The Mind The Heart

Curators: Johan Gustavsson and Clara Pallí Monguilod Like a muscle, empathy can be strengthened through practice. Transforming the exhibition space into a “gym for the heart”, Spunde uses humour, sculpture, graphics, and moving images to confront a sense of emotional numbness and confusion, exploring why feelings have become increasingly difficult to access in a world shaped by efficiency and information overload. In a capitalist society driven by profit and productivity, rationality is privileged over emotion, while knowledge systems rooted in care, reciprocity and collective responsibility are often devalued. The exhibition was first commissioned by 1646 in The Hague and now travels to Riga, following Spunde’s Kim? x ISCP residency in New York in autumn 2025. Līga Spunde (b. 1990, Riga) is known for her richly narrative and emotionally charged installations that fuse digital aesthetics with speculative fiction, autobiography and psychological inquiry. A graduate of the Art Academy of Latvia, she frequently explores the fragile boundaries between perception and reality through digital prints, video and sculptural environments. She has exhibited internationally, with recent shows at 1646 (NL), TUR (LV), Publiek Park (BE), MMCA Changdong (KR), SLU Contemporary Art Gallery (US), KINGS ARI (AU), MO Museum (LT) and Garage in Rotterdam (NL). Spunde has twice been nominated for the Purvītis Prize and received the Kim? Residency Award (2023). Her works are held in the Latvian National Museum of Art, the Zuzāns Collection, VV Foundation and TAAD Foundation. Design: Anna Ceipe The works were produced with the support of the Mondriaan Fund and the Municipality of The Hague. The exhibition is supported by: the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Latvia, the State Culture Capital Foundation, Riga City Council, Altum, KRASO, Valmiermuiža and Media Port. Co-financed by the European Union within the programme “Support for Social Entrepreneurship”.