Country Girls in Homemade Dresses

To celebrate the 150th anniversary of the Song Festival, the exhibition "Country Girls in Homemade Dresses" is on display at the Rainis Museum in "Jasmuiža" from June 29th to August 31st.

In 1888, the 3rd General Latvian Song Festival took place in Riga, which is associated with the future poet Rainis, or at that time, Jānis Pliekšāns, a graduate of the Faculty of Law at the University of St. Petersburg. In May 1888, after receiving a diploma for graduating from the University of St. Petersburg, Rainis came to Jasmuiža and in June, together with his sister Dora, arrived in Riga to attend the 3rd Song Festival. Having successfully completed his studies, Rainis was in a good mood, witty, and sharp. Inspired by the festival, he wrote a collection of poems called "Songs of Celebration for the 3rd General Latvian Song Festival" (1889), which he signed with the pseudonym Jāns Jasens Plikšis.

"The songs of celebration were composed mostly in Vasiļova and Jasmuiža, Latgale, but some were also created in Riga - all during that carefree time when I spent half a year at my father's estate and also visited Riga. The joy and carefreeness of that time are reflected in this bright little book, which I probably haven't written anything lighter since," remembers Rainis.

A few verses from this collection of poems are performed by actress Katrīna Griga at the Daile Theatre.

The exhibition is complemented by a 19th-century tālava costume made by Maija Kulakova from Krustpils region. M. Kulakova is a master of education, a teacher, a lecturer, an author of books, a co-author of many textbooks, a master of folk costume, and a winner of several folk costume competitions. She has woven many meters of waistbands and countless belts.

Also on display are shoulder shawls specially woven for this exhibition by the Folk Applied Art Studio "Dubna".

Līvāni region is rich in weaving traditions and skilled weavers. In the autumn of 1979, the Līvāni Weaving Club was given the name of the Folk Applied Art Studio "Dubna". It is run by weavers who take care of preserving ancient weaving traditions, study the ethnography characteristic of Latgale, and revive ancient script symbols. The large shoulder shawls are where one can express themselves in a variety of colors. That is why the names of the shawls come easily. Bride's shawl, Amber Sea, Māra's shawl - these are some of the shawls seen in the exhibition, made by studio weavers Elita Stikāne, Elza Lapiņa, Maija Kulakova, and Svetlana Griga.