Biography Inta Ruka

1958 Born in Riga, Latvia
1973–76 Business school of Riga, certificate as a seamstress
1979–82 Education and collaboration at the “V.E.E.“ studio, Riga, in the class of Gunãrs Birkmanis
1983 Starts to work on the photographic series My Country People
1983–84 Member of the photographer group “Riga”, Riga
1984–88 Member of the photo studio “Ogre”, leader Egons Spuris, Ogre (LV)
since 1985 Member of the photographer group “A”, Riga
1986–88 Works as a freelance photographer
since 1990 Member of the Designer Association of Latvia
1998 Grant of the Hasselblad Foundation
1999 Spídola-Award of the Latvian Culture Foundation
2000 Starts to work on the photographic series People I Happened to Meet
2002 Scholarship at the Villa Waldberta, Feldafing/Starnberger See (D)
2003 “Price of the Year” of the Artist’s Union of Latvia for her exhibition with Egons Spuris at the State Art Museum in Riga
2004 Starts to work on the photographic series Amalias Street 5a
2006 Starts to work on the photographic series Neighbours
2007 Two month artist-in-residence-scholarship of the IASPIS (International Artists Studio Program in Sweden) in Stockholm

Inta Ruka lives and works in Riga

Selected Solo Exhibitions

2008 Amalias Street 5a, Heden, The Hague
Amalias Street 5a, Flo Peters Gallery, Hamburg
2007 Portraits, Baukunst Galerie, Cologne
2006 People I Happened to Meet, Photography Center Istanbul
2005 Portraits, Baukunst Galerie, Cologne
2003 Portraits, PAK, Palais für aktuelle Kunst, Kunstverein Glückstadt (D)
Portraits, Baukunst Galerie, Cologne
2002 Inta Ruka – fotografiju paroda, Prospekto Photo Gallery, Vilnius (LIT)
2001 Latvia. Changing and Unchanging Reality, Giedre Bartelt Galerie, Berlin
People I Happened to Meet, Pomerania Dukes Castle South Gallery, Szczecin (PL)
2000 My Country People, Museum of Applied Arts, Riga
1997 Inta Ruka, Photostudio 1, Boston
1995 My Country People, Bratislava (SLO)
Inta Ruka, Amiens (F)
1994 My Country People, Centre Photographique de Normandie, Rouen (F)
My Country People, Museum of Regional Studies and Art, Madona (LV)
1992 My Country People, im Rahmen von “Pārmijas – Aktuelle Kunst aus Riga”
1991 My Country People, Karlshamn (S)
1986 Inta Ruka, Kiek in de Koek, Tallinn (EST)

Selected Group Exhibitions

2008 On the Human Being. International Beiing, Centro Andaluz de Arte Contemporáneo, Sevilla in cooperation with the Folkwang Museum Essen and the Picasso Museum Málaga The Greenrom: Reconsidering the Documentary and Contemporary Art (Part I), CCS Bard Hessel Museum / Bard College, Annandale-on-Hudson, New York Private. Exhibition of Contemporary Photography from Latvia, in the framework of the Moscow Photobiennale 2008, Contemporary Art Center Winzavod, Moscow

2007 Contemporary Art from Latvia, European Central Bank, Frankfurt a. M.

2006 In the Face of History: European Photographers in the 20th Century (among others with Wolfgang Tillmanns, Boris Mikhailov and Sune Jonsson), Barbican Art Gallery, London

2005 Dogs, Flo Peters Gallery, Hamburg Generations: Changing Photography, The Historical Museum of Alytus (LIT)

2004 Passage d’Europe, Musée d’Art Moderne Saint-Etienne (F)

2003–04 Modern Latvian Art and Photograph, Estonian National Museum, Tartu (EST)

2003 Inta Ruka and Egons Spuris, National Museum of Art, Riga Dokument 03, Bildens Hus, Fotomuseet, Sundsvall (S)

2002 Latvian artists exhibition, M. Zilinska Art Gallery, Kaunas (LV) Pilseta. Stasti par Rigu / City. Stories about Riga, urban space of Riga

2000 Parallels, Finnish Museum of Photography, Helsinki Utopia, Rogaland Kunstmuseum, Stavanger (N) Latvia. Changing and Unchanging Reality (together with Andrejs Grants), Gallery of the Latvian Artists‘ Union, Riga Inta Ruka (together with Andrejs Grants), Strasbourg (F)

1999 Stories. Storytellers, together with Anita Zabilevska and Ojars Petersons, contribution of the republic Latvia, 48th Venice Biennale, Chiesa San Giovanni Novo, Venice Art and Spirituality, Museum of Foreign Art, Riga Tre sätt att se (together with Marie Hoeg and Britt Marie Trensmar), Nordiska museet, Stockholm Travel from Liepāja to Balvi (together with Andrejs Grants), Gallery of the Latvian Artists‘ Union, Riga

1998 Under/Exposed, Stockholm Underground, Stockholm Five Photographers from Latvia, Palazzo Mediceo di Seravezza, Lucca (I)

1997 The Living Space, Galerie Station 3”, Vienna Farewell to the Empire, Social Photography from Latvia, Gallery XXL, Sofia (BUL)

1996 Inta Ruka, Valts Kleins, Vilhelms Mihailovskis, Polish Culture Center, Stockholm

1995 Inta Ruka, Gints Bērziņš, Andrejs Grants, Egons Spuris, Photo Fair, Göteborg

1994 Inta Ruka and Odile Debloos, Photo Projekt Latvia – France, Lettisches Museum für Photographie, Riga

1993–94 The Memory of Images. Baltic Photo Art Today, exhibition tour Borderlands. Photography of the Baltic States, Street Level Gallery, Glasgow (GB) Images de Lettonie, Galerie Claire M. Laurin, Aix-en-Provence

