Mailo Mēness is a Latvian-born multidisciplinary artist currently based in Riga. They are one of the few artists in Latvia whose practice is consistently grounded in artistic activism. Defining himself as a non-binary person, he uses performance art as a platform for documenting identity and self-experience, while simultaneously addressing broader sociopolitical issues – queer visibility, animal rights, and the survival strategies of the artist within the context of today’s economy. Mailo’s artistic language is radically personal, yet it reveals universal contradictions between the individual and society. His performances, often positioned at the threshold between the public and the private, confront deeply ingrained social norms of gender and identity. This practice is both a visual testimony to the existence of non-binary experience in Latvia and a strategy that redefines belonging and visibility through art.
Beyond his artistic work, Mailo’s activism extends into the podcast “Dzimtes rsols”* (Gender Salad), broadcast on Latvian public media, where he has brought forward conversations about non-binary and transgender lives and raised the question of the absence of a gender-neutral pronoun in the Latvian language. This voice in the public sphere strengthens queer visibility and opens up wider debates on language and identity.
An essential part of Mailo’s practice is also drag king performance and participation in collectives that foster the sustainability and visibility of queer communities in the Baltics. This work expands the boundaries of contemporary art, introducing drag as a critical tool for deconstructing patriarchal gender constructs while simultaneously creating spaces for solidarity and collective creation.
In the field of Latvian contemporary art, Mailo Mēness occupies a unique and strategically important position: his practice demonstrates how an artist, working outside traditional institutional frameworks, can shape socially relevant discourse and generate new forms of representation for identity and political subjectivity.
Beyond his artistic work, Mailo’s activism extends into the podcast “Dzimtes rsols”* (Gender Salad), broadcast on Latvian public media, where he has brought forward conversations about non-binary and transgender lives and raised the question of the absence of a gender-neutral pronoun in the Latvian language. This voice in the public sphere strengthens queer visibility and opens up wider debates on language and identity.
An essential part of Mailo’s practice is also drag king performance and participation in collectives that foster the sustainability and visibility of queer communities in the Baltics. This work expands the boundaries of contemporary art, introducing drag as a critical tool for deconstructing patriarchal gender constructs while simultaneously creating spaces for solidarity and collective creation.
In the field of Latvian contemporary art, Mailo Mēness occupies a unique and strategically important position: his practice demonstrates how an artist, working outside traditional institutional frameworks, can shape socially relevant discourse and generate new forms of representation for identity and political subjectivity.
EDUCATION
2020 – 2023 Art Academy of Latvia, Faculty of Audio-Visual Media Art, department “Motion. Image. Sound” (MA)
2020 Laboratory of Stage Arts “Butoh art”
2018 – 2019 Performance art course “Transformation of personal experience in body, voice and object” at Latvian Performance Art Centre
AWARDS
2024 - VV Foundation award for the performance "Shred & Suspend: A Choreography of Imprints” at Riga Performance Festival Starptelpa
Residencies
2025 - residency Undoing 2.0 at Savvaļa,
2025 residency at Simbioze 2.0 at Skujene
2024 - residency at PAiR* Pāvilosta;
WORKS
2025
Performance "Manifesto of Chickens" at festival “Art for Meat Tax”, Riga
Performance "The Burden of Choice" during outdoor art plein-air Simbioze 2.0 at Skujene, Latvia
Performance "The Cost of Convenience" at Riga Performance Festival Starptelpa, k.k. Fon Stricka Villa, June
Performance "Becoming An Artist" at Live Art Zine opening event in Copenhagen, Denmark, within Art Matter festival
2024
Podcast series "Dzimtes r*sols" with Latvian Radio platform for youth pieci.lv
Video work commission "Sunrise in Future" for Y: Slow TV Cinema during International Festival of Contemporary Theatre "Homo Novus"
Group exhibition "Brīnumjauki" in Kalnciema quarter gallery space, together with Karīna Volbeta and Alise Rudēvica
Performance "Genderbender II Vol. 2", PAiR residency in Pāvilosta
Zine "The Chicken diaries" in international zine and small press festival "Sābrs"
Performance: "Shred & Suspend: A Choreography of Imprints” at Riga Performance Festival Starptelpa, Riga Circus, June
Group exhibition “Drag yourself here: Riga edition”, MASA gallery, Riga (June), curator Mētra Saberova
2023
Group show "Drag Yourself Here" in Kogo gallery, Tartu (August - October), curator Mētra Saberova
Assisting Gundega Evelone in performance: "Destruction of Unpleasant Things in 7 Acts" (August)
Performance "Vistu manifests" ("Chicken Manifesto") at Riga Performance Festival Starptelpa, LMA, Riga (June)
Performance "Katram savu mākslinieku" ("For each their own artist") in the location of planned Contemporary Art Museum of Latvia, Mihaila Tāla iela 6
2022
Group exhibition "+/- Children" in gallery DOM, together with Laura Feldberga and Ilze Vēze-Balode
Project "Latvian Drag Kings" – drag shows
Participation in the creative summer camp for essay group (tutor Santa Remere) organised by the online magazine "Satori" (August), and participation in the readings of the camp texts "Readings of pleasure" within the theatre festival Homo Novus (September)
Participation in the butoh performance "Dzīslot" within the White Night, premiere at the opening of the procedural exhibition "The warmth of your hands does not hurt me" on 27 July
Performance "Genderbender II" at Riga Performance Festival Starptelpa, LMA, Riga (June)
Participation in the project "Baltic Drag King Festival 2022” (June)
Project "Latvian Drag Kings" – drag shows
Participation in the creative summer camp for essay group (tutor Santa Remere) organised by the online magazine "Satori" (August), and participation in the readings of the camp texts "Readings of pleasure" within the theatre festival Homo Novus (September)
Participation in the butoh performance "Dzīslot" within the White Night, premiere at the opening of the procedural exhibition "The warmth of your hands does not hurt me" on 27 July
Performance "Genderbender II" at Riga Performance Festival Starptelpa, LMA, Riga (June)
Participation in the project "Baltic Drag King Festival 2022” (June)
2021
Participation with prose work "On My Side of the Bed" in the reading evening organised by Latvian PEN “Aizliekts" within the festival "Prose Readings" (10.12.2021.)
