News

The Design Economy – Latvia’s Invisible Economic Infrastructure

Is a blood donation campaign design? What about a biometric wallet? And what about chairs, lamps and posters? The debate over what constitutes design resurfaces in Latvia almost every year following the presentation of the Latvian Design Awards and the announcement of its nominees. The 2026 finalists once again vividly demonstrate just how diverse the field has become. They include product design, which is still most commonly associated with design in the traditional sense, as well as a campaign commissioned by the State Blood Donor Centre (created by McCann Riga), nominated in the communication design category, and Handwave, a biometric wallet (created by Handwave and Cube), which won in the service design category.

Latvian Academy of Culture Invites Visitors to Explore the Nature of Cultural Research at European Researchers’ Night

On 25 September, from 17:00 to 21:30, the Institute of Arts and Cultural Studies of the Latvian Academy of Culture (LAC) invites school students and other interested visitors to European Researchers’ Night at LAC’s “Gara māja”, 58a Miera Street, Riga. Responding to this year’s theme, “Discover the Nature of Science!”, LAC will offer a programme exploring science through the lens of culture and arts research. Visitors will be invited to step into the role of researchers themselves – experimenting, discussing, observing and asking questions about culture, society and human experience. Admission is free.

International Students in Riga Develop New Ideas for the Staro Rīga Light Festival

Seven new light art concepts for Riga’s urban environment have been developed by 47 students from ACE²-EU partner universities, who gathered at the Latvian Academy of Culture (LAC) last week to take part in the first ACE²-EU micro-learning programme of the academic semester – Flavour School “Urban Future Public Space LAB: Art, Design and Technology for People”. Over five intensive days, international and interdisciplinary student teams worked alongside light artists, experts and mentors to explore Riga’s urban environment and develop concepts with the potential to become part of the Staro Rīga Light Festival in the future.

Movement, Text and Visual Art in Dialogue: LAC Experience in North Macedonia

From 31 August to 4 September, the ACE²-EU microlearning programme Embodied Dialogues for Change took place in North Macedonia. The programme was developed through collaboration between the Latvian Academy of Culture (LAC), Goce Delcev University in North Macedonia and Universidad Francisco de Vitoria in Spain. Over five days of intensive co-creation, students and academic staff from different countries and disciplines – including dance, scenography, visual arts, engineering and medicine – explored how art can address a socially sensitive issue: the experiences and rights of textile workers in North Macedonia. The programme culminated in a collaboratively created performance bringing together movement, text, sound and visual language.