The Art Academy of Latvia and Riga Last Thursdays open the event series "ART WORKS"

This January, the Art Academy of Latvia (AAL) and Riga Last Thursdays (RLT) Gallery Evening are launching a collaboration that will give everyone the opportunity to get to know the art process behind the scenes. From January to April, on the last Thursday of every month from 17:00, visitors are invited to start the Gallery Evening at the Art Academy of Latvia by viewing student exhibitions and taking part in talks and creative activities.

On 26 January, everyone is invited to get to know the Visual Arts Department of the Academy, which includes the departments of Painting, Printmaking and Sculpture. On 23 February, we will take a look at the processes of the Visual and Plastic Arts Department, on 30 March we will meet the Design Department, and on 27 April the Audiovisual Arts Department will bring the Art Academy's garden to life.

"The profession of an artist is shrouded in myths and perceptions, as is the process of creation itself. Sometimes it seems that if these myths were true, it would be much easier, but in reality, 'making is work'. It is as technical as it is emotional, long hours and challenging, but very beautiful. By starting this collaboration with RLT, we are moving towards raising awareness," comments Ieva Stalšene from the LMA Student Career Support Centre.

Riga Last Thursdays gallery evening, which has been bringing together Riga's most active art spaces for more than a year, offers free monthly access to the latest exhibitions, workshops and special performances. So far, the gallery evening has united both traditional exhibition venues and unusual art exhibition locations, representing the diversity of the Latvian art scene and highlighting its relentless activity.

"We want to shed light behind the scenes of art making and hope that this series of events will help to recognise the dimension of the work invested in art. The works of art in museums speak for themselves - they are witnesses of the past, a legacy of the beliefs and values of an era. Art exists with or without us, but it is important to bear in mind our role in supporting the future and the new generation of art makers. In this series, we are foregrounding the creators of current art and highlighting their craft, honed over years of work," says RLT organiser Elena Šalina.

The main aim of the evening is to start a new dialogue between the audience and the artist, and also to expand the possibilities for visitors to express themselves creatively - both through art as a process and art as a conversation.

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The first evening of the series at the Art Academy of Latvia hosted a variety of events:

• A new exhibition with Oskars Mūrnieks' work "Torchlight Procession" was opened in the basement of the Latvian Academy of Art, at the exhibition point "NAGLA".

• On the 2nd floor, you could see the third exhibition of the Painting Department students' project "VILCE". The exhibition brings together 12 student works each time, representing students from 1st year Bachelor to 2nd year Master. During the event there was also the opportunity to observe the painting processes and talk to the artists.

• Alongside the “VILCE” exhibition, there was also an exhibition of works by students from the Department of Graphic Arts and an exciting workshop led by the students that taught everyone the basics of the Linocut technique.