INSIDER SPECIAL - Stockholm School of Economics in Riga

THE
THE STUDENT ASSOCIATION OF SSE RIGA
MAY 2014 #130
SSE Riga is
not only about
Economics, it is
also about
experiments!
The truth
th
about the 6
floor’s painting
L
ECIA
P
S
R
E
D
I
INS
ann
em
Tom Hein e
h
reveals t f
o
dark side
business
Interview
with
Esperanza
Higuera
More
quotes from
Morten…
PARTNERS
GENERAL PARTNER
• • • PARTNERS • • •
EDITORS PAGE
Dear Readers,
I am not a writer, but I write. I am not a designer, but I can create beauty. I am not a
photographer, but sometimes the camera is a friend of mine.
Before SSE Riga, I have never been a part of a magazine or journal team, but I have always
admired those who make them. Therefore, I had a strong desire to become a part of the Insider
and daily challenge my creativity for the sake of students, alumni, and the entire school community.
How successful are my attempts only you can tell and I truly hope that our team will be able to make you fall in
love with the Insider every time you choose to leaf through its pages.
“SSE Riga is not only about Economics, it is also about experiments!” - is the message through which we intend
to encourage you to experience the diversity inside and outside of SSE Riga. By asking students, guest lecturers,
the administration and alumni to share their experiences, we try to motivate you to learn new languages, travel,
kick off start-ups, manage your own companies, discover the art collection of the school, join organizations and
look at the studied courses from a different perspective. Moreover, we strive to give you a breath of fresh spring air
and, of course, to indulge you with the beloved gossip page. All we do is for you. Enjoy!
Finally, on the behalf of the editorial team, I would like to thank Darja Jevstafieva for being our leader and tutor
for the past three months and transforming ‘Insider reactor’ into real working pleasure.
Thank you for your time and attention.
Kindly yours,
Valeria
P.S. Please welcome our new editor Ralfs Alsins! Ralfs, thanks for dissolving the femininity of our team!
Visual and Graphic Designer Reinholds R. Razums | Cover Photo Jekaterina Smertjeva
Writers Cristina Musteață, Darja Jevstafieva, Davis Nabutovskis, Edgaras Marcinkus, Edgars Pundurs,
Ernests Bordans, Liliana Barbăneagră, Lyubov Konovalova
Special thanks to Anders Paalzow, Esperanza Higuera, Evita Lukina, Michelle Shehurina, Morten Hansen , Rita Kaša, Edgars Kvjatkovskis
Printed by BalticPrint
Anastasiya Kazhar
Editor
Darja Jevstafjeva
Former Chief Editor
Anna Kuznecova
Editor
4
Valeria Gavrilan
Chief Editor
Ralfs Alsiņš
Editor
(Dis)organizing guest lectures
The Insider asked me to explain
how guest lectures are organized and
planned and it made me think of
this movie quote: “What do you see,
Frank, at night, when the demons
come out?”. Not perfectly relevant
(but a great quote it is!) but it quite
well reflects the process of organizing
guest lectures – it is rather murky and
for me mostly filled with nightmares
of what can go wrong.
Paul Krugman once said that the
price tag for him to give a guest lecture was 20,000$; higher if he had to
travel a lot. And that was before he
got the Nobel Prize. Alas, don’t expect
to see him here by invitation of SSE
Riga. Rather, guest lectures are often
a reflection of supply – institutions
(e.g. embassies, the central bank, EU
Commission Representation) approach us with potential candidates
for a lecture and then we grab them
and our reputation ensures many
offers of that sort. There is also a demand side involved – a polite invitation often results in a positive answer
and again the SSE Riga reputation
definitely helps.
In short, I would love to have my
upcoming EU course opened by EU
Commission president, Jose Manuel
Barroso, followed by a presentation
by Paul de Grauwe (arguably the
most prominent scholar on EU economics) – but it is not going to happen. They may still come but not exactly on the day I really wanted them.
I was also asked about my opinion
on signing up for such events and
then (perhaps) not attending. The
whole point of signing up can be
summarized using statistics (which
means no one can stop me!):
Morten Hansen
Var[attendance | number having
signed up] < Var[attendance]
With so many signing up but not
showing up and some showing up
but not having signed up the “<” is
not really fulfilled, i.e. I don’t have
a better idea from the sign-up sheet
how many will actually show up. Too
few showing up = embarrassing =
problem for Morten; too many showing up = logistical problem = problem
for Morten. A guest lecture is a game
I cannot win but I wouldn’t mind
some help, OK?
Letter from SA Board‘s President
Two of the biggest SA organized
events – Days of Opportunities and
Peak Time are now over and in terms
of participants’ satisfaction and finance they seemed to be a success! 33
companies were represented during
Days of Opportunities and 17 countries were represented in Peak Time.
Both events were organized very professionally (I mean it!), everything
went smooth, the feedback we got
was pleasant and our students proved
once again that the SA’s cost efficiency ratio is probably the highest in the
world. Therefore, my deepest gratitude goes to organizer teams and associates of DoO and Peak Time!
During Days of Opportunities,
students had the chance to attend
30-minutes one-on-one mentoring
sessions with Muzaffar Khan; and by
what I observed, it seemed that after
those meetings students came out
enlightened, and that is great! We
also had a very special Cooperation
Council meeting together with Muzaffar.
I hope students also enjoyed Rock
Your Career party where the karaoke
stage (together with some drinks
perhaps) turned many usual students
into rock stars. Whereas, I enjoyed a
branch next morning with a neighbor
that has been complaining about
SSE Riga parties for the last six years.
On May 26 together with RGSL
and Riga Business School we
participated in the Big Cleanup
where we not only managed to
eat around 20 kilos of meat, but
also cleaned the environment
by filling 30 bags with trash.
By organizing On the Way to
China public event, a guest lecture
from the Head of SEB China and
providing the opportunity for
students to attend EU parliament
candidates’ debate, SA wants to
emphasize also the intellectual side
of the Student Association and boost
up the brand. Unfortunately, Baltic
Forum of Corporate Governance for
Students (BFCGS) is not happening
this year; however, we have agreed
with the team of BFCGS to work
on a concept for new event, a forum
with similar idea.
What’s coming up next? The ma-
Ernests Bordans
President of Student Association
2014
jor events are probably Nordea Riga
Marathon May 17, Paintball tournament, Students – Alumni Hockey
game, SSE Riga Debates Academy
May 30th – Jun 2nd, JeJoue culture
week June 2nd – June 6th, and the
grand Graduation party on June 7th;
a busy month for us.
As I am writing this, I still don’t
know the results of Olympic Games.
However, I am sure that we did a
great team work and I can be proud
of my school!
Otherwise, please be smart when
choosing your internship, think
about it from the perspective of
your future career, opportunity
costs and don’t ruin your summer.
See you around!
