Readings in the Fireplace Hall and Opening of the Exhibition 'Earth. The Ploughman'

On Wednesday, May 7, 2025, at 6:00 PM, the Jānis Akuraters Museum (Riga, O. Vācieša Street 6a) invites you to the 'Readings in the Fireplace Hall' to collectively read and discuss Anna Brigadere's childhood memory depictions from the trilogy 'God, Nature, Work' – 'The Sower', 'The Seeker of the Earth', and others. Following the readings, the exhibition 'Earth. The Ploughman.' will be opened. The exhibition features works by Latvian artists, centered around the figure with which Jānis Akuraters also identified – the ploughman.

Anna Brigadere's (1861–1933) trilogy 'God, Nature, Work', especially its first part of the same name, from which Annele's childhood depictions 'The Sower' and 'The Seeker of the Earth' are taken, is a classic and gem of Latvian children's literature. 'These three words in the book's title are often written in capital letters. So grand and all-encompassing are these concepts, and the little girl's imagination, when encountering them, expands in breadth and height. What is otherwise familiar in a child's feelings and imagination takes on unexpected dimensions and provides pleasure even to the seasoned adult reader,' says the museum director Maira Valtere.

The tradition of reading works and translations by Jānis Akuraters, Laima Akuratere, and their contemporaries with the museum specialists at the Jānis Akuraters Museum began in May 2022, when enthusiasts were invited to the 'Readings on the Veranda'. As colder weather sets in, the afternoon readings are held not on the veranda but in the Bright Salon, Laima's Room, and the Fireplace Hall. The readings are now in their third season, inviting enthusiasts once a month.

After the 'Readings in the Fireplace Hall', the art exhibition 'Earth. The Ploughman' will be opened in the Bright Salon.

The exhibition 'Earth. The Ploughman' showcases artworks by Jānis Jaunsudrabiņš, Ģederts Eliass, Ādams Alksnis, Romans Suta, Indriķis Zeberiņš, Aleksandrs Junkers, focusing on the theme 'Earth and the Ploughman', and illustrations by Dzemma Skulme, Jānis Zegners, Eduards Brencēns, Marina Šuturma for Jānis Akuraters' story 'The Summer of the Farmhand Boy'. The exhibition is a tribute to the figure with which Jānis Akuraters also identified – the ploughman.

At the opening of the exhibition, fragments from Jānis Akuraters' story 'The Summer of the Farmhand Boy' will be read by students from the Riga Catholic Gymnasium.

Entrance fee: 2.00 EUR;

For pupils, students, seniors: 1.50 EUR