International Collaboration Between Students and Artists in Riga Transforms into Artivism Initiatives
From 1 to 5 June, the Latvian Academy of Culture hosted the interdisciplinary learning and experience week “The Artivism Bootcamp: The Intersection of Art and Activism”, bringing together students from arts universities across the Nordic and Baltic Sea region, as well as local artists, to collaboratively explore creative responses to current social, cultural, and environmental challenges.
During the five-day programme, students from 12 higher education institutions worked alongside artists-mentors to develop creative initiatives that combine artistic practice with addressing socially significant issues. From formulating an idea to implementing an artistic intervention in a real-life setting, participants developed and tested their solutions in practice.
The programme was built around creative laboratories, in which student groups collaborated with one of five artist-mentors – Elīza Māra, Evija Skuķe, Mailo Mēness, Nellija Spūle, and Kristaps Ancāns. Combining lectures, workshops, and hands-on work, the programme enabled participants to develop their ideas and transform them into tangible initiatives.
Each day began with a collective reflection session, followed by lectures and practical workshops. In the afternoons, teams worked in the creative laboratories, developing micro-artivism initiatives and preparing them for pilot implementation in real-life environments.
Throughout the process, students identified a social, cultural, or environmental issue, designed an artistic intervention, and tested their ideas by engaging with audiences. At the same time, they documented participants’ reactions, interactions, and challenges in order to analyse the outcomes and evaluate both the most successful approaches and aspects that could be improved in the future.
The high level of student engagement and motivation throughout the programme was particularly noteworthy. At the conclusion of the bootcamp, the groups presented a range of thoughtful and diverse initiatives that demonstrated the potential of art to foster public dialogue and inspire change. The proposed projects included engaging local neighbourhood communities in shaping their environment, developing an artists’ manifesto, creating an artivism performance addressing current societal issues, launching an artistic impact campaign centred on everyday acts of kindness, and creating and installing a symbolic public artwork in the Miera Street Quarter.
Programme organized within ActinArt - Nordic/Baltic Network for Entrepreneurial Mindset in the Arts, Act In Art 2025, NPHE-2025/10069.
The ActinArt network brings together Nordic and Baltic art academies in music, drama, dance, and cultural management. Coordinated by the Royal College of Music in Stockholm since 2023, the network’s diverse partners foster a strong, interdisciplinary approach. In recent years, ActinArt has focused on sustainability and exploring how art academies and students can help drive society toward a more sustainable future.
Information prepared by
Asnāte Kalēja