Participation in the group exhibition "Public Encounters" at Art Station Dubulti: "Public Encounters: Engagement" with the work "Homosexual Sculpture" (tutors Kristaps Ancāns, Marc Hulson, curator Inga Šteimane) (10.09. - 31.10.) and creation of a performative work in London, Grenery Square, tutors Kristaps Ancāns, Marc Hulson and Alex Shady (01.10.-11.10.)
Participation in the performance "Universe" as part of the film "Homo Ludens" (LPMC film about the sculptor Ojārs Arvīds Feldbergs), as a member of the performance group "Animist"
Participation in the project "Art and Activism for a Fairer World", organised by ISSP (July-October 2021)
Participation in the project "Public Encounters" lecture series (LMA in collaboration with Central St. Martins College of Art, London) (February - March)
Video performance "It" , Riga Performance Festival "Starptelpa", Riga
Participation in the group exhibition "Public Encounters" at Art Station Dubulti: "Public Encounters: Engagement" with the work "Homosexual Sculpture" (tutors Kristaps Ancāns, Marc Hulson, curator Inga Šteimane) (10.09. - 31.10.) and creation of a performative work in London, Grenery Square, tutors Kristaps Ancāns, Marc Hulson and Alex Shady (01.10.-11.10.)
Participation in the performance "Universe" as part of the film "Homo Ludens" (LPMC film about the sculptor Ojārs Arvīds Feldbergs), as a member of the performance group "Animist"
Participation in the project "Art and Activism for a Fairer World", organised by ISSP (July-October 2021)
Participation in the project "Public Encounters" lecture series (LMA in collaboration with Central St. Martins College of Art, London) (February - March)
Video performance "It" , Riga Performance Festival "Starptelpa", Riga
2020
LMA student group exhibition “Hard drive of lost expressions” at PILOT gallery, Rīga (12.11.-31.12.)
Project “Baltic Drag King Online Festival 2020”
Butō performance “Kukaiņi” Pedvāles brīvdabas muzejā, Sabilē
Butō performance “Plaukums" Tu jau zini kur zālē, Rīga
Project “Dragking history 101” (5 video episodes)
Performance “An Intimate Moment”, Rīga
Project “Baltic Drag King Online Festival 2020”
Butō performance “Kukaiņi” Pedvāles brīvdabas muzejā, Sabilē
Butō performance “Plaukums" Tu jau zini kur zālē, Rīga
Project “Dragking history 101” (5 video episodes)
Performance “An Intimate Moment”, Rīga
2019
"Latvian Drag king Festival 2019" - project organisation and participation in the festival, Riga, co-founding Baltic (originally Latvian) drag king collective
Participation in NORDIC PERFORMANCE ART seminar NEXT LEVEL, Odense, Denmark
Performance "Connection" Academia. Latvian Academy of Art, Arsenāls, together with Anna Vilāne
Street performance "Baltic/Nordic Community", Gothenburg, Sweden
Performance "Genderbender" during Riga Performance festival "Starptelpa", Riga
Performance "Binding, Scattering, Gathering" with Polish artist Agnieszka Karasch
Performance "When was the last time you hurt someone?" as part of the performance evening "Springificationion", Riga
Participation in the performative walk "The Tree Walk" within the festival "No New Idols" (together with Linda Boļšakova, Anastasia Shnepps-Shneppe, Sarmīte Kalniņa, Mingaile Kola, Ilva Minajeva and Sandra Betkere)
Participation in NORDIC PERFORMANCE ART seminar NEXT LEVEL, Odense, Denmark
Performance "Connection" Academia. Latvian Academy of Art, Arsenāls, together with Anna Vilāne
Street performance "Baltic/Nordic Community", Gothenburg, Sweden
Performance "Genderbender" during Riga Performance festival "Starptelpa", Riga
Performance "Binding, Scattering, Gathering" with Polish artist Agnieszka Karasch
Performance "When was the last time you hurt someone?" as part of the performance evening "Springificationion", Riga
Participation in the performative walk "The Tree Walk" within the festival "No New Idols" (together with Linda Boļšakova, Anastasia Shnepps-Shneppe, Sarmīte Kalniņa, Mingaile Kola, Ilva Minajeva and Sandra Betkere)