THE INSIDER • MAY 2014
5
INSIDE SSE RIGA
THBT
SSE Riga should expand by
If you are reading this you are
likely either studying or working in
SSE Riga, and even more likely you
are aware of how great the SSE Riga
people are. It doesn’t take much to
understand the logics here. If our
university were to expand, there
would be more SSE Riga people;
and that, ladies and gentlemen, is
amazing. I win! Ok, maybe not yet,
I should probably explain this a little bit more seriously.
Let’s look at one of the main
benefits that students here get.
Network. There is no doubt that
a good network will be beneficial for you at some point in
your life. Who wouldn’t want
to have connections in, say, car
dealerships? Of course, some
will say that quality comes over
quantity; and that the main reason why the SSE Riga network is
so great is because it is small, yet
close. I strongly disagree. I am sure
the network is great because the
people that create it are interesting,
smart, hard-working, and creative.
The idea here is that expanding
the network of SSE Riga graduates
will not make it worse; it will only
improve, since you will most likely have more contacts in different
fields. Expansion is good.
Why a new building then? We
all know about the problems SSE
Riga students are facing. Having no
space is particularly relevant in this
case. Students need more space! We
need to study somewhere; we need
the quiet environment where we
can deal with our studies in groups
of our choice. We need study
rooms! This need is clearly visible
in winter and spring, during the fi6
nance course, when every available
room is booked for the remaining
eternity (read: until the finance
course ends). When it comes to organizations, it is slightly unfair that
only one has its own meeting room.
Of course, it is meant for every organization; however, the desired
times often overlap and then loads
of problems arise. There is a clear
need for more space in SSE Riga;
and a new building would be the
solution.
Of course, I am not saying that
a new building is necessary only to
make space for ever-growing desires
of students or we should only care
about exponential increase in the
amount of students. I am saying
that something in between is exactly what SSE Riga needs to become
even more awesome than it is now.
by Edgars Pundurs
PROPOSITION
SSE RIGA
purchasing a new building.
Expansion of any kind has always
been viewed in a positive light and
it is hard to judge people for that.
It can multiply the existing benefits and offer new ones that would
be impossible without it. However,
this side of the house believes that
more isn’t always better.
The whole reason the building is
being purchased in the first place
is to accommodate more students,
meaning that the community will
expand and there’s a problem with
that. The distinctive features of
SSE Riga have always been quality
education, wide range of opportunities and the bond that the people
share even after graduation. Right
now the average student knows all
the people of his course and the
majority that are one year above
and below him + the administration and staff members. The lack
of “strangers” creates a trustful environment that allows us to learn
and improve ourselves in a com-
fortable, home-like atmosphere.
With an increased number of students, it will be far more difficult
to keep in touch with everyone,
if not impossible. As a result, the
feeling of unity will disappear and
part of the brand will be lost.
The number of applicants, while
still being an impressive one, hasn’t
really risen significantly in quite
some time now, which means that
the new students will be coming
from the same pool of applicants.
So when it comes to expanding our
network, we are not exactly offering
ourselves anything new. Not only
that, it also means that we will be
accepting people that would have
otherwise been rejected. We will
have to be less picky in terms of extra curriculums, academic performance, motivation, etc. And while
that does necessary mean that the
quality of graduates will decrease,
but it does become more complicated to sustain the quality.
The whole idea of extra space is
a great one, especially since the
current building is having trouble
accommodating all of our needs.
Nevertheless, there’s an issue regarding it. The extra students will
have exactly the same requirements
for space as we do right now. And
even if the number of students
will not increase and the building
will be used for other purposes
(extra auditoriums, study rooms,
expanded library), we simply will
not be able to maintain it without
the additional funds.
This is not the case that the idea
of expansion is a bad one, but secondary actions need to be taken
in order for us to actually benefit
from the change.
SSE RIGA
by Darja Jevstafjeva
OPPOSITION
THE INSIDER • MAY 2014
7
INSIDE SSE RIGA
by Valeria Gavrilan
In the good old days of
Morten’s lectures…
About sign-up sheet: “One signature “Anyone without hand-outs? Well, “Financial Accounting is something
per person, please!”
you can blame only yourself for it!” that sometimes gives me a nightmare.”
Exam results: “Look at the result but End of preparation session: “Most
please don’t come to my office!”
people can leave now, but after that, “It mostly seems that Latvians are
I can always adjust the midterm nice people. Much to my surprise…
A telephone starts ringing: “Morten, exam…”
But no offence, of course.”
think about the money! Think
about the money.”
Morten: “Risk of default in Germa- Difference between debit & credit:
ny?“
“Shall I feel ashamed of not knowHigh unemployment: “Construc- Students: “Zero? “
ing it? Perhaps, yes…but I don’t
tion seems to be filled with not so Morten: “Zero. Yeah! Don’t offend care!”
good-looking men who lost their job.” Germany!”
“CA = 0 for the world. Why? OthMorten: “Does the demand curve “What is CB?” (Silence in the class) erwise, we would have to trade with
shift?” (Silence in the class) “Does “A house in Riga! All right!”
Mars! Hasn’t happened yet!”
the sun go up tomorrow?”
Students: “Yes!”
About procyclical fiscal policy: “If First row drops something: “It’s gonna
Morten: “Thank you for answering!” GDP increases, Government says: be a long day for me today!” (Kindly
“Let’s add to the party! Spend, picks up the stuff and returns it to
“Devalue. Do you know what it spend!””
the owner)
means? Yes, because you study economics and finance…”
High unemployment:
“People under 15, are they sup1) “Employer: “Here are the keys posed to be working? (Silence) I
Hyperinflation: “The time when from the car.” Employee: “No, think not, as they are supposed to
currency loses value left, right and thanks! Please give me a bicycle.” be children.”
centre.”
And the folk keeps his job.”
2) “Employee: “What about an in- End of Friday lecture: “Hey, I know
Exam results: “Did I check the ex- crease in wages?” The employer opens it’s a bit evil but still… I wish you
ams? Yes, I did. Did I upload the the window and says: “Goodbye!””
to have a nice weekend, and while
results on e-learning before the lecspending this weekend think about
ture? No, I didn’t. WHY? Because Wrong answer: “Sometimes you just Y2 students and their weekend…”
I am not stupid! The results will be want to think a little bit more about (On Monday, Y2 had FE exam)
uploaded after the lecture.”
your salary.”
A DIFFERENT VIEW
by Edgaras Marcinkus
Why you should never
study economics at a
university
So I was a macroeconomics TA.
Part of the reason why was because
I wanted to discuss economics indepth with students that might be
interested in that. However, as it
usually is the case, people were more
interested in getting meaningless
grades while studying things that
don’t really make that much sense
as opposed to actually accumulating
knowledge.
