Another alternative network:
T-Shroom from Latvia

Latvian contemporary art is already mature enough to launch projects which never mention the word "art". One of them has a distinctive title - T-shroom. It has been conceptually initiated by artists Katrina Neiburga and Peteris Kimelis (group Primitive) and supported by art bureau Open (Kaspars Vanags, Ilze Strazdina, Agne Skane and others).

The very content of the complex project is connected with a new type of open networking. The new network unites those people who find evident alternatives to the consumerism of widespread brands. The uniting link for this network is ... a mushroom, but not the one which is associated with drugs, but rather with a lovely family pet. T-shroom is just an abbreviation for this sort of tea - mushroom, which is nourished with black tea, thus producing a particular drink. This drink has been popular over the centuries in many households in the Baltics and in Russia, but now it is replaced by industrially made drinks.

The tea-mushroom was grown in our family in my childhood, kept clean in a glass jar and fed with sugar and tea by my old nanny. It tasted much better than the popular lemonades of today, but maybe these are just my golden memories of a "lost time".

The essence of the young artists project is not just the "home-made" versus "the global brands". T-shroom is a small research institution which has due regard for local sensibilities and personal relationships. It is a warm and human project, despite of a lot of irony which is put into the imitation of real market relationships. The actual mushroom drink is only a part of the whole T-shroom "enterprise".

The project includes the system of distribution and marketing of this alternative product, with different correspondences to the "real world" (such as a shop, T-shirts, ads etc.). For a small span of time tea-mushroom becomes the "mainstream" product in a certain community, thus simulating social stereotypes with 100% credibility. These artists have created another sort of cultural activity which transcends the border between art and life.

Helena Demakova

t-shoom was also hosted by ibid gallery and shown at baltic babel exhibition in rooseum
more about the project in an interview of kaspars vanags by eve kiiler