Laima Jaunzema

Laima Jaunzema grew up in rural Latvia during the aftermath of the Soviet Union’s collapse. Her artistic interest in discovering the body as medium is indelibly influenced by the silence of one's own intimacy in contrast to being exposed to universal space, the retrospective gaps in communication and perception, and delayed political reactions.

The severe susceptibility of the ambient environment is an engine for Laima to create spaces where the perception of one’s body can be challenged with powerful sensitivity. She is continuously questioning the gaping wounds of identities, the shivers of landscapes and how it is all filled with sounds, beams, strange beliefs, violence, hope, violent hope, wonders and ghosts. Working across performance, choreography, research and the facilitation of holding space formats, she creates situations that heighten perception and challenge bodily thresholds.

Laima graduated from SNDO – School for New Dance Development in Amsterdam, and previously studied dance in Berlin and Denmark. She furthered her research through the course Commissioning and Curating Contemporary Public Art at HDK-Valand Academy of Art and Design in Sweden. She was awarded the DanceWeb 2024 scholarship, mentored by Isabel Lewis.

She is currently based in Riga, where she creates her own work and teaches concept development and movement research.