Take, for instance, one of the most
important economic events in the
last hundred years or so – the economic crisis of 2008. It shouldn’t be
a secret that pretty much none of
the mainstream economists saw the
crisis coming. Not that there weren’t
heterodox economists who did saw
it coming, predicted it and provided elaborate theories as to why they
were able to foresee it. But nobody
is perfect, science (to an extent that
economics can be considered a science) is constantly evolving, creating
theories, testing and then revising
them etc. So you would imagine
that there is a huge debate
about and revision of
existing mainstream
economic theories
among these economists themselves,
right? Well, you
would be wrong.
I will grant
you that there are
some mainstream
economists here and
there who are trying
to reconsider some of the
aspects of their theories, but
none of them are ready to reconsider the very premises and foundational assumptions underpinning
the entire school of thought. And
not that there aren’t any alternative
models, theories and explanations –
there are many, some people were
able to predict and explain the crisis
after all.
Consider, for instance, the financial sector, which is a part of the
economy that brought the entire
global capitalist system to ruin. You
might think it is an important aspect of our economic system, right?
Well, mainstream economists don’t.
They simply assume it away (like
many other things), ignoring the aspects of systematic risk, private debt
and other related things.
But forget such “unimportant”
things; let’s take a look at the crisis itself. Well, that certainly is an
important aspect of our capitalist
system, right? Here even the economists would agree, the problem is,
however, that they don’t really have
a model to explain it! It’s always
some “exogenous shock” that hits
the economy, always “something”
happening to an economy which
was minding its own business, but
there are no models or
theories that would
explain how these
“e x o g e n o u s
shocks” come
about.
Another
problem
with contemporary
economics
is an obsession with
equilibrium.
You always start
with an equilibrium
and you are always moving
towards it. Despite the fact that,
you know, economy is never at an
equilibrium nor it is ever moving
towards it. It seems more reasonable to say that economy is in a
constant disequilibrium, always
in motion due to its very nature.
While equilibrium might be a good
conceptual tool for understanding
some things in economics, it is certainly not a tool for understanding
everything.
Have you heard the story about
rising government debt pushing interest rates up and eventually leading to default? Well, there is this
country – Japan – it has had the
highest public debt in the world
for many years (~230% of GDP)
and at the same time it has had the
lowest interest rates. There are economic schools of thought that have
conceptual apparatus to explain
such seemingly strange phenomenon, while mainstream economics don’t. I have talked with some
economists and have read opinions
of others on the subject – all of
them provide different but equally
unsatisfactory explanations. And
these explanations must be different, because mainstream economists have no theory, no model,
which could explain this.
These are only several problems
on the surface and it seems to me
that even these ones aren’t all that
easy to fix, mostly because they
stem from the very foundations
and methodology of the mainstream economics, a topic into
which I can’t delve in this article.
I could talk endlessly about all of
these and related things, but let
me finish by saying the following:
if you want to understand how the
economy operates on an operational level, please go and have a look
at something called Modern Monetary Theory. However, if you want
to understand how the economy
functions at a deeper level, get into
Marxist economics.
THE INSIDER • MAY 2014
9
INSIDE SSE RIGA
by Cristina Musteață
Challenge Your Perspective
with Muzaffar Khan
It has been a tradition of already two years that the Cooperation Council (CC) has brought the brightest strategic minds from each organization
together in order to foster efficient and fruitful collaboration within SSE
Riga. A goal like that is never easy to reach, yet it is worth the quest.
On the 12th of April, the members of the council had the chance to discuss
some of the pending issues with the Cooperation Council’s special guest, author of “Racing towards Excellence”, investor and appraised success coach,
Muzaffar Khan. Below you will find some of the meeting’s highlights.
Continuity - or can we build the ladder of success?
There is a rather hurried impression that board members can easily
find answers to their questions from
older peers. Despite the small community and apparent arm’s-length
distance between students, many
have found themselves in certain
situations feeling they were lacking
this so called know-how. Receiving
advice from past board members –
and not only the most recent ones
– might come in handy. Although
beneficial, this remains not easy to
arrange.
How would you prevent the loss
of know-how between generations?
Muzaffar Khan shared with us
that many other elite schools where
he mentored have been concerned
with this matter as well. One of
the most practical pieces of advice was to make clip records from
each board member in addition to
spreadsheets with contacts and a
series of guidelines on how to best
manage and work within the team.
Clips should be small and of both
generic and specific type, depending on the subject matter. Why?
You might ask, or would it make
any difference? My answer is yes,
it will. When being recorded, one
will try to be as explicit as possible,
mentioning things that might seem
to him or her too
obvious to be written down- and
these tips might just do the trick.
Furthermore, one will also be incentivized to prepare thoroughly, thus
providing to the viewer the most
qualitative concentrate from its own
experiences. Following the video
shootings, these legacies should be
placed on the channels for each organization. Channels then should
be created and kept on a common
video-sharing website. In this way,
we outsource the responsibility to
preserve the content in time with
minimum risks of actually losing
the information.
Motivation - is it sustainable?
It has been long since was observed
that organizations’ attractiveness
grows on the prospects of gathering
extra exchange points for studies
abroad. In light of the most recent
changes in the exchange selection criteria, indeed a surprise experienced by
current year 2 students; doubts have
risen regarding the ability to gather
enough associates for next year.
To determine whether students’
grades suffer from involvement in
organizations, one would have to
compare years with different levels of
participation in extracurricular activ10
ities, and their respective average academic performance levels. Thus, we
could see whether such a connection
is truly or statistically significant.
One interesting argument that
popped up during the meeting was
that depth is not necessarily better
than diversity. Think about it, if you
have students integrated in more
than one society, it stands as proof of
their ability to integrate, communicate and work with different people
simultaneously – a valuable life skill.
Although these might speak in favor of the previous monetary as in
exchange-points rewarding motivation, such change might also induce
the teams to work harder at creating
added value for each of its members.
Intangible type of motivation is the
truly sustainable one.
To gather a devoted team, organizations are encouraged to hold
various exclusive, inside socials,
team-building and experience-sharing activities that add tangible value to the student. This way it will
be possible to attract new members
with the image of a both hard-working and indeed socially active group.
Naughty or Nice? Public image of SSE Riga students and our behavioral ethics
It is a common knowledge that administration has been observing the
way SSE Riga students are perceived
by other Latvian Universities, as
well as possible employers.
Some say that our students are
behaving in an arrogant manner.
The fear here would be that such
behavior categorizes us as being
rude and disrespectful towards students outside SSE Riga. Weather
this perception is actually true or
not, arrogance is not necessarily
a negative trait. It depends on the
country really; particularly on its
business culture. Muzaffar expanded on how, in the U.S., for example, arrogance is something that is
expected and desired in highly motivated students. It is that strong
aggressive and self-confident type
of personality that lands them the
best jobs on the market. In contrast
to the American way, Swedish business etiquette condemns arrogance.
Aggressive and egocentric character
traits might diminish one’s chances
to get into a high desired position.
