Call for participation: ‘Rainis and Aspazija among Their Contemporaries in the European Cultural Space’

The Rainis and Aspazija Museum, in cooperation with the Institute of Literature, Folklore and Art of the University of Latvia (LU LFMI), is organizing an international academic conference titled “Rainis and Aspazija among Their Contemporaries in the European Cultural Space.”

The conference will take place on 26–27 September 2024 at the Rainis and Aspazija Summer House in Majori, Jāņa Pliekšāna iela 5/7.

We invite proposals for papers in Latvian or English on the following topics:

• Rainis’s and Aspazija’s ideas in the context of their era; the poets’ connections with significant figures at the turn of the 19th/20th centuries, and with contemporary ideas and works;

• ideological currents in Latvia and elsewhere in Europe during the time of Rainis and Aspazija, their intersections and development;

• women writers and issues of women’s rights;

• self-image and public image of personalities over time;

• the role of the contemporary personality museum in preserving and transmitting memory;

• creative partnerships in European countries (e.g., **Arne Garborg and Hulda Garborg (Norway), Marie Under and Artur Adson (Estonia)).

Participation in the conference is free of charge.

In autumn 2025, LU LFMI plans to publish a peer-reviewed scholarly volume based on the conference papers.

Please send conference proposals to rainis.maja@memorialiemuzeji.lv by 20 December 2023.
Notifications of acceptance will be sent by 20 January 2024.

The Call for Papers in English is available here:
https://memorialiemuzeji.lv/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/Call-for-Papers_Rainis_Aspazija_2024.pdf

Photo: Rainis and Aspazija in their apartment on Dīķa Street, Torņakalns, 1925. Photo by Gustavs Vilciņš. Collection of the Museum of Literature and Music.