One day in our house. From spring gardening to weddings. Latvian Ethnographic Open Air Museum celebrates its 100th anniversary / Diena

One of the oldest, most extensive and highly valued museums of its field in Europe is celebrating its centenary this year.

On the anniversary, the Open Air Museum especially wants to draw the public’s attention to its mission and tasks – the maintenance of national identity and historical heritage – evidence of what the buildings and their life were like, how they were built, what was the typical layout of the buildings of farmers’ and fishermen’s farms from the 17th century to the 20th the middle of the century, – for preservation. Already on Saturday, May 11, the Open Air Museum will host an event One day at our house, which is directed by Kārlis Anitens. “It will be a journey through time, feeling one hundred, two hundred years into the past,” reveal the organizers of the production.

Moments of antiquity

For visitors of the Open Air Museum this Saturday from From 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., you will have the opportunity to experience marriages, jurgis and utrupi, as well as meet a miller, a schoolmaster and a pastor. Fishermen will be preparing for fishing, a potter’s family will be at the market, a hostess will invite you to join in the gardening, and other activities will take place. Everyone will be able to experience May chants at the Latgale crucifix and an impromptu holy moment in Usma Church. The potters, the weaver and the drayman of spinning carts are working. Boats will be tarred and fish will be dried. Above all, folk songs will be played, and there will also be games and dances.

“In order for the museum’s courtyards and buildings to flash moments from the past, we approached Latvian amateur theaters and folklore ensembles,” said Kārlis Anitens at the press conference dedicated to this event and added that he had just visited the Penkules amateur theater, which, like the others, is enthusiastically preparing for this open-air production. Its members are assigned the role of inside denominators. Their task will be to outline what will happen in the Open Air Museum on this day, and there will be a lot of things going on – from searching for a lost sheepskin to choosing a puralade.

Just like in a Latvian folk tale: you can go anywhere – miracles will be waiting everywhere. “These will be performances without a pre-written text, but with a theme or a dramaturgical conflict given to each amateur theater to be solved in its own episode. The most important thing is that museum visitors will become participants in the specific events,” emphasized the director, whose range of proposed topics covers, as honors, so everyday. A total of 37 amateur theaters and 27 folklore ensembles have been involved in the implementation of the One day in our home event.

A journey of values

On the other hand, today, May 10, from From 10 to 15 the Latvian Ethnographic Open-Air Museum will hold the first day of stamping of the stamp dedicated to the centenary. “Just like the exhibition of the Open Air Museum, the postage stamp issued by Latvian Post also tells about the history of Latvia. It is a unique way for important events and values ​​of our country to travel around the world together with each of our shipments,” said Andris Puriņš, a member of the board of the Latvian Post. The stamp shows one of the oldest buildings of the Open Air Museum – the residential hall of the Valmiermuiža Breži building built in 1670 with a chamber.

“At the beginning of the 18th century, the children of our Latvian farmers studied in this building, it reminds us of the need for education through the ages,” emphasized the director of the Open Air Museum, Zanda Ķergalve. The stamp created by the artist Artas Ozolas-Jaunarājas also depicts a seat post, which is included in the cultural canon of Latvia, straw forks, a wick and a linen spatula (it should be noted that on May 15 at 2 p.m. in the Great Hall of the Dauderu House, an exhibition created by Artas Ozolas-Jaunarājas will be opened Postage stamp portrait. Museum in stamps, which will display stamps directly related to the themes of Latvian museums).

A look into the future

This year, the Ethnographic Open Air Museum of Latvia has already held the Centennial Conference at the Riga Latvian Society and welcomed Easter at its home on the shores of Lake Jugla. As a continuation of the jubilee, on June 1 and 2, the open-air museum will host a traditional folk art fair, which is more than half a century old. On June 15, the St. John’s celebration will take place. On July 27, in the rural exposition of the Open Air Museum in Rucava Vitolniki will take place the day of housewives or Anna. On August 3, in the Vecpiebalga rural exposition of the Open Air Museum Weavers a gathering of weavers will take place.

“In the centenary of the Open Air Museum, we will try to revive a new tradition – Weaver Days In the Weavers. As you may know, the word “weavers” means “weavers”. On this day, craftsmen from all over Latvia will be invited to come together and share their knowledge and experience,” said Zanda Ķergalve. On August 31, the already mentioned Open Air Museum branch in Rucava will host the Night of the Ancient Fire. Autumn events at the Open Air Museum will be introduced on September 28 by Michaelmas Day, on November 9 On December 21, the open air museum will hold a traditional tug of war.

On the other hand, every day until August 18, an exhibition of applied folk art can be viewed in the exhibition hall of the Open Air Museum Amber light. “On the 100th anniversary, we not only want to tell about the heritage of amber in our museum’s collection, which holds more than 200 objects, of which 99 amber ornaments are in the exhibition, but also invite everyone to see and appreciate amber as a unique, symbolizing national belonging, endlessly beautiful stone – with hope to interest the new generation of amber workers in learning traditional skills and continuing the tradition of amber processing and jewelry making,” says the director of the Open Air Museum.

Current information can be followed on the website brivdabasmuzejs.lv