New Entrepreneur (NE)
Name & surname: Agate Lielpetere
Country: Latvia
Age: 26
Sector of activity: education and training services/marketing
Did you already start your business? yes
Name of business/website: Agate Lielpeteres fine art and illustration studio/www.agatelielpetere.com
www.instagram.com/hellosorryno
What is your future business? Agate Lielpetere’s fine arts and illustration studio is focused on the production of intellectual property and original content using a wide range of tools of visual expression
Host Entrepreneur (HE)
Name & surname: Marko Drpić
Country: Slovenia
Sector of activity: education and training services/marketing
Experience in running a business (in years): 12
Name of business/website: TipoRenesansa/ https://www.tiporenesansa.com/
https://www.instagram.com/tiporenesansa/?hl=en
What is your business? TipoRenesansa is the only letterpress printing workshop in Slovenia, a small studio combining design and typography with letterpress printing, manual binding, handmade paper, calligraphy and hand carving of letters in stone.
Period of exchange: 17/08/2020 – 17/12/2020
Duration of exchange: 4 months
How has Host Entrepreneur Marko profited from the inspiration and ideas of his collaboration with New Entrepreneur Agate?
Agate Lielpetere (NE) has closely collaborated with Marko Drpić (HE) on his everyday activities. From managing the studio to developing new projects and appropriating existing ones to the new Covid-19 circumstances. NE has been also learning letterpress and relief printing techniques and printing her artworks that will be sold in tipoRenesansa shop. During the exchange, NE has also developed her own web page.
Agate (NE) got familiarized with Marko’s (HE’s) services (printing techniques, art production, workshops, etc.), research and development activities and general business processes. Under HE’s mentorship, NE performed a number of activities in the marketing sector. HE has taught NE the letterpress and relief printing techniques and NE has actively participated in HEs activities. NE was researching Slovenian cultural landscape and identifying key stakeholders with HE’s support. HE has received detailed information from NE about her studies of printmaking at the Art Academy of Latvia – subjects, methods of teaching, professors, etc. as well as her experience in participating in other educational programs NE has attended outside of study program – workshops, summer schools, artist talks, and others. HE has taught NE typography development for letterpress. HE got valuable feedback from NE on how to improve workshops and got ideas for developing new ones. NE has performed independent experimental work with letterpress and relief printing under HE’s mentoring and supervision. NE has conceptualized artworks, consulting with HE on artwork production possibilities and defining work processes. NE has participated in workshops facilitated by HE. HE has supported NE by networking with relevant local stakeholders (publishing houses, galleries, museums, artists, advertising agencies, design studios) by attending various cultural and educational events. NE has conceptualized and produced artworks with letterpress and relief printing techniques under HE’s supervision. NE has participated in HE’s workshops and developed concepts for her own workshops. NE has designed and prepared content for the agatelielpetere.com website. HE helped NE networking with relevant local stakeholders by attending various cultural and educational events and having one on one meetings.
The NE from Latvia gained a set of valuable soft and hard skills which are nowadays required to manage a small business efficiently. While helping the Slovenian HE designing series of artworks for HE’s company, NE managed to learn the letterpress and relief printing technique. Furthermore, while performing her activities related to printing under HE’s supervision, NE also obtained vital insights on how to run a printing studio.
On the other hand, HE benefited from new workshops with letterpress and relief printing techniques developed with NE’s support. HE has gained a better understanding of the cultural and creative landscape in Latvia and other Baltic states, as well as identified potential business and project partners and other relevant stakeholders in Latvia. Finally, the use of the English language as the main language for communication during the 4 months of exchange also proved to be very useful for both HE and NE for the purpose of either planning or improving their own businesses in an intercultural working environment and, at the same time, to reflect upon the possibility of establishing a sound collaboration in the future.
Marko Drpič (HE): “Agate came to me for entrepreneurial training as an illustrator and surprised me because she proposed an interesting entrepreneurial idea to include haiku design in her training program in addition to acquiring entrepreneurial competencies and knowledge. Agate designed and produced a series of haiku on the subject of truckers. She drew ideas for this from a collection of clichés and created an interesting series of haiku that combines design, print and poetry. This kind of entrepreneurial exchange was a great experience for me, beyond all expectations.”
Agate Lielpetere (NE): “When I came to TipoRenesansa for the first time I was mesmerized by the extensive and remarkable collection of historic printing plates, items you would never think of getting your hands on! I felt like exploring the drawers of a museum. This and my host entrepreneur-mentor Marko gave me inspiration and technical skills to execute a new project combining the old and the new, the technical and the poetic.”