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When speaking about the Latvian Academy of Art, it should be noted that it is the only institution in Latvia which offers tertiary art education. Design education has existed alongside fine art in the Academy since the 1960s; therefore I can safely say that any evolution in the field of design is related to the name and activities of this institution to a large degree. The Academy Currently has a new Rector: Jānis Andris Osis has been replaced by Aleksejs Naumovs, therefore it seems interesting to see if ‘a new broom sweeps clean’. Will there be changes, and what kinds of changes will be made to the field of design education, because the most minimal changes in the Academy can create perceptible consequences in Latvia’s design outlook.
Iliana Veinberga: You have been actively involved in the life of the Academy, could you describe the situation in design training before you became Rector , and what changes will take place in this field along with your taking up this position?
Aleksejs Naumovs: I have taken part in the meetings of the senate of the Academy, but as the prorector. As I have been the Rector for only a week: changes cannot be made that quickly. Art and design are both taught at the Academy, therefore I see a strong link between these two fields. Speaking specifically about design, it is important to develop those things which we are already good at, for example, unique design. Although the most important are ideas by new artists, which are possible to implement in collaboration with manufacturers. Ideas can be sold, and these are bought here or somewhere outside Latvia – that is important.
In the long term, the Academy is in need of extra space, because currently the lack of space is slowing down development, we lack the opportunity to create the necessary workshops, the technical basis, therefore we need an extension. There is already a design for the extension, there has already been an inspection for restoration of the existing building, so that it will not collapse, as well as for the extension, which could house workshops for design and other departments. Another possibility is collaboration with factories in terms of spaces. Similar experience, where schools have the opportunity to use other’s spaces can be observed, for example, in England, France and elsewhere, and this, to my mind, is positive. Basically, we have to attract European funding, have to accumulate grant financing, for it to be possible to implement the most innovative ideas possible.
I.V.: An extension – how realistic is this? There has been talk of this for a long time.
A.N.: Recently the idea has become real, support and funding from the Ministry of Culture has also stabilised. The reality is that now there are the necessary conditions for this question to be moved forward.
I.V.: As far as I understand, there have been changes to the divisional structure.
A.N.: The changes were dictated by the trends of contemporary art and art education, the loss of strict boundaries between types of art, also genres of art. Changes to the structure of the Academy were necessary to overcome the division into narrow specialised ‘guilds’, to make the opportunities for those studying art to do so in specialist studios, particularly in related fields, more organic and self-evident. In the long term I also envisage a reduction of parallelism in the work of the studios at the Academy.
We now have five divisions, which are then divided into departments: The Art division with the painting, graphics and textile art departments; The Plastic Arts division with the sculpting, glass art, ceramics and fashion design departments; The Audiovisual Media division with the visual communications and stage design departments; the Design division with metal design, functional design and environmental art departments and the Art Theory and Cultural Theory division with the conservation and art history departments.
I.V.: Is it possible that the changes which the Academy faces in the near future are based on research? Has there been some kind of research into cultural spheres, or are the predictions intuitive?
A.N.: There are long-term plans, which are being successfully continued, there are things which are developing in sequence and successfully, for example, the PHARE project. As good examples I would like to mention the newly-founded design laboratory and digital media laboratory, which are working well, attracting funding and training professionals. But it is a good question, because a study of the situation is very important, we should develop predictions based on research.
I.V.: There is a view that the Academy is arrogant, because it always tries to dominate in possible collaborative situations with other educational institutions or organisations. Where there’s smoke there’s fire – how do you explain this situation?
A.N.: Let it dominate! It means that the Academy can still influence the prevailing situation (laughs). In the significant, eminently powerful US universities, for example, Rhode Island School of Design, the opinion dominates that special attention has to be paid to the ability for design universities to be ‘arrogant’, this has to be a priority and indisputable. In US universities the opinion exists that they should create ideas, they shouldn’t be impeded by the inertia of manufacturers, or the base wishes of potential clients. They are convinced that the university should not allow such compromises, because in this case they would lose their mission and could become narrow adjuncts to pragmatic aims.
But specifically about our Academy – I don’t think that we are closed. The previous Rector, Jānis Andris Osis, developed a close collaboration with the Daugavpils University, a completely new licensed and accredited art pedagogy programme, in which the driving engine is the University, while the task of the Art Academy is to add the nuanced detail of art to this programme. The Academy of Art has signed a far-reaching collaborative agreement with the Banking Institution of Higher Education, and together we developed study programmes in entrepreneurship, art management and creative idea design.
We are currently preparing a collaborative agreement with the Rīga City Council in the creation of the urban environment. I think that the Academy should be like an ideas generator, which is open to collaboration, of course, with the condition that this collaboration is fruitful. To collaborate for the sake of collaboration – this is not necessary. Although I can always find a connection, how we can each help each other, because, speaking about openness – I want to not only keep the door open, but to open it wider!
I.V.: In the 1990s industry and manufacturing businesses had become exhausted, now it seems the situation is beginning to improve. How does the Academy organise collaboration with manufacturers in terms of the design education?
A.N.: We foster active collaboration, as much as this is possible in the current economic situation. A concrete example which is currently in the planning stages, is an offer from a radio technology factory to organise a competition in the Academy and to make design studios for students within the factory. Their wish is to express the ideas of our new designers in shows in the USA and the EU. As Radiotehnika historically has a familiar image, they wish to gain something similar – something of good quality in terms of sound and design, they also think it is important for this image to be Latvian. In this case, I think that this partnership could be very good. We have collaborated with ‘Latvijas finieris’: a number of good graduation pieces were produced. There are examples like this, although on the whole collaboration with manufacturers has not been that prevalent, because unfortunately often the biggest interest of most businesses is to buy an IKEA sample and to manufacture that which is cheaper to make. Student studios interest them less, in this field they are not as open... I hope this is only temporary.