Consensus decision making, on the
other hand, often part of the dayto-day business operations, highly
demands the ability to be humble,
listen carefully and respect others
opinions. Having our school’s roots
well imbedded into the Swedish
heritage, it is understandable why
such concern has been present. Yet,
we do not know whether Latvia’s
case is similar to its’ north-western
neighbor. Thus, we would need to
induce further investigations. One
general comment from Muzaffar
was that compared to students from
the elite British and American uni-
versities, SSE Riga students are far
from being arrogant. In result, different connotations emerge once
the perspective is shifted.
Whether or not we are acting arrogantly, is something each and every one of us should ask themselves.
You should be the one who chooses
your stands on whether such behavior, if present, is particularly good
or bad, according to your individual
core principles and career wise’ aspirations whilst taking into account
our surrounding cultural aspect.
many hands lighten the load!
But can you keep those hands
together; do you know how to
guide them? I encourage you to
venture on this exciting journey. Applications to the Chief of
Cooperation Council position
will be open from 12th of May
until 20th of May. Ask yourself
if this is what you stand for and
whether you can Do IT. If your
answer to the above is YES, then
write a concise 400 limit email
to [email protected] why you
think you are the best fit for the
position.
Attention!
Problems are not there to stop us;
they are there to be conquered!
This requires exceptional ability
to generate brilliant ideas! Your
idea CAN be the one to make a
difference! Cooperation Council aims at sharing, strategizing,
and most importantly, acting
upon our decisions to create value for our students. Remember,
THE INSIDER • MAY 2014
11
INSIDER SPECIAL
by Darja Jevstafjeva
The Dark Side
of Economics and Business
Success stories about ground breaking progress in the field of economics and innovative business ideas appear
quite often in the premises of our university. They are mentioned during our lectures, both regular and guest
ones, as memorable examples of what our field of study is capable of. However, it is not that often that we address
the less successful stories and almost never the backlashes of the industry. The latter are presented in documentaries we are going to speak about. Tom Heinemann, the director of the films, was kind enough to answer some of
our questions regarding his work.
Why did the problems you address
in your documentaries have not
received media coverage before?
Because, I think, many of the stories
I have done over the last 20 years are
often complicated and need long
research and often a long period of
waiting for documents required using the Freedom of Information Act.
Many journalists and media do not
invest the necessary time in doing so.
On the other hand, many of my stories are also about what’s going on in
a remote, far away poor country and
even if it isn’t rocket science, it seems
that many journalists and their editors will not invest their time into it.
Regarding “The Micro Debt”
and “The Bitter Taste of Tea,”
why would people not affected
by the circumstances of the issues (such as the students of our
university) be interested in resolving the problems?
Here we are talking about address-
ing what is believed by market oriented people as the best we can do.
Resolving a - today well known
fact - problem about the backsides
of Microcredit and/or how we treat
people in the third world countries
simply does not exist in the neoliberal world of economics - lead by The
World Bank, The Nobel Peace prize
committee, the UN etc. etc. When
it comes to solving the injustice and
un-fairness in the World, we should
not rely on what the rich countries
always say. This is a matter of decent
human behaviour - and it can be
hard to face that we - you and I also are responsible: every time we
buy a tea bag, or support the idea
that the small micro loans can send
poverty to a museum (to quote Muhammad Yunus from Bangladesh.)
Fact is microfinance will never
solve the poverty problem anywhere in the World. But it makes
us feel good when we believe it can.
Regarding “The Micro Debt”
film: do you believe that Mr
Yunus and Grameen Bank were
aware of the backlash the micro
credits would create?
Yes, they surely were. Numerous
academics and university researchers have, in fact, made reports on
the lack of success. But that didn’t
fit into the glossy picture that GB
and Yunus - with huge support
from aid corporations like Norad,
US-aid, UN, World Bank and all
the other donors, were creating.
As you might know from the film,
Grameen Bank received in total
more than 175 million USD in direct grants from all over the World.
Admitting it wasn’t such a good
idea after all would simply have
been too embarrassing.
Why and where should we seek
out the truth? What information
sources to use?
First off all, you should, as a human
“The Micro Debt”
For decades Microcredit has been
hailed as the #1 solution to eradicate
poverty. However, no one was paying
much attention to the execution of the
innovative scheme. Almost every loan
taker interviewed told the same story.
Moreover, all had multiple loans in various
12
Microcredit banks and organisations and
faced a hard time trying to pay back
their loans. They paid annual interest rates
ranging from 30 to 200 percent, not to
mention how cruel and rude some of the
loan officers behave when it comes to
defaulting a single weekly payment. Some
had sold their house, others had their tinsheets pulled of their houses to cover the
weekly payments. This documentary reveals
the unfair side of the Microcredit coin.
In the beautiful lush tea gardens in Kenya,
India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, millions
of tea-workers struggle everyday fighting
to survive. They are plucking tea leaves
for multinational companies such as Lipton and Finlay’s. The companies promise
to their consumers, that they will act as
INSIDER SPECIAL
ABOUT TOM HEINEMANN
Tom Heinemann has been working as an
independent investigative journalist for
more than 20 years. Two times awarded as
“Outstanding Investigative Journalist” by the
association on investigative journalism in
Denmark (FUJ). Three times runner up for “Journalist
of the year” in Denmark (Cavling). In 2007 he
won the Prix Italia in the current affairs selection.
In 2011 he was awarded the EU-Commissions
“Lorenzo Natali Grand Price” for the film; “The
Micro Debt.” His films have been sold all over
the world, and he has received numerous
awards for his work on global issues. He often
teaches at universities in investigative journalism
and has done lectures in several countries.
being, ask yourself: “Can it really
be true? Is there another side of the
beautiful story?” You, as all journalists also, should wonder. That’s the
first thing you should do. “When I
see a glossy website telling me that
“all is good” and “we are keeping
our promises about CSR, Code of
Conduct” etc., that’s where your
work should start: “I wonder, can it
really be true? Should I go and visit
some other websites telling another
story? Are there academic studies
proving this? etc.”
about how they see their work in
i.e. Bangladesh (producing telecom
towers). Both companies promised
again and again, that all production
in Bangladesh was done under the
best human, environmental, legal
practices. There was hardly an end
to what they promised their shareholders, the public, the press, etc.
Four weeks in Bangladesh proved
that they were dead wrong. And
they knew it - even though they did
not admit it. That story cost Telenor
and Ericsson millions and millions
of € to “clean up the mess that the
You have dealt with many indi- film created”. How it looks right
viduals and companies that can now in Bangladesh, I do not know,
be classified as “dodgy”. Could but my role as a journalist is to fact
you provide some advice for those check all the companies claim and I
who are planning to start their will keep on doing so.
own enterprises?
So my best advice to any student at
When I did “A Tower of Promises”, SSE in Riga is to “walk your talk”.
