Theatre Exhibition Girls to the Right, Boys to the Left
From September 5 to September 20, 2026, as part of the Homo Novus festival, the theatre exhibition “Girls to the Right, Boys to the Left” by artists Sodja Zupanc Lotker and Tadeáš Říha (Czech Republic) will be on view in the third-floor lobby of the main building of the Latvian National Museum of Art (Jaņa Rozentāla laukums 1, Riga).
The exhibition will mark the opening of the International Festival of Contemporary Theatre “Homo Novus”. Taking place from 4 to 12 September in Riga and across Latvia, the festival will bring together Latvian and international artists, with a focus on mutual care, togetherness and human connection.
“Girls to the Right, Boys to the Left” is a theatre exhibition about identity, belonging and experiences shaped by others’ judgemental gazes and critical remarks. It addresses bullying, something many people first encounter during their school years because of their appearance, physical abilities or identity. At the same time, the work is also about the courage to accept oneself, find support, and gain a sense of dignity and belonging.
“It felt important to open the festival with this particular work because it speaks very precisely to what is at the heart of this year’s “Homo Novus” programme: the ability to truly see another person, not to turn away from their experience, and to create a space where we can be together even when our stories are different. The work reminds us that care does not always begin with active intervention – sometimes simply listening and spending time together is the first step towards understanding and finding a solution,” says Santa Remere, curator of the “Homo Novus” festival.
The exhibition is designed as a theatrical environment where familiar proportions and preconceptions are deliberately distorted. The nearly six-metre-tall puppets represent the protagonists of these stories. The stories speak of judgement, humiliation and exclusion, but also of acceptance, love and friendship. Visitors will also have the opportunity to write down and leave their own story.
“This collaboration makes a meaningful and emotionally powerful contribution to the museum’s work, strengthening its role as an open space for conversations that matter to society – about belonging, acceptance and inclusion. It is important for us to create a diverse programme for different audiences, including young people, and to continue purposefully developing the museum as an accessible cultural space where everyone can feel that they belong and are welcome,” says Laura Dravniece, Head of the Education and Accessibility Department at the Latvian National Museum of Art.
The installation was created by dramaturg Sodja Zupanc Lotker and architect Tadeáš Říha. Its first version was developed in collaboration between the Prague City Museum and Prague Pride, while the Latvian exhibition is produced by the International Festival of Contemporary Theatre “Homo Novus”. In Latvia, the installation is complemented by local stories of bullying collected in cooperation with the online magazine satori.lv.
“More than 60 people of different ages responded to our invitation to share stories of being ridiculed and described the violence they had experienced because of their appearance, gender, sexual orientation and other circumstances. Many of these stories have been included in the theatre exhibition, revealing just how widespread and painful this problem is in Latvian society and how deeply it can affect a person’s life. I hope this exhibition can also be a step towards collective healing,” says Andrejs Vīksna, Editor-in-Chief of satori.lv.
On 5 September, as part of the contemporary culture forum “White Night” (Baltā nakts), the Czech-Slovenian collective “Diamond Bikes” and the local riding, rolling, skating community will invite wheelchair users, skateboarders and roller skaters to a party in the square behind the Latvian National Museum of Art. The event is a reminder that communities that communities that may seem very different at first often have more in common than we might expect, and that we can coexist side by side.
It will be a performative event in which celebrating together becomes a work of art. Music, movement, karaoke, performances and unexpected encounters will invite everyone to join in and experience the city from a different perspective.
About the Artists
Sodja Zupanc-Lotker, Ph.D, teaches dramaturgy and runs master studies at DAMU Department of Alternative And Puppet theatre in Prague. After finishing her master studies in directing and dramaturgy at DAMU, Prague she did her PhD in spatial dramaturgy at Vienna University, ZHdK University of the Arts Zurich and Prague Performing Arts academy. She works as a dramaturg for independent theatre, dance and exhibition projects. She was artistic director of the Prague Quadrennial of Performance Design and Space 2008 – 2015. She has also served as coordinating curator for several international artistic research projects. She has given lectures and workshops at Columbia University, Yale School of Drama, Royal Central School of Speech and Drama, Iceland Academy of the Arts, Norwegian Theatre Academy, HKU Utrecht, Kiasma Helsinki and numerous festivals and symposia. From 2014-2026 she was on Editorial Board of Theatre and Performance Design Journal; and from 2015 – 2021 on Editorial Board of Performance Research Journal, both published by Routledge.
Tadeáš Říha is an architect, practising between London and Prague. Working across community buildings, urban design, exhibition-making, curatorial practice and teaching, the work establishes focused collaborations at the intersection of architecture, planning, sustainable engineering, and culture. Tadeas teaches at the Royal College of Art in London.
This exhibition may evoke powerful emotions. Recommended for audiences aged 10 and over. It features testimonies of violence, bullying, and rejection, but also of acceptance, love, and friendship. You might recognize aspects of your own experience in them. Perhaps you will encounter things you have long refused to face, or discover something entirely new. If you are experiencing emotional distress and there is no one nearby you can talk to or ask for help, please call one of the crisis helplines listed below.
If you are experiencing a crisis and need support, you can contact the Skalbes Crisis and Counselling Centre’s 24/7 helpline at +371 27722292 / +371 67222922, the 24/7 Children and Adolescents Helpline at 116006, or the The Child and Adolescent Resource Centre’s mental health support line at +371 25737363 (weekdays from 12:00 to 19:00).
