The conference will take place on 4 November 2026, from 9:00 to 18:30, at the Great Amber Concert Hall in Liepāja, and will turn its attention to socially engaged contemporary art practices and to collaboration with the many communities that live in, and help shape, the city.

This year “Cultural Renovation” will explore questions that are gaining ever-greater weight both within the cultural sector and across society: what actually constitutes a community, and how might different communities build new relationships through the act of creating together? How have community-based creative practices evolved over time, and what ethical, political, social and practical questions do they raise? How does an art event give rise to new communities and networks of connection - and whether it’s time to recognise that creating is not simply a profession, or a privilege reserved for the few, but a fundamental part of life itself?

According to conference curator Gundega Laiviņa, this year’s programme and its guiding theme draw on the philosophy of the Lakota, an indigenous people of North America, encapsulated in the phrase “Mitákuye Oyás'iŋ” - a spiritual concept expressing total interconnectedness. It translates roughly as “All My Relations” or “We are all related”, capturing the deep, reciprocal bond between humans, animals, plants, water and all other forms of life.

The morning sessions will focus on the notion of community and on the city as a shared space. One inhabited and shaped not only by people, but by other living beings too. We will take a look at the phenomenon of participatory art and the role played by European Capitals of Culture in developing this practice, alongside the social and political potential of co-creation and international examples in which artists, local communities and the landscape become equal partners in the creative process.

In the afternoon, we shall focus on specific participatory art projects from Latvia and abroad, practical workshops, exploring methods of co-creation, the role of art in supporting the well-being of individuals and communities, principles for working with children, and approaches that foster new relationships with the landscape and other forms of life.

Participants of the conference:
• Agnese Cimdiņa, social anthropologist and diversity expert;
• Ariane Bieou, architect and programme director for Matera - European Capital of Culture 2019;
• Andy Field, artist, researcher and children engagement practitioner;
• Inga Surgunte, health and culture researcher and research assistant at the Latvian Academy of Culture’s Institute of Culture and Arts;
• artists Krista Burāne and Laura Stašāne
• designers Rūta Jumīte and Tīna Alise Drupa
and others.

“Cultural Renovation” will be a valuable gathering for cultural professionals, artists, educators, local authority representatives, non-governmental organisations, community leaders, students, and anyone with an interest in the role culture plays in shaping society and in developing new models of collaboration.