I read and asked Telenor and Er- Meaning that if you have a small
icsson for a full list of documents entrepreneur hidden in your brain,
“The Bitter Taste of Tea”
“The Carbon Crooks”
responsible members of the global society, protecting the environment and
ensuring good working and living conditions for their workers. Nothing could be
more wrong! The western consumers have
turned to Fairtrade because Fairtrade/
Max Havelaar guarantees that the workers in the Fairtrade certified tea estates
get a little extra money, every time a consumer buys their tea. This film tells the true
story of how Fairtrade is not at all fair.
The EU’s first carbon credit was put on
sale in 2005. The idea was that the
trading of carbon would reduce CO2
emissions and thereby curb global
warming. But the system has collapsed
and instead Denmark became the
centre of one of the world’s fastest
growing scams. Experts and Europol estimate that the European treasuries lost
around 10 billion EURO to hackers and
VAT fraudsters from around the world.
you should spend a lot of time
thinking about how you will deal
with journalists like me if you i.e.
want to start a production of textiles
in Bangladesh or run a flower farm
in Africa. Because if you think that
you can promise the public, that all
is done in a fair, just and environmental friendly way, you must be
aware that I (or many other journalists) will check it out.
What is your next project?
Together with my close friend and
colleague, Mr. Erling Borgen, from
Norway we are currently working
on a new series about human rights
and freedom of speech. It’s a series
of 6 episodes, 30 minutes each and
it will be airing on national TV in
Norway, Sweden and Denmark. We
have stories from all over the World.
The working title of the series is: “A
Heart That Never Dies.”
The carbon credit system has collapsed
and prices have dropped by 90 percent. It has never been cheaper to pollute than today and carbon emissions
have never been higher in the history
of mankind. Want to know more? Watch
the movie at the SSE Riga Library.
THE INSIDER • MAY 2014
13
CULTURAL DIVERSITY
by Dāvis Nabutovskis
Traveling is my passion and I am
lucky to have visited 32 countries,
flown more than 100 000 miles
and planned most of the trips myself. In this article, I will share
practical information for your future travels and write an overview
about the top travel destination of
this decade that I visited recently –
United Arab Emirates.
Drinking alcoholic
beverages and kissing
in public is a big
“no-no”.
Here, you can see a woman
in a hijab walking right
next to a supermodel in
underwear.
14
UAE
what to bear
The United Arab Emirates is a developed country and travelling there
is the same as in Europe – all the
major credit cards are accepted, online travel arrangements are a norm
and in the most part of the country,
sanitary standards are met as well.
Furthermore, the prices will surprise
you!
Although, United Arab Emirates
advertise themselves as a luxurious
travel destination, it does not cost
a fortune to travel there. The fuel
costs only 0.35 EUR and the majority of labor force are usually underpaid immigrant workers from
India or Pakistan. For example, a
160 km taxi ride will cost you only
around 40 EUR. Therefore, this
makes taxis the most popular type
of public transportation for tourists
and middle class residents. Also, you
can easily find a place to stay or a
place to eat at prices lower than in
most European cities, but with the
same standards of quality. At the
same time, however, there are other aspects of traveling to UAE that
overshadow the prices.
One of the most important
in mind
things to research before going to
the United Emirates are the local
laws. The laws in the UAE are based
on religion and are theoretically very harsh for western tourists.
To exemplify, drinking alcoholic beverages and kissing in public
is a big “no-no”. However, if you
have done your research, you will
know that the government turns a
blind eye to such sins if they are
conducted within a private property, e.g., a hotel resort. But that
is not all!
The local laws go even harsher
than that. If you get raped in the
UAE, you will not want to submit
a claim about this to the local police, because according to the law,
you will be prosecuted and go to jail
together with the rapist, since you
have been involved in an act outside
marriage.
On a more positive note, the
UAE is a contradictory place and
western culture here lives hand in
hand with Muslim culture. Here,
you can see a woman in a hijab
walking right next to a supermodel
in underwear.
The United Arab Emirates leaves
an impression of a country where
world records are set and the full
human potential is on display, making it the travel destination of this
decade. I wish you the chance to experience it too.
Places worth visiting in UAE
Abu Dhabi:
Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque – the
most beautiful architectural marvel
in Abu Dhabi.
Ferrari World – a Ferrari theme
park which boasts about having
world’s fastest rollercoaster with a
speed of 240km/h.
Yas Waterworld – simply a mega
waterpark, with some innovative
rides.
A 10 kilometre walk along the
coastline of Abu Dhabi, which allows to grasp the size and height of
the city.
Al Ain:
Wadi Adventure – a theme park
with artificially created rivers to
learn rafting and wave pools to learn
surfing.
Dubai:
Burj Khalifa – at the time of writing this article, the tallest building in
the world (830 meters tall), in front
of which are situated the world’s
largest musical fountains with water
shooting as high as 150 meters.
Burj Al Arab – the world’s most
luxurious and the only 7 star hotel,
built (280 meters tall) on an artificial island in the sea.
The Dubai Mall – the world’s
largest shopping mall.
Ski Dubai – the world’s only indoor
skiing resort operating when the
outdoor temperature reaches 45°C.
Dubai – a company that offers skydiving with the best view in the region and possibly the world.
Palm Jumeirah and its monorail –
an artificial island with its own public transport – the monorail.
T R I P
ADVISER
1
2
3
4
For the last two years, I have been
self-studying the travel industry more
deeply and I will share some good beginner tips, which focus on student leisure travel based on travelling in small
groups to world’s developed countries.
The best and most self-rewarding way
to travel is to plan the trips yourself.
By independently planning your trips
you are planning your time, making all
the decisions about which sites to visit,
where to stay and which airline to fly.
Planning your trips can be at times very
challenging, but it is not impossible.
How to plan which sites to visit?
Search for sights at Tripadvisor.com, Google images, Lonely
Planet guides and, if you truly feel lucky, then you can even
do a Bing search.
How to effectively find your flights from the Baltics?
Apart from special discount sales, while searching for flights,
don’t forget to do it 1-3 months before your actual trip - this
is the time when you will get the most cost-effective results.
The most effective and “number 1” tool to use when searching for flights is a software called Azuon. This will cost you
around 18 EUR, but it is worth the money, since it gives
many options to search for flights and saves your valuable
time. The second best tool is Skyscanner.com.
Where to stay and how to find the best rates?
The traditional way is to use search engines like Hotelscombined.com or Trivago.com. The first one will help you find
hostels too.
However, if you are truly flexible in terms of where to stay,
you can try your luck at so-called opaque hotel search engines, where you do not know which particular hotel you
are buying, but you do know the approximate location and
amenities of the hotel. The reason for using this tool is that
you will usually get the hotels much cheaper than they are
selling elsewhere. Nevertheless, be very careful with booking through these sites and do your reading on how the sites
work beforehand. The best search engines are Hotwire.com or
Priceline.com (Category - Name your own price or Express
Deals).
Finally, I wish you good luck while planning your trips.
If you have any questions regarding traveling, feel free to
approach me.
