Latvian Folklore Archive “Centenary Community Effort”

The University of Latvia Institute of Literature, Folklore and Art and the Latvian National Commission for UNESCO invite you to participate in the Latvian Folklore Archive “Centenary Community Effort”, which will take place from 3 September 2024 until 31 December 2025.

The aim of the “Centenary Community Effort” is to involve the public in exploring the Archive’s collections and processing documents of intangible cultural heritage.

On 2 December 2024, it will be one hundred years since the order was signed establishing the Latvian Folklore Archive (LFA). Its second “birthday” is considered to be 3 September 1925, when it began work. Initially part of the Monuments Board, today the Archive is a unit of the Institute of Literature, Folklore and Art at the University of Latvia. Despite multiple changes in institutional affiliation and name, and restrictions during the Soviet occupation, the Archive has ensured the documentation, archiving, publication, and study of Latvian and minority folklore. Over one hundred years, more than three million folklore texts have been archived, covering all traditional genres (folksongs, tales, legends, charms, proverbs, customs, etc.) and now also contemporary folklore.

Since 2014, the Archive has been digitising and publishing its materials in the digital archive garamantas.lv. Marking its tenth anniversary, in August 2024 the ten-year digitisation of the manuscript collection was completed — over one million digitised files are now online.

To make these resources more accessible, the LFA invites everyone interested in Latvian and minority cultural heritage to join the new transcription platform lfk100.garamantas.lv as part of the “Centenary Community Effort”. By transcribing old manuscripts word by word, participants can discover local traditions, language forms, and forgotten words. A competitive element has also been added: during the initiative, the most active transcribers and the best “centenary file hunters” (manuscripts mentioning “hundred years”) will receive special awards.

The “Centenary Community Effort” runs from 3 September 2024 to 31 December 2025.