I.V.: But in a partnership suggestions have to come from both sides – from both the manufacturer and the educational institution. How can both sides be interested to be more actively involved in a dialogue which would provide advantages specifically for the education process?
A.N.: The dialogue happens at the level of the educational process – the artists have one kind of practical experience in plein air, whereas designers have real experience in a specific business. Sometimes the manufacturer requires a specific task, which imposes a ‘framework’ on the student, in this way preventing him from expressing himself creatively. In this situation a business needs only a doer and student, doing only that which they are told, this finishes their creative career. Perhaps we should also become involved in raising.
I.V.: Raising?
A.N.: Raising entrepreneurs. The primary thing for entrepreneurs is business, although they should also realise that there have to be experimental studios, idea centres, laboratories, this would be a positive in many fields, no matter whether it was furniture manufacture or the usual advertising agencies.
I.V.: Speaking of the job market – a separate department, for example, students from the Visual Communications Department have said that during their study they can experiment, they are allowed to search, to make their names known; however, when the finish the Academy, a large part of them is forced to work in advertising, because there are no other places of employment. What is the responsibility of the Academy in terms of introducing its students to working life, or does this remain on the shoulders of the students themselves?
A.N.: It should be emphasised that experimentation during the period of study is very good to prepare for real life, because at other times this opportunity may not present itself again. It is true, that recently there have been instances when people from businesses have come to the Academy looking for people specifically for idea generation. The entrepreneur, you see, needs fresh ideas, and I know a number of our students who work specifically as idea generators – of course they have some kind of boundaries, but they can complete their work in very creative ways. I should also mention that the Academy is amongst those Universities which do not promote unemployment. Students are actually ‘up for grabs’. Both in media design, functional design, environmental art and elsewhere, some students are already working while they are studying, and their place is already guaranteed. The knowledge that is provided by design combined with art is unique, perhaps some graduates don’t work in the right place, afterwards but in that case they need to search for a different workplace, because they have every opportunity to do so.
I.V.: Historically in the Academy subjects related to art and design are offered together in one place. Recently discussions have arisen about the necessity to divide these two very different fields. What is your opinion – leave it the way it is or split design and art studies?
A.N.: There was talk of this kind, but now balance prevails. The Academy collaborates with forty schools in the framework of the Socrates-Erasmus programme, and in the design field it can be concluded that abroad interest in high-level classic training is being renewed, meaning that young designers are acquiring skills in manual drawing – because earlier a trend in design was that all you needed to do was sit at a computer and draw with a programme. In Japan, for example, in a number of competitions computer-generated entries were banned; they now have special courses which teach you to draw. Slowly we are returning to the idea that the designer should have a flair for creative thought. This is why our school is good and I see unique design, where art and design merge, I see as our strong side, which, I hope, will develop further.
I.V.: The Academy of Art has been the first and for a long time the only tertiary education institution in which one can learn both art and design, therefore the creation of the so-called national school is associated with its name to a large degree. How do you see the role of nationality in design education today, here and now?
A.N.: If a person has gained his education here, then it is already part of their identity and even if they work in New York or elsewhere in the future, that awareness will not disappear. This is because we are talking about each individual person, who has been created in this environment – the process of development has occurred here.
Sandra Krastiņa: Should national belonging be cultivated, or is the main issue to feel the global mainstream, the market?
A.N.: If a person is born in New York or London, they will be used to different conditions, it will be easier to prove themselves, particularly in art, where this clearly occurs. Design, I think, nevertheless needs to be in some particular direction, such as, for example, the Finns have Nokia, we could have Radiotehnika or Latvijas finieris, which have their own image. Of course, this image has to be of a very high quality for it to compete internationally and to be associated with the name Latvia, in this way affirming its national orientation.
S.K.: How will this image come into existence? Should it be consciously created?
A.K.: But it will not disappear anywhere! Here we have our own school, our own traditions. Even if someone will want to break these traditions, they will still have their sense of belonging to here. Therefore the main thing is quality, a competitive level, and the Latvian image will follow!
S.K.: What is the Latvian image?
A.N.: That is a real field for art historians.
S.K.: For example, Scandinavian design is good for the environment, subtle, comfortable; Italian design is chic and surprising, and if we talk about Germans, then what springs to mind is functionality, rationality and technology. What words would you chose – and I don’t mean ethnographic folk designs – which would express the idea "Latvian"?
A.N.: I would still avoid accenting this, because that which you mentioned – what the Swedes or Finns do – I don’t think they do with any particular idea of being national. To my mind, they are more interested in rationality. The unique design direction of the Latvian Academy of Art is also close to Italian figuratively capacious design examples and their tempo of creation and developmental tendencies. We simply need to occupy a niche, and then the associations will occur by themselves. If you consciously ‘push’ this thing, then truly nothing will come of it... then it will be just ethnographic weavings.
I.V.: The question of nationality is associated with tradition. What is happening with that?
A.N.: That which we understand as tradition is changing. The national order has changed, we are independent, along with all of the associated consequences. Earlier the fight for being Latvian was highly valued. Now, of course, this is also the case, but alongside changes the attitude to preserving Latvianness has changed. Tradition has not disappeared anywhere in terms of the fact that the school has remained. However it has to be supplemented with receptiveness to global tendencies, new developments, their accumulation: therefore I value students who take part in international competitions, go to international exhibitions, and study overseas, because when they return home they are more conscious of their own value, than if they had just studied here. We ourselves have a lot of good things which are currently not valued enough and it is important to develop these things. For example, in design – regular success in competitions demonstrates that we are becoming serious competitors! Not currently in terms of manufacturing, but definitely in terms of ideas, and we should concentrate on this.
Material prepared by Iliana Veinberga
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