Exhibitions on the history of the folklore movement in Latvia

Welcome to two exhibitions curated by LU LFMI researchers on the history of the folklore movement in Latvia.

1) The on-site exhibition “The Third Awakening and the Folklore Movement: Forces and Events" is on view at the National Library of Latvia’s Draugu Telpa (Friends Room) until 1 March this year. The exhibition was curated by Toms Ķencis and Aigars Lielbārdis and designed by Krišs Salmanis. The exhibition highlights the most significant events in the history of the folklore movement until 1990. There is also a display of artifacts from the personal archive of ethnomusicologist Valdis Muktupāvelis, a participant in the folklore movement.

2) The virtual exhibition "The folklore movement in Latvia" presents an extended version of the history of the folklore movement. Researchers’ texts, narratives by participants of the folklore movement, photographs, audio and video sources, documents of the era, and an animated map cover various topics: the origins of the folklore movement in the 1970s, the role of the Ethnographic Open-Air Museum, the 1978 concert and the Daugava Festival, the chronology of the emergence of folklore ensembles, the formation of the movement's style, the revival of folk instruments, the visuality of the movement, institutionalization and review concerts, the Aizpute gathering, informal events, sources of folklore and education, the influence of the KGB, the monumental 150th anniversary of Krišjānis Barons, Latvian folklore ensembles in the West, the international folklore festival "Baltica" and the involvement of the movement's members in the political events of the Singing Revolution. The events of the folklore movement are paralleled by a news ticker with events in Latvia and the world at the time.

The virtual exhibition is in Latvian and English. It is presented horizontally. At several points, you are invited to stop and click through the entire carousel of photographs or quotes. The exhibition is suitable for horizontal screens. It may be desirable to adjust the screen view to be slightly smaller on some devices.

The virtual exhibition was created by researchers Ilga Vālodze Ābele, Rita Zara, Toms Ķencis, Aigars Lielbārdis, Valdis Muktupāvels, Digne Ūdre-Lielbārde and Ieva Vīvere, designed by Krišs Salmanis, translated in English by Amanda Zaeska, coded by Uldis Ķirsis, animated by Ramona Loce, and edited by Agita Kazakeviča.

The exhibitions are made within a research project, “Folklore Revival in Latvia: Resources, Ideologies and Practices,” funded by the Latvian Council of Science (No. lzp-2021/1-0243).

Last time modified: 02.01.2025 12:27:24