NEW THEATRE INSTITUTE OF LATVIA

contemporary performing arts in Latvia and abroad

The Great Little European Network (GLEN) invites you to participate in a new series of webinars to gain insights into the scenes of the partner countries of the network. Every session offers a quick round of news from the country’s sector which are of interest for the foreign professionals (events, open calls, etc.), followed by an introduction by a guest speaker of the main stakeholders and trends in their local scene, to be concluded by a short presentation of the GLEN invited artist from the country.

Join us for the fifth part of the Efficient Fridays webinar series on Friday, March 21st, at 13:00 CET, as we explore Latvia’s performing arts scene and discover the innovative work of contemporary Latvian theatre and dance artists.

Producer of Ģertrūdes ielas teātris and chairwoman of the Latvian Theatre Council, Maija Pavlova, will surely guide you through the landscape of state and independent theatre organizations, key festivals, showcases, and opportunities that Latvia has to offer.
🌸As March is Women’s History Month, we invite speakers who are artists with remarkable feminist practices and international experience, and we will provide a sneak peek into the upcoming Baltic Take Over festival, which will showcase Baltic work in Turku, Finland, from April 10 to 12.

Meet the artists and collectives:

Barbara Lehtna is an Estonian theatre maker, director, and librettist who currently lives and works in Riga, Latvia. Her work is often marked by an interest in the stories and expressions of women and the LGBTQ+ community in post-Soviet spaces. One of her most significant works is the chamber opera Monstera Deliciosa, directed by Lehtna, who also wrote the libretto herself. The opera explores women’s stories that often go unnoticed. The libretto is based on more than 20 interviews with women in Latvia and Estonia, highlighting the seemingly insignificant yet important aspects of everyday life. The opera also examines plant care and its symbolic parallels to the role of women in society.

Katrīna Dūka is an emerging theatre-maker and researcher from Latvia, working in the intersection of performance practices, feminist new materialism, and queerness in a Post-Soviet landscape. She obtained her Master’s degree in Performance Practices from ArtEZ University of the Arts (the Netherlands) in 2022. Katrīna mainly works collectively and engages in practices with local communities, non-professional performers, and public space. Identity is a key topic in her practice, which she approaches through storytelling – either using words, images, or movement.

TUVUMI is a dance organization started and run by artist duo IevaKrish. It is there to support artistic collaborations across countries, start initiatives that would endorse a creation of a touring and working networks in Baltics and to produce the work of IevaKrish and collaborating artists.

⏰ Registration by Thursday, March 20th (Zoom link will be sent upon registration).

Upcoming webinars:
Lithuania on 18th April 2025, 1pm CET
Malta on 16th May 2025, 1pm CET
Luxembourg on 20th June 2025, 1pm CET

Past efficient Fridays:
Kosovo on 15th November 2024, 1pm CET
Estonia on 20th December 2024, 1pm CET
Iceland on 17th January 2025, 1pm CET
Slovenia on 21st February 2025, 1pm CET

GLEN – Great Little European Network is supported by the Nordic-Baltic Mobility Program for Culture and Ministry of Culture Slovenia.

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