Latvia’s cultural sector has reached a critical point. Low salaries and rising operating costs are threatening not only the functioning of cultural institutions, but also the continuity of professional expertise and public access to culture. To draw attention to the scale of the problem and the urgent need for solutions, state cultural institutions will organise a multi-day campaign, “Culture Survives”, in November, the organisers announced at a press conference at the Riga Congress Centre on 22 October.
The remuneration of cultural workers in Latvia lags significantly behind both the average salary in the public sector and the earnings of colleagues in neighbouring countries. In the second quarter of this year, the average gross monthly salary in cultural heritage institutions was EUR 1,395, while in the performing arts sector it was EUR 1,365. By comparison, the average salary in the public sector reached EUR 1,926. This means that cultural workers earn, on average, more than EUR 500 less per month than other public sector employees.
At the same time, Latvia is falling further behind the other Baltic states. In Estonia, the average gross salary of cultural workers reached EUR 2,090 as early as 2025, supported by an additional EUR 2.9 million allocated to the salary fund. Lithuania, meanwhile, has earmarked approximately EUR 14 million for salary increases in the cultural sector in 2027, raising remuneration by 7.5%. As a result, the gap is set to widen even further.
Sandis Voldiņš, Board Member of the Latvian Association of Professional Music Ensembles and Director of the Latvian National Opera and Ballet: “Culture has not appeared among the country’s priorities, neither in election programmes nor in public debates. If others are not talking about it, we will. We no longer want to be the worst-paid artists in Europe and the Baltic region. At present, orchestras in Vilnius, Tallinn and Riga are simultaneously announcing auditions, and the salaries offered in Latvia are demonstrably much lower. Next year this difference will increase further. Moreover, the salary gap between the cultural sector and the rest of Latvia’s public sector, provisionally estimated at EUR 30 million, is so large that it is unrealistic to think it can be solved through internal redistribution of resources within the cultural sector.”
He also pointed out that the current situation is made particularly severe by the fact that funding for culture has already been reduced in recent years, while cultural institutions, like all others, have faced sharp increases in operating costs. No additional funding has ever been allocated to compensate for rising expenses. To cover mounting bills, institutions have been forced to raise ticket prices significantly, increasingly jeopardising public access to culture. At present, it is cultural consumers who are paying the price of inflation.
Dagnija Baltiņa, Director of the National Library of Latvia, emphasised that national cultural heritage institutions are part of the state’s fundamental infrastructure rather than merely providers of cultural services. In the current geopolitical climate, Latvia cannot afford to weaken institutions responsible for preserving historical memory and cultural heritage. These institutions collect and safeguard the evidence upon which our understanding of the nation is built.
“These institutions are staffed by professionals whose expertise requires years of training and often specialised education, such as conservation, library science, and archival studies, and who cannot be replaced quickly. Yet their remuneration is clearly disproportionate to the educational and qualification requirements, specialised competencies, complexity of work, and level of responsibility involved.”
She further noted that in most state cultural heritage institutions salaries are set at or close to the minimum level established for their pay grade. Consequently, seemingly equal remuneration restrictions across the public administration, such as the freezing of salaries at the 2025 pay scale level, disproportionately affect employees in cultural heritage institutions, whose salaries are already critically low. Representatives of the sector therefore stress that any horizontal remuneration restrictions should take into account the considerably weaker starting position of cultural heritage institutions. They call for an immediate review of these restrictions and for the exemption of the cultural sector from the currently planned “equal” salary funding cuts scheduled for 2027, amounting to more than EUR 1.2 million within the purview of the Ministry of Culture.
Speaking about the critical situation in theatres, particularly in regional areas, Evita Ašeradena, representative of the Latvian Theatre Workers’ Union and Director of Valmiera Theatre, noted that the average salary of theatre technical staff does not exceed EUR 1,300 gross per month, despite these specialists being essential to the intensive schedules of performances and new productions. “We rely on these people’s enthusiasm, but enthusiasm is not a sustainable long-term resource.”
At the same time, theatres have reached the point at which further increases in ticket prices directly threaten accessibility. This is particularly burdensome for audiences in the regions, families with children, and school groups. Producing performances for children and young people requires resources comparable to those needed for productions aimed at adults, yet ticket prices cannot be increased indefinitely.
Iveta Derkusova, Director of the Latvian National Museum of Art, highlighted that museums are also finding it increasingly difficult to fulfil their core functions and compete for qualified employees. At the Latvian National Museum of Art, the average salary of a specialist in 2026 is only EUR 1,344 gross, amounting to less than 70% of the public sector average.
The growth in museums’ own revenue is almost entirely absorbed by inflation-driven increases in utility and infrastructure maintenance costs. In the case of the Latvian National Museum of Art, approximately 90% of self-generated income is used to cover these expenses rather than to create new content or carry out the museum’s core functions. She warned that continued neglect of the actual costs of museum services in the budgeting process poses a long-term threat to both the preservation of cultural heritage and public access to it.
Indra Lūkina, Board Member of the Latvian Association of Professional Music Ensembles and Director of the Latvian National Symphony Orchestra, emphasised the close connection between professional music education and the labour market. Although cooperation between the Association and the Ministry of Culture led to salary increases of around 20% by 2024, the majority of orchestral musicians still earn only about EUR 1,512 gross per month.
Low remuneration affects the entire professional music ecosystem, from music schools and higher education institutions to orchestras, choirs, and opera companies. Increasing numbers of musicians educated in Latvia are pursuing their professional careers abroad, including in neighbouring countries, while many young people are choosing not to pursue careers in the sector at all.
Minister for Culture Nauris Puntulis attended the press conference, listened to the concerns raised by representatives of cultural institutions, and expressed understanding and solidarity. The Minister reminded those present: “Latvians founded their state as a cultural nation. If we lose sight of that direction, we will lose the state itself.”
Cultural Sector to Unite in the “Culture Survives” Campaign
To draw the attention of both the public and decision-makers to the critical situation facing the cultural sector, the multi-day “Culture Survives” campaign will take place in November. During the campaign, representatives from various cultural fields will share the realities of their day-to-day work, the consequences of insufficient funding, and the risks arising from the long-term neglect of the sector’s challenges.
One of the campaign’s central events will be a concert at the Riga Congress Centre on 10 November at 7:00 PM, bringing together on one stage almost all of Latvia’s professional music ensembles. The programme will feature music by Pēteris Butāns, Emīls Dārziņš, Imants Kalniņš, Arturs Maskats, Raimonds Pauls, Gundaris Pone, Carl Orff and Astor Piazzolla.
Admission is by invitation with voluntary donations. Invitations are available at bilesuparadize.lv and at Biļešu Paradīze box offices.
The event is organised by the association Time for Culture (Laiks kultūrai) and the Latvian Association of Professional Music Ensembles, which brings together Latvia’s leading symphony and chamber orchestras, the State Academic Choir Latvija, the Latvian National Opera and Ballet, the Latvian Radio Big Band, and the Jāzeps Vītols Latvian Academy of Music.
The organisers stress that the campaign is not solely about securing higher salaries. It is about the future of Latvian culture itself: the ability to retain professionals, preserve cultural heritage, ensure a high-quality cultural offer, and maintain access to culture for all members of society.
Campaign organisers: the association Laiks kultūrai and the Latvian Association of Professional Music Ensembles.