NEW CULTURE
Culture is used as a powerful force for artistic expression, cultural diversity, and innovation as a powerful tool for dialogue and transformation in the post-Soviet space. Through theatre, festivals, exhibitions, and multidisciplinary events, we create inclusive platforms for professional and amateur artists to share their voices and stories. We focus on non-state cultural initiatives as a means to rethink difficult histories, promote democratic values, and foster open dialogue across generations. In a region where cultural expression is often polarised or homogenised, New East supports independent, pluralistic, and youth-driven creativity. By bridging tradition and modernity, our cultural programs help communities reshape their narratives, build shared understanding, and imagine new futures. Theatre plays a central role in our cultural programs. Since 2017, we have partnered with independent artists, directors, and theatre groups from across Eastern Europe to develop performances that reflect urgent social issues and local stories.
Art as a Social Mirror
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Art gives form to what we see and gives voice to what needs to be said. Through exhibitions, performances, and installations, we reflect the society we live in: its fractures and fears, its longing and resilience. These cultural expressions bring to light what often remains hidden, giving shape to silence and voice to complexity. Our projects become not just artistic events, but mirrors of our time and platforms for deep, courageous dialogue.
Dialogue Through Diversity
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We believe that culture comes alive where differences meet — where languages intersect, generations interact, and lived experiences shape creation. Our work brings together professionals and amateurs, local voices and marginalized perspectives, in a shared creative space that values presence over prestige. Diversity is not an aesthetic choice, but a structural principle that makes cultural exchange honest, inclusive, and truly transformative. In this way, art becomes not a monologue but a polyphonic conversation.
Art as a Shared Process
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We approach culture as a process of collective engagement. Each project — shaped by uncertainty, encounter, and mutual decisions — where the creative process is just as important as the result. In our spaces, audiences become participants, participants become co-creators, and art becomes a field of transformation. This is how meaningful cultural work emerges: not for the sake of spectacle, but to nurture change and shared understanding.
NEW CULTURE
CULTURE PROGRAMS
Трах-Тах-Тах
An avant-garde adaptation of Alexander Blok's revolutionary poetry, staged in the then-abandoned Daugavpils fortress, catalysing the fortress area's cultural revitalisation. Directed by Eduards Belņikovs, Jurijs Losevs
The Future Will Not Take Everyone
A tragicomic reflection on migration, crisis, and the search for new heroes, inspired by Slawomir Mrozek’s absurdist style. Directed by Eduards Belņikovs.
Hi!Story
Hi!Story is our ongoing urban quest game that invites participants to discover hidden chapters of local history through interactive exploration. Teams navigate cities using maps and QR codes, completing creative and educational tasks tied to historical figures, places, and events often excluded from mainstream narratives. Launched in Latvia in 2020, the project has covered themes such as: Hi!Story Latgola – Tracing the multicultural legacy of Latgale and its artistic innovators. Hi!Story America – Exploring unexpected connections between Latvian and American history, supported by the U.S. Embassy in Riga. By turning historical research into collaborative play, Hi!Story fosters pride, curiosity, and critical engagement with heritage.
Taste Latgale
Taste Latgale is a culinary video series that celebrates the region’s diverse cultural traditions through shared meals and conversations. Each episode introduces a guest from one of Latgale’s many cultural communities—Latgalian, Jewish, Belarusian, Polish—who shares family recipes and personal stories.