Производство и използване на старинни и съвременни предмети на традиционното изкуство в градовете и в селските райони на Латвия
The Manufacture and Use of Traditional and Contemporary Objects of Traditional Art in the Towns and Rural Areas of Latvia

Summary/Abstract: The further progress, development and preservation of the national identity of traditional culture, including the processes of traditional art today occupies the minds of specialists in many countries. In Latvia, it has historically developed that craftsmanship is carried out both individually and in an organized manner. By 2000, in Latvia there were 100 traditional applied art courses and enthusiast groups, with more than 2000 participants. There are also individual craftsmen working in Latvia, but not many in number. Historically the organized traditional applied art in Latvia represents 7 genres: textile art, in which 62% of 2000 craftsmen are engaged, jewelers (11%), weavers (9%), ceramists (6%), woodcarvers (5%), leatherwork masters (4%), forge-smiths (3%). In order to define more precisely the traditional and contemporary cultural manifestations in towns and rural areas, as well as the opinion of craftsmen working in craftsmanship courses and hobby groups, and individual manufacturers, regarding the proportion of traditions and novelties in the field of art we are interested in, the future vision of traditional art in the further progression of the craftsmanship process in the country and the role of the Latvian National Centre for Traditional and Performing Arts in the development of this process, a questionnaire was developed in 2007, “The traditional and contemporary in today’s Latvian traditional applied art”. In 2007 the first completed questionnaires were received. As the survey is only at its initial stages, the author cannot work with precise quantitative indicators of traditional applied art, however even at the first stages of the research, development trends in traditional art can be clearly observed.

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