1993 Inta Ruka and Andrejs Grants, Museum of Photography “Raevangla”, Tallinn (EST)

1992 A Woman takes Photos of a Woman, Parlament der Republik Lettland, Riga Baltisk Fotografi, Museet for Fotokunst, Odense (DK)

1991 Comrades & Cameras: Photographs from Latvia and Other Soviet Republics, Santa Barbara Museum of Art, Santa Barbara Evidence, Gallery M6, Riga

1991–93 Latvian Photographers in the Age of Glasnost, exhibition tour in Canada

1990 The Song of Fate, Latvian War Museum, Riga Annee de l’Est, Musee de l’Elysee, Lausanne (CH)

1989 Inta Ruka, Andrejs Grants and Egons Spuris, Gallerie Kashirka, Moskau One Day in the Life of Ogre, photo-action with exhibition, Museum of History and Art, Ogre (LV) Latvian Photography, St. Peter’s Church, Riga

1988–89 Inta Ruka and Andrejs Grants, Museum of Photography, Helsinki (FIN)

Works in Public Collections

Collection de la Banque privée Edmond Rothschild, Geneva
European Central Bank, Frankfurt a.M.
Fotografische Sammlung, Museum Folkwang, Essen
Fotomuseum im Stadtmuseum München, Munich
Kumu Art Museum of Estonia, Tallinn
Latvian National Museum of Art, Riga
Latvian Museum of Photography, Riga
Musée de l’Elysée, Lausanne
Museet for Fotokunst, Odense
Royal Library, Stockholm
Rogland Kunstmuseum, Stavanger
Santa Barbara Museum of Art, Santa Barbara, California

Selected Bibliography

2008 Tellgren, Anna: “Inta Ruka’s Latvian Portraits”, in Inta Ruka. Amalias Street 5a, Den Haag, p. 9–11.
2007 Kolár, Viktor: ”Inta Ruka“, in Revolver Revue, 69/2007, p. 47–55. Contemporary Art from Latvia. Spotlight: The Collection of the Latvian Contemporary Art Museum, Catalogue, European Central Bank, Frankfurt a.M., 2007. Bernhard, Urs: “Inta Ruka. Der erzählerische Blick“, in Quadrat, a photography e-magazine by Franke & Heidecke, 1/2007, p. 12–18. Fricke, Christiane: “Grosse Kohle oder doch nur Liebhaberei? Wertsteigerung bei Fotos“, in Photographie, No. 6, 2007, p. 26–29.

2006 In the Face of History. European Photographers in the 20th Century, Catalogue, Barbican Art Gallery, London, eds. Kate Bush and Mark Sladen, London 2006.

2003 Inta Ruka, Egons Spuris. Fotografijas / Photographies, Catalogue, Latvian National Museum of Art, Riga 2003. Harder, Matthias: “Blicke in die lettische Seele“, in Inta Ruka. Portraits, folder of the exhibition at the Baukunst Galerie Cologne and the PAK, Palais für aktuelle Kunst, Kunstverein Glückstadt, Cologne 2003. Kaufhold, Enno “Weltbilder vom Lande. Inta Ruka und ihre Lettland-Porträts“, in Photonews, No. 3, March 2003, 15th volume, p. 6–7.

2001 Kaufhold, Enno: “Mit geneigtem Blick“, in FAZ, No. 92, 20 April 2001, Berliner Seiten, p. 6.

1999 Inta Ruka. Mani lauku ļaudis / Inta Ruka. My Country People / Inta Ruka. La mia gente di campagna, Catalogue published in conjunction with the participation of the 48th Venice Biennale, ed. by Soros Center for Contemporary Arts, Riga 1999. Texts by Pēteris Bankovskis, Helēna Demakova. “Esmu labaka fotografe starp apkopejam“, interview with Inta Ruka, in Santa, No. 5, 1999, p. 62–66.

1998 “There is nothing more interesting than a person”, interview of L. Slava with Inta Ruka in Studija, quarterly magazine of fine arts, Riga, No. 3, 1998, p. 24–31.

1995 Raphael, Michel, in “Images de Lettonie“, Catalogue, Galerie Claire M. Laurin, La Fontaine Obscure, Aix-en-Provence 1995.

1993 Ruka, Inta: “My people from the countryside“, in The Memory of Images. Baltic Photo Art Today, Catalogue, Städtische Galerie im Sophienhof, Kiel 1993. Linnap, Peter: “Anthropologist Inta Ruka“, in Borderlands. Photography of the Baltic States, Catalogue, Street Level Gallery, Glasgow 1993.

1992 Straka, Barbara: “Blick zurück nach vorn. Ein baltisches Memorial (Über die Entwicklung der baltischen Kunstphotographie)“, in Merian, September p. 88–95.

1991 Demakova, Helena: “Grupa A“, in Maksla. Almanac of Fine Arts (Riga), No. 4, 1991, p. 56–63.

1990 Mikhailowsky, W.: “Grupa A“, in Avots. Monthly Magazine (Riga), No. 10, 1990, p. 32–43. Querrin, M.: “Ohne Titel“, in Le Monde (Paris), No. 14, 1990.

1989 Annäherung an die Sowjetunion: Ein fotografischer Dialog / Photographical Acquaints with the USSR: A Photographical Dialogue, Catalogue Fachhochschule Hannover, Hannover.

1986 Neiburga, A. “Inta Ruka – cela sakuma“, in Literatura un Maksla, 23 May, 1986.