The Latvian Centre for Contemporary Art (LCCA) is a non-governmental organization, which serves as a platform for the art that reflects its own time.

Main tasks of the LCCA are to contextualize contemporary art in wider nowadays processes, promote Latvian contemporary art internationally, to collect, update and disseminate information about Latvian contemporary art, as well as to develop an open-minded critically thinking environment, thus stimulating interchange between art and society.

History

The origin of the Latvian Centre for Contemporary Art (LCCA) can be found in the activities of the Soros Centre for Contemporary Arts-Riga (SCCA). Founded in spring 1993 the SCCA- Riga was part of the Soros programme that began to be implemented in Eastern and Central Europe in the mid-80s. By stimulating the development of contemporary art and promoting its integration in a world context and by encouraging the processes of information exchange, its task was to participate in the formation of a democratic and open society.

In 2000, in co-operation with the Riga City Council and the Latvian Ministry of Culture, the Latvian Centre for Contemporary Art was established. It was a new structure that was ready to become involved in problem solving at the cultural policy level.

In 2004 the LCCA changed its legal status becoming a society, however retaining its scope of activities based on the experience, contacts and resources accumulated in the former period.

Information programme

The LCCA offers to its visitors and internet users as well as to international institutions - art centres, museums, galleries –, curators, art historians etc. information on contemporary art in Latvia and abroad in the late 20th century to the 21st century.

Information programme includes:

Visual art data base
Collection of visual and informative materials on Latvian contemporary artists and art processes beginning with the 1980s. Part of the information in Latvian and English is available in the internet: www.camp.lv.

Collection of information and publications
Local and international art press and catalogues, publications on art, collection of artworks in VHS and dvd’s.

Organisation and coordination of art projects

In Latvia
Art projects in Riga and other towns of Latvia, providing a possibility for artists of Latvia to carry out their creative ideas as well as to acquaint the local society with international art processes.

Participation in international art projects abroad
Coordination of participation of Latvian artists in relevant international art events, collaboration with foreign art institutions in joint projects.

Education programme

Seminars, conferences and discussions
Organisation of thematic seminars, conferences and discussions, stimulating development of critical discourse with the involvement of society.

Virtual museum www.camp.lv
The virtual Contemporary Art Museum Project (CAMP) is a resource base for information on contemporary art based on materials of the LCCA art archive. CAMP contains images and descriptions of art works, bibliographic information on research works, publications and art catalogues as well as an interactive educational programme for schoolchildren and art teachers.

Publishing
Publishing of art catalogues, exhibition booklets, collections of theoretical writings and thematic publications as well as the series of important works in the field of contemporary art and culture translated into Latvian that help to extend the accessibility of wider audience to the "key" works of important European and American authors in the field of aesthetics and contemporary art and culture of the second half of the 20th century.