THE INSIDER • MAY 2014
15
son who
r
e
p
y
l
n
“The o ly tell you
l
will rea need to
u
what yo rself.”
do is you
CULTURAL DIVERSITY
by Liliana Barbăneagră
Teaching
Could you tell us a bit more about
your background?
I come from Colombia, from Bogota – the capital. I graduated from
the university with a bachelor’s degree in English and Spanish. When
I first came to Latvia I was teaching
English. Spanish wasn’t so popular
right then but with time, I decided
to start introducing Spanish into my
area of work. At the time, there were
not many native Spanish speakers
who were teaching the language
from a professional point of view.
Esperanza Higuera is the lecturer of the Spanish language elective course. Being a professional Spanish teacher
Her bright personality, the motivation and inspiration she brings to stu- was, for me, a very good place to be.
dents made her perspective on life of great interest to us.
I have always considered my profession very rewarding.
The Latino heart of our School:
Esperanza Higuera
What part of the job do you find
to be the most challenging and
which one is the most enjoyable?
What I like the most about my job
is that most of the students come to
my lessons because they want to be
there, which guarantees the success
of 90% of my work. When you have
students who are motivated, your
job is easily done. The biggest challenge for me is when students have
to take exams. An exam doesn’t always prove how much they know, in
languages life itself is the exam. It is
when you are in a situation abroad
or when you meet a person who
speaks the language you are learning
and you are able to communicate
with them. If I remember well my
experience as a student, I was not
very fond of exams. Even though I
had studied and had prepared myself for the exam I would get so nervous that I would forget everything.
Or it would be the case that I would
get very good marks on the exams
but if you asked me now what I remember, I don’t think I would be
able to tell you much.
Spanish
Since Spanish is one of the most
popular language elective courses
among students, how would you
explain their interest?
When you told me that Spanish
was one of the most popular elective
languages here, I was very flattered.
16
I don’t know if the love of what I do
goes back to the students and they feel
this chemistry and then we are connected. Languages are very important
but Spanish is not a nr. 1 language
which people here in Latvia would
need very much. Spanish is probably
more about emotions, about how it
sounds. It also depends on the personal interests of each student.
Who is your personal favorite
Spanish-language author?
Garcia Marquez. He just passed away
but his legacy will live forever. He
belongs to the literature movement
called “realismo magico”, which is
my personal favorite. It is a little bit
of fiction and reality and the combination of these two elements always
captivated my attention. I came
across another younger writer from
Colombia - Angela Becerra. She
writes in the same “realismo magico”
style and I just enjoy it. I read one
book from Antonio Skarmeta – a
Chilean writer, he wrote “El cartero
de Neruda”, a very beautiful work.
Travelling
Do you like to travel? If yes,
what is your most memorable
destination?
I like to travel a lot. Hawaii and
Australia are the places I have enjoyed the most, probably the most
renowned destinations I have ever
dreamt of visiting. I felt very happy when I realized I was there. Just
imagining how far I have travelled
to be there is impressive. There are
other places I’ve been to like New
York City, Los Angeles, small villages in Italy or places in Colombia and
I find them all amazing. Colombia
is very beautiful, it is very green and
because of its geographical location
you can enjoy different climates
within the same country without
waiting for the next season.
Is there a country you would like
to visit now?
Sometimes it is fun to go and travel
and see things, other times you just
have to stop and enjoy what you
have around you. At the moment,
I am trying to concentrate more on
where I am now. Still, I am going to
Colombia for the summer so I am
very much looking forward to it. I
also have plans to go to Greece and
visit a few of the islands there.
Culture
What were the most striking
differences that you noticed
between Latvia and Colombia
when you came here for the first
time?
I came here in April seventeen years
ago, it was a cold spring. The lack of
colours was one of the most impressive things, as well as people’s mindset. I come from a southern country,
where people are very lively, smiley,
noisy and temperamental. Then you
find a big contrast when you want
to communicate with people and
you don’t know what they are really
thinking when they are looking at
you. Of course, with time people
have changed, especially thanks to
the fact that young generations can
study abroad, people can travel a lot
more, so they have a different view
of what the world is like. Travelling
helps you keep an open mind, to accept differences between people.
Do you practice Latin dances?
I used to love dancing salsa when
I lived in Colombia. I have found
it very hard to find the right partner for me here. When I went out
to clubs, most of the people had
learned to dance at dancing schools.
They knew the steps they follow
with the music, but that for me is
not all when dancing. Dancing is
feeling the music, feeling the chemistry with the other person you are
dancing with, the possibility to
improvise. And dancing is a very
intimate process. That is why I feel
strange here trying to dance, especially salsa, which is my type of music for dancing.
which step is right and which one
is wrong. You need to sit down and
think about what your heart really
wants, what your heart is really telling you. You can of course ask your
parents, your friends or even go to a
psychologist or a fortune teller, but
everyone will give you an opinion
according to what they think. The
only person who will really tell you
what you need to do is yourself. I
was scared of leaving Colombia and
moving here, it was a very big decision. My mother told me: “You have
to give it a try. If you don’t like it and
you can’t succeed, you should know
that you can always come back.”
There is always a returning point
and you can do something about
that even if the decision was wrong.
You have to assume the consequences, take what you have learnt from
that and keep moving.
What venues with a Latino tint
would you recommend in Riga?
I know a Mexican chef who opened
his own place here, he has an international approach in his kitchen.
His restaurant is called “Monhe
Negro”. There is another restaurant
opened by a chef from Madrid, he
offers his specialties, drinks and
‘tapas’ at his place “Madride”. I personally know them and I always recommend them. I know the Embassy
of Spain organizes different activities as well. There is also the Spanish
Department at the Latvian University and the Cultural Academy.
What are your interests during
your spare time?
I enjoy reading, I enjoy having time
with my daughters. I enjoy just
walking on the small streets or in the
center. I love Riga! I try to see these
nice corners, nice facades of houses
and of small local shops. I usually
take my car, take my girls, and drive
to small places just to enjoy a cup of
Life
tea or coffee. These are small activWhat would you advise people ities, I don’t need big things to be
who are too scared to get out of happy. Once in a while, I meet my
their comfort zone?
friends and go to dinner to different
I never thought I was ever moving bars to see what’s going on in the
out of Colombia. Sometimes we are city. And I like travelling, of course,
in situations when you don’t know as well, whenever it’s possible.
THE INSIDER • MAY 2014
17
DOING BUSINESS
by Valeria Gavrilan, Anastasiya Kazhar
Managing the unmanageable:
business, studies, pleasure.
Michelle is a second year student at SSE Riga and a co-owner of the footwear company “Woolings”. In this
interview she shares her business experience, reveals how one can handle studies while working and breaks SSE
Riga’s stereotypes.
How did you become a part of
Woolings?
Woolings is not entirely my company as I own only 50%. The brand
itself was created five years ago by
the designer Maria Vlasova, and basically, it’s her baby. I work in Woolings for a year. I like changes and
I always need to experience something new and create. That is why I
left my previous job that was related
more to Economics and Finance.
