Strengthened cooperation between creative industries in Denmark and Latvia
Latvia gained its independence in 1918, and Denmark contributes to the centenary celebrations with a wide programme for creative industries and cultural history which on the 6th and 7th of December had the participation of the Danish Crown Prince Couple and the Minister for Culture Mette Bock. As part of the programme, a Danish-Latvian conference on creative industries was held on the 7th and 8th of December in Riga and was opened by HRH Crown Prince Frederik.
The culmination of the Danish celebration of the centenary was the Crown Prince Couple’s official visit to Riga the 6th and 7th of December 2018. Here, HRH Crown Prince Frederik opened the conference ‘Creative Industries. Matchmaking‘, a Danish-Latvian conference on creative industries which was held at the beautiful, old Riga Bourse.
‘Creative Industries. Matchmaking’ began with the announcement of the winner of the international sketch design competition for Riga’s new creative quarter, TabFab – a tobacco factory formerly owned by Scandinavian Tobacco Group which is now being rebuilt and transformed into a culture centre and incubator for creative industries.
The conference was organised by the Danish Cultural Institute, Denmark’s Embassy in Latvia, the Investment and Development Agency of Latvia and the Latvian Ministry of Culture. The conference was supported by Industriens Fond and the Investment and Development Agency of Latvia.
’Creative Industries. Matchmaking’ will strengthen the cooperation between Latvian and Danish entrepreneurs in the creative industries, especially within design and digitalisation in the metal- and woodworking sectors. At the conference, start-ups gained new inspiration and market insights as well as knowledge of trade and internationalisation. At the same time, ’Creative Industries. Matchmaking’ launched a new industrial and sustainable collaboration between Denmark and Latvia which will create added cultural and economic value on both sides of the Baltic Sea.
A host of different activities, all centred on how to establish a creative business, will follow the next three years as part of the Danish-Latvian collaboration project, ’TabFab Expansion’. In Latvia, the Expansion activities will be held in the new culture centre TabFab as soon as it is ready.
Strengthened cooperation
Denmark and Latvia are both small, innovative and competitive economies with strong traditions for design and craftsmanship. Therefore, there is much to gain by a strengthened cooperation: The Danish creative industries can learn from Latvian competences and skills within metal- and woodworking and from the Latvians entrepreneurial corporate culture.
The entrepreneurship is weaker within the creative sector which is why Latvia also has much to learn from Denmark – a country which excels as a digital front-runner and has great experience in targeted support and good educational frames for creatives.
Denmark’s celebration of Latvia was initiated the 15th and 16th of January 2018 with a visit from the Danish Prime Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen, and the year has been filled with a broad programme of Danish events within the fields of music, performing arts and urban development among others. The Crown Prince Couple and the Minister for Culture also participated in a concert the 6th of December by the acclaimed baroque ensemble Concerto Copenhagen where Latvia’s President Raimonds Vējonis was among the guests as well.
Read more about the royal visit here, Concerto Copenhagen here or the TabFab sketch design competition here and the winners here.
