History

The journal Culture Crossroads has been published by the Institute of Arts and Cultural Studies of the Latvian Academy of Culture in the printed format since 2004. The collection of articles In Search of Culture Crossroads, published in 1998, is considered the beginning of the journal. It was compiled by the former Vice-rector for Research at the Latvian Academy of Culture Prof. Janīna Kursīte, who works at the University of Latvia at present. In Search of Culture Crossroads was an opportunity for any student or lecturer at the Latvian Academy of Culture to publish their ideas and research results on various topics and in various forms of narration. It served as an incentive to continue the search for common ground for a variety of topical issues in culture and art.

In 2004, the Latvian Academy of Culture started regular publication of research articles in the journal Culture Crossroads. 9 volumes are available at the moment (the journal was not published during the years of economic crisis). Juris Urtāns, professor at the Latvian Academy of Culture, was the compiler and chief editor of the first 6 volumes. The interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary approach was already evident in the early issues of the journal. The articles included in the journal discuss a broad variety of both globally and locally important topics in culture and art. The authors represent various education and research institutions in Latvia and other countries.

The 7th volume of Culture Crossroads came out in a new, branded design in 2015. Its Editor-in-chief is Anda Laķe, Head of the Research Centre and professor at the Latvian Academy of Culture. 2015 sets the trend of publishing two issues a year to match the increase in research activity at the Latvian Academy of Culture. In the future, one issue will contain papers on a specific topic; the other issue will preserve the multidisciplinary pattern and remain open to original and thematically diverse contributions. The first thematic edition is the 8th volume, which focuses on the ideas of leftism in culture and on theatre director Asja Lācis in particular. Since then, a Special Edition has been published every year.

The year 2016 is marked with the 9th volume of Culture Crossroads, which is first to be available electronically on the web page www.culturecrossroads.lv. The goal of the publication remains the same – to present articles devoted to the discussion of topics in culture and art, focusing on their manifestations on the national and international scales. Culture Crossroads is designed as an open platform, where researchers of various disciplines and from various countries can present and test the results of their research of culture and art. This is why the language of the current as well as subsequent issues is English. To ensure high quality of published papers, the editorial board of the journal has been substantially expanded and geographically diversified, involving researchers from various domains of art and culture both at the local and the international level. The practice of peer reviewing implies engagement of two reviewers in the evaluation of each paper.

In parallel with the electronic edition of Culture Crossroads, contributors still have the opportunity to publish papers aimed at the local-scale topics in the new printed publication Crossroads: Research of Culture and Art, which came out in 2016 for the first time.

So far, the publication of the journal has been supported institutionally by the LAC.