Maria invited me to her company
and proposed to become a co-owner
of the firm. Then I said “Why not?”
because I liked the idea and the
product as well. And you really can’t
find anything similar to Woolings
anywhere.
When the company was found
which were the main difficulties
you have faced?
The main problem was that we don’t
have many shoe specialists in Latvia.
And when Maria was creating her
shoes she was said that we can’t create
shoes from wool. It is not usable for
shoes and you can make only valenki from it. But she was stubborn: she
was testing a lot and trying different technologies to create the shoes.
Eventually, she managed to do it.
18
Do you and Marina make design
yourselves or you have specially
employed people for that?
Well, I am responsible for the business side of the company and Maria
as a designer is responsible for the
creative aspect. However, I always
express my opinion about the design and usually she listens to me,
and sometimes I also create the
design for showcases because I am
more comfortable with computers
and Photoshop.
Why did you choose wool as a material for shoes despite the wet climate in Latvia? Isn’t it that shoes
can easily get wet?
We use 100% Australian wool. It’s
actually the most expensive thing in
the shoe because it is a natural material. We also apply a water resistant
layer on the shoe that protects it
from wet weather. The main reasons
why Maria chose wool as a material
was that no animals are harmed to
obtain wool, something which you
can’t say, e.g. about leather.
Your shoes usually have very unusual colour of sole. Why is that
so?
Usually people in the Baltics are
kind of shy and prefer to wear black
shoes all the time. The majority of
our customers order black, dark
grey or brown shoes so that it looks
more classical. However then they
say, “Oh, OK! I want to have a red
or yellow sole”. Actually, you cannot
see that colourful sole unless you sit
so that it becomes observable. Perhaps, colourful sole makes them feel
special because they know that few
people have them.
In one of the pictures on Facebook you were simply giving your
product to people on the street to
try it, to put it on. How did that
work out?
It was useful for us. Because in shoes
first comes comfort, and only then
design. And many people think
that ok, these shoes look nice, but
they might not be very comfortable. Only when you actually try
them on, you understand that they
are super-soft and comfortable, like
sneakers.
What motivates you to work? Is it
hard to combine the business with
studies?
I am working since I was 17, and I
love to work. I am a workaholic a
bit. I remember that during my first
year at SSE Riga everybody was telling me that it’s impossible to combine work and studies at SSE Riga
because studies are so difficult and
there’s no way you can do it. I am
a person that doesn’t believe other people without testing it myself.
Now I know that I can combine
both studies and work. Maybe that’s
because I have always been good at
learning, I’m learning fast.
What I like about work is independence. I always have my own
money, I can normally pay for my
university, I don’t need to take any
loans.
If you had to choose between preparing to a very challenging exam
at SSE Riga and you also had a
fashion show the next day, would
you solve study issues or business
issues first of all? And you can’t
choose both!
I think I would sit and prepare for
the exam but at the same time I
would give tasks to people on what
they have to do to prepare for the
fashion show. Therefore, physically
I would be more into studies. Beside
this, at Woolings I have an assistant,
which makes the plan more realistic.
ued to work. You know, you cannot
just quit with your own company
for 2 months. It’s physically impossible. The first couple of weeks it was
hard, but then somehow you start to
sleep less… I somehow managed to
pass the exam and our team wrote
the second best report!
Apart from this, I am also playing
chello and learning to play the viola.
During FE I didn’t drop my classes,
and I think my extra-study activities
helped me a lot. When you study all
the time, you become demotivated.
When I spent just 1 hour doing the
things I liked, I had a better mood
to study afterwards.
You are a good time-manager.
Can you give some tips of good
time-management?
A lot of people think that I am managing my time well but I should
mention one more thing. Usually I sleep 5 hours a day and this is
enough for me. I have slept like this
since I was eight or something like
that. That’s why I have more time to
manage during the day.
I also drink a lot of coffee, I am a
bit a coffee addict. Sometimes I try
to drop drinking coffee but I cannot
live without it more than 3 days.
I have a planner where I write all my
How did you manage during the tasks. It definitely helps to make a list
Financial Economics course?
of duties for the day and then crossI love challenges! “No way you can out what I have done. This also motido anything else during FE” – ev- vates to complete all these tasks.
erybody says so. Actually, I told my
coursemates that I wouldn’t work
during those 2 months because we
had a really strong group for the report. But as it turned out, I contin-
Finally, currently I am living with
my parents. Sometimes I think that
I have to find my own flat but then I
realize that I don’t have time for flat:
to clean, to cook and so on. Right
now, I don’t have time for that.
Many people have planners but
still they can’t manage to do everything they have written. How
to deal with that?
Then I think that the problem is
that you don’t want to do those
things. I am trying to do in life only
the things that I want to do and the
things I like. I like chello, I like my
work, I like my friends. I enjoy the
time I spend, every single hour.
Which courses from SSE Riga have
helped you most with your work
in Woolings? What course enabled
you to break through in business?
You know, I am taking some things
from older courses and I cannot say
that some courses were completely
useless. In each course you can find
a lot of useful things. The main idea
is to learn how to combine the theoretical things from SSE Riga with
practice. You can’t simply learn from
practice; when you know the theory
it is easier to apply it effectively. It
concerns all the courses: marketing,
even financial economics. For example, I was making a business plan for
one investor and I was using a lot of
things I learned during my accounting and finance courses. I indeed
love SSE Riga!
THE INSIDER • MAY 2014
19
CULTURAL DIVERSITY
by Lyubov Konovalova
Multi-sided
education
What I first noticed when I entered
SSE Riga was an abundance of
paintings and other interesting art.
It surprised me because it reminded
me of a design faculty’s building at
my home university. Why, I asked
myself, is the school vastly interested in such decoration? Later, I discovered the answers.
The building, being an architectural sight, impresses people by its
facade; inside it continues being artistic. The school has a well-founded tradition in its desire to collect
pieces of art, thus writing history
not only through its events, but
also through its developments in art
world. The art reflects reality and
captures its essence. That’s why most
of the art works in SSE Riga are of
contemporary nature. Some works
tell a story, others not, but they
make people stay for a moment and
inspire discussion. Despite the fact
that I am a classical person and I enjoy actuality, I like some paintings at
SSE Riga. They definitely make the
atmosphere cozier and I can spend a
lot of time here with pleasure.
20
The building of the school is small
so I can go around and see all rooms
in 15 minutes, but not many people
know that it is elongated on the top
to form two towers. In these towers,
there are several artistic surprises.
One of the towers was painted by
the Polish artist Leon Tarasewicz in
1997. When people enter the room
on the sixth floor, they see a yellow
light from the port to the tower. It
attracts people to discover the secret
of this tower. It is painted in the
colours of the Swedish flag and inspires a happy mood. Another tower
was literally “flowered” by SSE Riga
students, being inspired by its twin
during one of the JeJoue culture
weeks.
