Invisible Sounds, Imaginary Scenes
MAREUNROL'S
06.06.2025 - 14.06.2025

In an age when the fragmented information of the virtual world has flooded the human consciousness, it is easy to forget that it is impossible to know everything. The only way to obtain absolute information is to ask all possible questions. The media now create a cacophonous parallel world in which information overload creates frustration and an inability to distinguish true knowledge from fake news. The exhibition "Invisible Sounds, Imaginary Scenes" is about how afraid we are to conform to others' (or our own) ideas about identity, values, and success, and invites the viewer to reflect on the power of the mediator (the medium) in ourselves. One of the central questions that emerges is: Who am I outside social media? This represents the next level of the traditional search for the self, encouraging us to revisit the archives of our current beliefs. 

At the center of the exhibition is a press conference console, visually designed to resemble a church pulpit. This sound installation serves as a metaphorical symbol of the nature of media—the work reflects on information warfare and the voice as a deliberately provocative tool that polarizes, deceives with falsehoods, and is present in global geopolitical conflicts, wars, and dishonest leaders. The imagined images of current processes encourage us to look more attentively, consciously, and responsibly, assessing with irony our relevance. This exhibition reflects on the human psyche's responses to the noise of the chaotic environment; it indicates a growing alienation, which in this context can be interpreted as a distancing from each other, but also from ourselves, nature, faith, and a higher truth. Is everything really as I have imagined? There are many questions, but in the meantime, the conference has only a few minutes left to run.

Indeterminacy in the title is a reflection on the processes of the human inner world, which create the space to stop and think about the questions of possible impossibility and the impossibility of possibility. The notion of the invisible sound and the imaginary scene is a deliberately ironic exercise in the limits of consciousness. In an audial context, it is related to the idea of acousmatic sound, where the sound itself and the visual experience of its source are separated: this duality can seem both interesting and frightening. The audial - invisible part of Invisible Sounds, Imagined Scenes is a sound collage or poem created by the poet Marie Louise Melke in the style of fragmentation. Listening to the soundtracks entering the field of consciousness, our brain perceives everything - noise, intonation, timbre of voice, words, opinions, sometimes without even realising that every nuance of what we hear is affecting the psyche and subconsciously creating an endless cacophony of sounds.

In this exhibition, MAREUNROL'S returns to the symbolism of birds - a metaphor for a higher power that lifts up the broken and subjugated human being. Birds have historically played the role of God's messengers, connecting the temporal and the transcendent. Here it serves as a reminder of the essential in human beings. This raises the question of whether we should continue to make noise or leave space for silence and peace.

MAREUNROL'S is a Riga-based artist duo - Mārīte Mastiņa-Pēterkopa and Rolands Pēterkops. Their creative work focuses on narrative and reflection on the world around them, expressed in various artistic disciplines - including fashion design, fabric and textile sculptures, fashion collections, set design, installations, video and audio works, as well as opera and theatre costume design. MAREUNROL'S simultaneously pushes and challenges the boundaries of design - as thinkers and storytellers who take clothing (fashion) beyond its traditional functional framework, using it as a thread for a journey into the world and self-discovery. Their works are constructions of the mind, imagination and senses that act as sensitive antennae, picking up the vibrations of their times, deconstructing them, bringing out the essence and expressing it through the universal language of fashion. With this approach, they continuously invite the audience to see the world from new perspectives.

The duo has participated in numerous international competitions, festivals, biennales, and group exhibitions outside Latvia. In 2009, both artists won two main prizes at the 24th International Hyeres Fashion and Photography Festival, and in 2016, they were among ten European nominees for the prestigious International Woolmark Prize. MAREUNROL'S has made history as the first Latvian brand ever to be included in the official programme of Paris Fashion Week. Their garments and artworks have been acquired by the Latvian National Museum of Art in its archive collection, as well as by several private collectors in Latvia, Lithuania, Japan, France, and Italy.

In 2019, MAREUNROL'S published a book that offers a visual retrospective on their most important works. In the same year, their retrospective exhibition at the Museum of Decorative Arts and Design became the most visited exhibition at the museum in 2019 and was nominated for the Latvian Public Media Award ‘ Kilogram of Culture’ in the category ‘Best Visual Art Exhibition’. In late 2023, MAREUNROL'S exhibition ‘Invisible Exercises’ was nominated for the 2024 Purvītis Prize Winter Selection, one of the most important art awards in Latvia. In addition, MAREUNROL'S and its creative team will represent Latvia in the Latvian Pavilion at the 61st Venice Biennale in 2026.

MAREUNROL'S is also active in the field of education, lecturing at both the Art Academy of Estonia and the Art Academy of Latvia, promoting the development of a new generation of creative professionals.

Exhibition is supported by: Dūrmuiža, Kurzeme Planning Region Development Council
Thank you to Edgars Briedis, Luīze Dubrovska, Estere Betija Grāvere, Ināra Innuse, Gerds Lapoška, Miks Magone, Marija Luīze Meļķe, Modris Svilāns, Olivers Tarvids.