrejsala have probably noticed some activity in and around one of the most notable buildings on the development site, the two-storey brick house in Andrejostas Street 4. It was under the aegis of the Noass culture and arts project and with support from the developers of Andrejsala, SIA Jaunrīgas attīstības uzņēmums, that the historic building was all refurbished and decorated to be able to accept arists-in-residence. The new purpose of the bulding is also displayed in its current Latvian name, A. Rezidences.

‘We have tried to follow the world’s best practices to be on a par with what is commonly expected of creative quarters of this kind. It’s been our first attempt in that direction so we are thankful for all those valuable suggestions provided by foreign artists who are experienced travellers and who know what it takes to work abroad creatively,’ says Dzintars Zilgalvis, Noass’ leader.

The basic idea of A. Rezidences was to arrange the set-up so that a living room was located next to a workroom, a studio, which would be big enough to display the works created during an artist’s residency in Andrejsala. Mr Zilgalvis expects that A. Rezidences will be able to accept four artists at the same time which may result in exhibitions or presentations of works by the respective artists on a monthly or bi-monthly basis. Of course, artists residing in Andrejsala are free to launch new creative projects with other creative groups or individuals that are permanently based in Andrejsala, such as the Imagine photographic studio, the Peahen art studio, Orbita etc.

A. Rezidences started its operations in August 2009 when Canadian/Finnish artist Gary Wornell stayed there and conducted two excellent digital printing workshops. Until the end of the year three more artists took the opportunity to spend some time working in Andrejsala (Eva Olsson & Jonas Nilsson from Sweden, and Lithuanian artist Rimas Sakalauskas).

Further information about A. Rezidences, including application inquiries, is available directly from Dzintars Zilgalvis by phone +371 29474401 or e-mail.