On 8 October, President Edgars Rinkēvičs visited the Art Academy of Latvia, where he learnt about the study process and the use of new technologies in art and design education, and met with the academy’s management, teaching staff and students.
During the visit, the President visited the fashion design and environmental art studios, attended a painting class, learnt about studies in audiovisual media art and the use of digital technologies, and viewed an exhibition of works by students of contemporary painting.
“The Art Academy has a very positive atmosphere – there is something being created all around you. It was a pleasure to see how, alongside our strong traditions in painting and art, students are using new technologies and finding their own artistic language. Here, the long-established traditions of art coexist very naturally with new possibilities that simply did not exist for previous generations,” emphasised President Edgars Rinkēvičs after the visit.
In conversation with the students, the President discussed the impact of artificial intelligence on education and the creative process, as well as the interaction between art and digital solutions.
“Today, we all increasingly live within our own information space. Art has a special ability to create a shared experience – to make us pause, feel, think and talk to one another. In these complex and unsettled times, it helps us avoid retreating into our own separate worlds and reminds us that we still have much in common. I believe this is particularly important at the moment,” said E. Rinkēvičs following the visit.
