LANDSCAPE OF DEFENCE. Pavilion of Latvia
19th International Architecture Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia
Inaugurated on the occasion of the 19th International Architecture Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia, the Latvian Pavilion offers a unique immersion into the reality of NATO’s eastern frontier. Titled LANDSCAPE OF DEFENCE, the exhibition explores the impact of defence infrastructure on everyday life, on the territory, and on the collective imagination. The Pavilion is hosted in the Artiglierie of the Arsenale, with access from Campo della Tana — in the heart of the Biennale’s main exhibition route.
Curated by Liene Jākobsone and Ilka Ruby, with an exhibition design by Latvian architecture studios SAMPLING and NOMAD, the Pavilion reflects on the intersection of civilian and military landscapes along Latvia’s borders with Russia and Belarus, raising important questions: What does it mean to live on NATO’s outer edge in times of geopolitical conflict? How do defensive measures shape lives and landscapes? In today’s Latvia, national and NATO-wide defence are no longer just a government directive — they are part of daily life.
Through a powerful and thought-provoking exhibition design, visitors are invited to reconsider the notion of “border” in an era marked by geopolitical instability. The curators offer complementary perspectives: Liene Jākobsone, an architect and designer with a PhD in product design, is co-founder of the studio SAMPLING and Director of the Institute of Contemporary Art, Design and Architecture at the Art Academy of Latvia. Her work focuses on the intersection of spatial practice and cultural production. Ilka Ruby, curator and author, is co-founder of the independent publishing house Ruby Press, active in the field of architecture and spatial practices. With a transdisciplinary and critical approach, she brings a broader reflection on the political and social role of architecture.
The exhibition space is defined by a large circular curtain displaying a photographic collage that documents vernacular architecture, natural elements, traces of daily life, and artificial structures found in the Latvian borderlands — road signs, watchtowers, fences, barbed wire. At the centre, objects originating from both civil and military spheres — anti-tank hedgehogs, dragon’s teeth, a surveillance pole, rustic wooden benches — are reproduced in a fluorescent, abstract material that alters their appearance and invites critical reflection.
A group of six video screens evokes a control room: footage alternates between glimpses of the landscape and testimonies from people living along the border, presented in Latvian with English subtitles. On one wall, a second curtain — 4.5 meters high — features a large illustrative map of the 30-kilometer border zone, inspired by historical cartography. Informative texts and personal impressions offer a spatial and human context from the perspective of military defence. The same curtain also hosts the curatorial text and technical information of the pavilion.
The Latvian Pavilion does not propose solutions but reveals the complexity inherent in designing defence infrastructure. While fences and barriers may be necessary in the face of real threats, they raise ethical, ecological, and aesthetic concerns. The aim is to foster dialogue on the relationship between security, space, and society — not only with visitors, but with political and military stakeholders as well.
The exhibition is accompanied by a printed publication — a fold-out catalogue in postcard format, published by Ruby Press. It includes an essay by Liene Jākobsone and original photographs by Reinis Hofmanis, a Latvian photographer awarded the Fuji Global Grant for his research on borderlands. Resembling a passport, the publication underscores the connection between identity and territory, the experience of crossing and the significance of the border.
As Jākobsone writes in the postcard leporello: “The eastern border of Latvia has been fortified in such a way over the past few years. Work is still underway, but the territory has changed significantly. The border is not just a line, but an area. A whole landscape of defence has been created along with imposing fortifications. The border itself […] marks the end of the country and, in this case, of a much wider region — that of Europe. […] These postcards from the very edge of Europe are not only a testimony to its diversity and its values, but also offer an opportunity for this landscape of defence to be represented to those it is intended to defend.”
“In Berlin, where I live, you still feel every day how the fall of a physical and systemic border can transform a city’s urban fabric. That frontier has now shifted to the border between Latvia — and Europe — and Russia. Our goal is to understand the effects that such fortifications can have on landscapes and lives,” adds Ruby.
At the Pavilion, visitors are met by ambiguous figures — somewhere between guides and sentinels — dressed in uniforms designed by Latvian fashion designer Laima Jurča. Their quiet but perceptible presence evokes gestures and postures of control, heightening the suspended atmosphere of the Pavilion — a space that mirrors the threshold of a militarized zone, where the public is confronted with the tension between security and threat, welcome and surveillance, freedom and control.
Liene Jākobsone, PhD, is an architect, designer, founding partner of the Riga-based architecture and design studio SAMPLING, senior researcher and director of the Institute of Contemporary Art, Design and Architecture at the Art Academy of Latvia.
Ilka Ruby is a Berlin-based curator, author, and co-founder of Ruby Press, an independent publishing house specializing on architecture and spatial practices. Besides her extensive exhibition curation portfolio, she is a frequent lecturer and moderator at architecture discussions and events.
The Latvian Pavilion is commissioned by Jānis Dripe, Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Latvia.
Exhibitors: SAMPLING (Manten Devriendt, Liene Jākobsone) and NOMAD (Marija Katrīna Dambe, Florian Betat)
