Conference “Culture Crossroads XIV”

If you are interested in researching culture and art phenomena, you are kindly invited to apply for participation at the Latvian Academy of Culture (LAC) International Research Conference “Culture Crossroads XIV”, which will take place for a whole week:

02.11.-06.11., 2020. November 6 will be a Section Day, which will take place on November 6 at the LAC Theatre House Zirgu pasts to share research results, conclusions and suggestions. The deadline for applications to participate is October 11, 2020.

The Latvian Academy of Culture (LAC) International Research Conference will include several events, highlighting the most current cultural and artistic processes on a global and local scale. Venues: the Latvian Academy of Culture (Ludzas iela 24) and the LAC Theatre House Zirgu pasts (Dzirnavu iela 36). In parallel with the live events, the conference series will also be available – on the LAC Facebook page.

The plenary of the International Research Conference “Culture Crossroads XIV” will be held in the Latvian Academy of Culture (LAC) hall on November 2. It will be dedicated to the 30th anniversary of the Latvian Academy of Culture with the title “Latvian Academy of Culture in Education and Arts”. The plenary session will disclose the achievements of the Latvian Academy of Culture, and its role in the higher education system in Latvia, its results in advancement of research and acquisition of new knowledge. The session will foster the discussion about cultural and art phenomena, as well as the role of the LAC in the development of the Latvian art space and cultural environment. The plenary session will end with presentations of the recent editions of the LAC research collections “Culture Crossroads” and “Culture and Art Research”. Working language – Latvian.

On November 3 an International Conference Day will be dedicated of “The Impact of Arts and Cultural Education: Arguments and Evidence”, which will take place online.

The framework of the conference includes analysis and highlights on the diverse contribution to arts and cultural education at the national, community, and individual levels. Researchers and industry professionals from different European countries and Latvia will share their experience and conclusions on the theoretical, practical and communicative aspects of art and cultural education. Working language – English. The International Day takes place within the framework of international network meetings: ENO (The European Network of Observatories in the Field of Arts and Cultural Education) and ACEnet (Network of European policy makers, civil servants and academics working in the fields of arts and cultural education).

On November 4 at, the International Forum “Modernism in Culture, Global and local succession strategies and approaches”, will take place from 10.00 – 16.00. It is dedicated to an important period of art development in Europe in the 20th century – modernism and the peculiarities of its trends and phenomena in art, architecture, literature, theatre, cinema and music in Latvia, and the global and local tendencies and challenges in the area of cultural heritage, its re-creating and interpretation. In the forum, academic and business experts will analyse controversial views on the manifestation of modernism in culture and art. At the end of the Forum Day discussion will turn to features of modernism in architecture and their significance in the context of cultural heritage.

Working language – English.

Dealing with November 5 at 10.00-16.00, the Baltic Drama Forum will take place at the LAC Theatre House Zirgu pasts, which will invite Latvian, Lithuanian and Estonian performing arts theorists and practitioners to focus on the latest technological developments in theatre and different theatre viewing practices. A collection of articles, dedicated to the recent decade will be presented at the Latvian theatre, will be presented at the end of the Forum, at 16.30–17.30.

On November 6, the conference will take place in ten sections at the LAC Theatre House Zirgu pasts, at 9.00-18.00:

1.  Sociology of culture and art; culture policies.
2.  Arts education and cultural education.
3.  Preservation of cultural heritage, rights, ethics, governance, pedagogy and communication aspects.
4.  Performing arts.
5.  Tangible and intangible culture heritage: folklore, ethnology, archaeology, cultural anthropology.
6.  Creative industries and cultural management.
7.  Audio-visual art. ‘’To be Juris Podnieks’’ (section time: December 4).
8.  Intercultural communication, cross-cultural communication, intercultural communication and intercultural competence in Latvia and the role of language in culture.
9.  Visual arts.
10.  Literature and visuality.

 Working languages: Latvian and English

As part of the Baltic Drama Forum, the Performing Arts Section will start a discussion “Theatre and audience relations in the next 100 years”, assessing the future perspectives of the Baltic theatre.

Working language - English.

On 6th of November, the Riga Film Museum of the Latvian Academy of Culture will present a short film series “Stories of Objects” in the foyer of the ground floor of Zirgu pasts. Eight well-known Latvian experts will introduce viewers to the repositories of the museum. The guests will have an opportunity to see the work of

the cinema editing table and the camera, learn about the restoration of films, the way how the costumes are made for films and how the actors are chosen for the films.

Experts will talk about the treasures of the museum's collection: costume designer Keita, film director Janis Putnins, film scientist Inga Perkone-Redovica, film restorer Ruta Sudakova and others. The project was created with the support of the State Culture Capital Fund.

In order to apply for participation at a conference section  (November 6), please fill in the online application form at:

It is possible to apply for the conference by October 11 (included), 2020. We kindly ask you to attach your photo for the conference booklet. The Book of Abstracts will be published by the International Research Conference “Cultural Crossroads 2020”. The presentation time is 20 minutes (questions included). Participation in the conference is free of charge. Papers submitted to the conference will be peer reviewed. The programme of sections may change, depending on the contents of the abstracts.

After the conference, participants will be invited to submit their research articles for the peer reviewed collection of research articles "Crossroads: Research in Art and Culture" (assigned with an ISSN number) and/or “Culture Crossroads” (indexed at, ERIH+, EBSCO  and ULRICH’S databases, http://www.culturecrossroads.lv).

The conference is organised and the conference materials are developed in accordance with the framework of the European Regional Development Fund project “Development of research at the Latvian Academy of Culture”, No 1.1.1. 5/18/I/017.

The organiser of the conference is the LAC Research Centre in cooperation with the Union of Theatre Staff, the Faculty of Pedagogy, Psychology and Art of the University of Latvia, the Latvian National Cultural Centre, the UNESCO Latvian National Commission, and the Ministry of Culture.

The focus of the research at the LAC is on interdisciplinarity in the study of cultural and artistic phenomena.  In the twelve-year history of “Cultural Crossroads”, the annual LAC International Research Conference acquires the status of a special event. Its multidisciplinary programme is attractive to experienced researchers, students, practitioners of culture industry. The annual programme allows us to implement the strategic goal of the conference: to develop a communicative platform for theoretical and applied approbation of the results of research in culture and arts.

The main mission of the conference is to publish the results of research on culture and arts issues, which are significant for Latvia, and to promote academic discussion on the role and social responsibility of the cultural, artistic and creative sector under the conditions of political, economic and demographic changes.

A particular challenge for conference organisers is the integration of research and creative activity in the study on cultural phenomena, especially at a time when researchers are talking about crossing the boundaries between arts and research and creating an ever-widening space for arts and research.