The most controversial paintings,
in my opinion, are the woman’s
portrait in blue and the work of Edgars Kvjatkovskis on the sixth floor.
They introduce the school to fresh
air, make people talk about them,
and promptly discuss their opinions
about paintings.
The three paintings that recently
appeared in the Soros auditorium
with a railway bridge, tell a story
about building a Swedish power
plant. During the construction approximately 40 paintings were created, which were meant to be given
to the employees of the construction
company as a symbol of gratitude.
Unfortunately, the plant was not
finished and the remaining paintings have become needless. Most of
them were sent to SSE except these
three, which now decorate the Soros
auditorium.
With such art collection, there is
also a notion that education should
not be one-sided. There are many aspects to know along with economics
and business— art is one of them.
It is everywhere, even if people do
not pay attention to it in their daily
musings. SSE Riga teaches students
to value it. It works for both sides –
students and artists. This promotion
of art helps artists to get their works
seen by others and to get the message
delivered to the masses. For students,
such exhibitions are not only decorations, I believe they also bring much
joy and grounds to think.
CULTURAL DIVERSITY
by Valeria Gavrilan, Anastasiya Kazhar
The defiant art of SSE Riga:
Interview with
Edgars Kvjatkovskis
What is the connection between
you and SSE Riga? What should
each student know about you?
When I was a year one student, we
had a symposium where we decided to draw not auto-portraits but
other… different parts of the body.
For example, buttocks. One of such
painting is exhibited now here, at
SSE Riga, on the sixth floor. So, this
was my Year 1 work; the Art Academy with support of the Student Association of SSE Riga organized this
exhibition. Apparently, as a result of
some voting my work was chosen.
When I was a last-year master student, I had one more contact with
SSE Riga. I won the competition
“the Key to Success”. I made a
sculpture out of glass, which can be
found now in the yard of SSE Riga.
My third contact with the school
was about jewelry in Jugendstils.
This is the thing which I am doing
now. Several years ago there was
also an exhibition here, as a base I
took your home, SSE Riga. I made
a collection of jewelry that consisted
of 100 items. It was made of silver
and amber. I have developed my
own technology according to which
I cut amber with laser, after this it
becomes more transparent, like a
stained glass window. Such material
is more flexible to work with.
What are the advantages and disadvantages of being an artist?
There are no bad colours – there
are only bad colour combinations.
The same thing with professions. There are no
pluses and minuses.
In every profession
you can find your
niche and do
business there.
It is
Have you ever
it is
been told that artist is not a suitable
profession for you?
And how did you cope
with this?
Yes, my professor Gleb Panteleev said that amber is not worth
to work with as a material, as well
as silver – this is all old-fashioned.
But when I found my business and
got an order for 30 000 Euro, right
after 3 months from the foundation, he stopped saying that. After
that I bought a house in the center
of Riga, on Bruninieku street which
a “self-portrait”,
mine actually.
is 124 years old and currently it is
being renovated. So, he even forgot
what he was saying.
Generally, there are 2 types of people: those who know what one can
and can not do, and those who
don’t. Those who don’t know that
it’s impossible – they do it.
THE INSIDER • MAY 2014
21
iness,
s
u
b
s
i
Art usiness is
and b
art.
CULTURAL DIVERSITY
by Valeria Gavrilan, Anastasiya Kazhar
The contemporary art is considered very controversial. How do
you cope with criticism?
There are people who read books –
there are those who write. I write
laws. I say: this is beautiful, this is
my design. I say if you like it – go
ahead, if not – then don’t. What
is criticism? There is tasty and not
tasty food. Somebody likes sushi,
somebody likes borshch. There is no
criticism, I percept it as a fact that
some people like it less than others.
If it is so, I need to work with those
who like it.
What advice would you give to
people who want to understand
your works? Of course there is
just “like” and “dislike” but still
to understand art you need some
knowledge…
You know, the modern art can be
divided into 3 categories. The first
category is national folklore art. The
second one is industrial art. Say,
BMW, Ikea – their elements of design are also art. And the third category is contemporary art, that is, say,
for artists themselves, “for those who
understand”. Find something you
like.. and start realizing it! The same
as with music: there is music for musicians, classical music and popular
music. If you don’t understand classical music, start listening the music
you understand. As simple as that.
You had an exhibition of jewelry
in our school. Why do you think
student are a good audience for
such exhibition?
I choose by venues, not by the audience. The idea is to work with houses of Riga. I had an exhibition in the
opposite building, on Alberta 12; in
a week I will have an exhibition on
Alberta 4. When I plan an exhibition, I have a concept to make it ex22
actly in the building from which I
took inspiration for the collection.
The exhibition is made for those
who live in that building and this is
the moment when ordinary citizens
can witness art. At the time when I
had an exhibition in SSE Riga – it
was just a lucky chance. You were
lucky, I was lucky.
You were talking about the sculpture “the Key to Success”. Was it
made on a special order? Did you
make it for this particular event
when banks made a donation?
Yes, it was a competition and there
were several ides. Anders chose
mine, he rejected the idea to make
a sculpture from bronze or from
granite. For me it was clear right
away how it should look. I have
been here many times; you have a
fantastic lobby here. The thing is
that the sculpture should look appropriate in the round closed yard;
it should also be from a modern
material that would not corrode or
decompose. Bronze was not suitable because it’s not long-lasting
and moreover it’s very expensive. I
wanted to make a sculpture that at
the same time would be there, and
wouldn’t be there, something semitransparent like a mirage. Because
this is the essence of luck: it seems
like it’s there, but in a second there
in nothing. That’s why I chose glass
as a material, all the shapes were decided to be made round, as a symbol of luck going round and round,
with several layers. And the overall
shape reminds the key.
Is it hard to combine business
and art?
There is nothing to combine – they
are the same! They have a lot in
common (laughs). Art is business,
and business is art. You are taught
in school to be creative, being talented and extraordinary is encouraged. We were taught vice versa:
think about that and that… I think
if I wasn’t accepted to the Art Academy, your school would be my second choice. It is also a place where
creativity is fostered.
Have you thought about being a
lecturer of an art subject?
Yes, my second higher education is
pedagogical. I have worked for five
years as a teacher of drawing and
modeling. But as Americans say,
every five years you need to change
something in your life. I have decided to change my teacher career and
now I do business. This is the third
year already, and currently I like it
and not going to change it.
Besides jewelry, I have another project now. I have bought a house with
8 flats. I want to renovate and rent
them for Erasmus exchange-students. There is a gallery, a terrace, a
garden with a fountain. The style of
the building will be ascetic high-tech
with elements of antiquity. Yet the
building is more than one hundred
years old. So there are still some retro
elements left. I think the next year it
will be ready for students to live in.
I would like to live there myself
in that international environment,
with many guests from different
countries. Probably this can also
be called business. And this is also
quite close to art: new ideas, new atmosphere and so on.
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Petroooovich is guilty.
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