NEW THEATRE INSTITUTE OF LATVIA

contemporary performing arts in Latvia and abroad

The New Theatre Institute of Latvia released an open call for performing artists to take part in the “Magic Carpets” Lab Series, dedicated to creating artworks in collaboration with communities. We are pleased to announce the participants of the lab: assistant director and producer Marina Ivanova; scenographer Daina Šteinerte; theatre directors Roberts Dauburs and Kaiva Kumerova; actress and producer Ivonda Vilsone; actor, playwright, and theatre director Ēriks Vilsons; director Antra Austriņa; scenographer Līga Zepa; choreographer Laura Gorodko; and Džeina Feldberga, a specialist at the “Resilience Avots” center who holds a bachelor’s degree in acting and community work from the United Kingdom.

The lab series will consist of three in-person workshops held in various regions of Latvia — Vidzeme, Zemgale, and Kurzeme. During these workshops, participants from previous years of the “Magic Carpets” platform — non-formal education trainer Lauma Žubule, choreographer and stage designer Līga Ūbele, playwright Elza Marta Rūža, theatre director Vita Malahova, interdisciplinary artists Arnis Aleinokovas (Lithuania), Jacoppo Natoli (Italy), and theatre maker Katrīna Dūka — will share both theoretical and practical knowledge about creative work with communities, exploring the specificity, complexity, and potential of this process.

In addition to lectures and hands-on sessions, two mentors — theatre maker, playwright, and curator Laura Stašāne, and theatre director Gildas Aleksa (Lithuania)—will guide, advise, and support participants throughout the lab cycle, helping develop their ideas in diverse directions.

About the Mentors

Laura Stašāne is a theatre maker, dramaturg, and curator from Riga, currently studying performing arts with a social focus at Malmö Theatre Academy in Sweden. Her work explores how we experience and encounter the human and more-than-human world in the context of ecological crisis. Laura was a long-time contributor to the international new theatre festival Homo Novus in Riga, frequently working on site-specific and community-based projects. Since 2020, she has focused on domestic violence in Latvia, creating impactful works including the documentary installation and digital platform Physical Evidence Museum and the poetry and documentary book No One Will Believe You.

Gildas Aleksa is the artistic director of Teatronas, a leading Lithuanian organization developing contemporary circus in Lithuania and the Baltic region. He is also the program curator for the international contemporary circus festival Cirkuliacija. Educated as a theatre director, he works across theatre and circus, mentoring and consulting on dramaturgy, directing, and self-production.

Workshop Overview

First Workshop (9–11 May, Kārlis Manor, Cēsis region, Vidzeme):
To open the lab, local performing artists experienced in community work—playwright Jānis Balodis, theatre and film director/dramaturg/interdisciplinary project maker Krista Burāne, and producer Ieva Niedre — will share practical examples and methods from their work.
Lauma Žubule will lead a session on ethics in community art, raising critical questions: What does ethics mean in art? How do artists balance their vision with the needs of communities? How can respectful collaboration be built? Group discussions will center on real-life examples and ethical dilemmas.

Second Workshop (23–25 May, Zemgale):
Playwright Elza Marta Rūža will share her experience from co-creating Neighbour from the Yellow House (Stories from Seda) with Max Oliveira Fernandes (Portugal) and the Seda town community—part of the “Magic Carpets” residency premiered at the Valmiera Summer Theatre Festival 2024.
Choreographer and scenographer Līga Ūbele will speak on her residency at Ķengarags Day Centre, outlining key challenges: finding a community, building trust, adapting creative concepts collaboratively, and avoiding rigid methods.
Interdisciplinary artist Arnis Aleinikovas (Lithuania) will lead a practical session in somatic movement, body-mind centering, automatic writing (psychography), and ecstatic dance—tools to explore identity and support early-stage community building.
Artist Jacoppo Natoli (Italy) will offer practical insights and key concepts around the question: “What does it mean for an artist to work with a community?”

Third Workshop (6–7 June, Laidu Manor, Laidi, Kurzeme):
In the final lab, participants will finalize and present sketches of their individual projects. The group will also take a shared research trip to the contemporary dance festival Horos in Aizpute.

“Magic Carpets” is a Creative Europe platform uniting 17 European cultural organisations (14 active members and 3 partners for 2025–2028). It supports emerging artists as they embark on creative journeys in unfamiliar lands, working with local communities to produce new artworks that highlight local identities, enhance storytelling, and promote cultural accessibility and activism.

For more information, visit:
🔗 https://theatre.lv/category/magic-carpets/
🔗 https://magiccarpets.eu

“Magic Carpets” platform and artist residencies are co-funded by the EU’s Creative Europe programme.

Back