Cultural policy of Riga City in the development of skills and the perspective of the future Association of Culture institutions of Riga City Education, Culture and Sports department of Riga City Council Rīga, INNOCRAFTS Apr

Latvia Republic Riga is a capital city of Latvia. Citizens Latvia

Latvia-Rīga

Project proposal In context of the project we suggest to sketch guidelines of good practice: Cultural policy of the city regarding education of citizens in the field of craftsmanship is directed to aquisition of skills and usability of them in starting individual art enterprises, and development of employment and leisure time activities. Good practice researching the experiance Creatives Metropoles.

Rīga There are 11 culture institutions working under Riga city council, including house of Handicrafts and house of Master Craftsmen. Institutions are providing the possibilities to people of Riga, from kids and teenagers to seniors, to spend the leisure time usefully, to get skills of crafts, to develop abilities and talents, to ensure usability of acquired skills in social life, taking part in art exibitions as well as encouraging participation in the activities of cultural tourism and business.

Culture centres of Riga city

Culture policy of Riga city Cultural policy of Riga municipality envisages financial support to amateur groups – choirs, dance groups, brass bands, vocal and kokle (Latvian national instrument) bands, and amateur applied art groups – by subsidizing salaries of teachers and master craftsmen from the funds of city budget. Financial suport EUR A D B C E Amateur applied art groups (31) Choirs(105) Dance groups(68), Children dance groups(9) Kokle(14) and vocal bands(40) Brass bands(6 )

Culture policy of Riga city Cultural institutions of Riga city are providing premises for the activities of these units, solving organizational questions and household needs. Installing exibitions as well as searching funding for them, and organizing fairs and workshops of amateur applied art.

Culture policy of Riga city Support for activities of amateur art groups was defined in 2005 by law of Latvian Nationwide Song and Dance Festival. Some photos included from Festival, when once in 4 years all the folk art groups supported by municipalities from all regions of Latvia are meeting in Riga celebrate a festivity together. In 2003 Nationwide Song and Dance Festivals of Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia were included in the World Heritage List of UNESCO.

Culture policy of Riga city 31 groups of applied art are working with support of Riga minicipality. No Textile and weaving groups6 Textile and handicraft groups6 Wattling groups5 Ceramic groups4 Jeweler groups3 Metal forging groups2 Woodworking groups1 Floristic groups1 Leather working groups3 In total participants in total, and the number is gradually growing.

Culture policy of Riga city Functions of amateur applied art groups in Riga TEXTEXT Folk tradition preserved, culture heritage investigated Making of items and developing the skills of folk craftsman- ship Work according to educational and social programs, ensuring aquisition of skills and employing representatives of all social groups Makig of decorative art items, for example, folk costumes, to be later used by amateur groups of Riga - choirs, dance groups etc. Installing exibitions and participation in the activities of cultural tourism of local and international scale.

Insight of traditional activities of cultural tourism in Riga: Festivity – Midsummer NightHarvest festival

Considering interconnections of this project and summary of good practice in connection with support from creative industries in various European cities, we are at the moment marking a possibility to learn a good experience and share it at meetings planned during the project. In 2009 Riga took part in Creative Metropoles project of INTERREG

For conclusion – a live picture

Dzidra Šmita Zanda Ķergalve Riga, 2012