Retrospect of the Baltic folklore movement

The folklore movement in the Baltics in this article is understood as increased interest in folklore heritage in the 1970s and the forms of its revival in everyday life that accompanied the Baltic nations’ national awakening and struggle for the restoration of their independence in the late 1980s and early 1990s. The folklore movement saw in folklore a manifestation of an alternative culture and its modern use. The folklore movement was something new and unpleasant to the ruling Communist regime, especially at a time when the Soviet ideology was pushing a system and practice aimed at phasing out the individual and ethnic features of its subjects. The turning point came in 1978 when a landmark concert of folksingers took place in Riga to demonstrate the results of the 30th field expedition of the Latvian Academy of Sciences. The performance demonstrated the force of the primaeval, authentic art and at the same time raised concerns about the state of the ethnic culture. Authorities responded to this with prohibitions. For several years, folk-groups were totally banned from the cultural scene, which only inflamed the enthusiasts. From 1978 to 1981, the number of folk-groups increased at least tenfold. The Soviet culture authorities were afraid of any alternative activities, however, even in their midst there emerged some supporters of the folklore movement. Thanks to their diplomatic efforts, a folklore festival in the central Latvian town of Ogre in 1981 could be held, and the Folklore Days in Riga that took place in the autumn of that year grew into widely popular festival. As folk-groups were rapidly gaining media attention, it became impossible for the official system to ignore them. As a member of the CIOFF, the Soviet Union had committed to organizing international folklore festivals, but authorities in Moscow came to a conclusion that only the Baltic republics had cultural infrastructure in place for holding such events. A central directive was issued to organize the international Baltica festival from 1987, with Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia becoming the rotating organizers. In the summer of 1988, the truth of the Baltic states’e occupation by the Soviet Union in 1940 was first publicly voiced in Riga. The popular awakening movement gathered strength and any assembly could turn into a protest against the occupation regime, which finally happened on July 13. Baltic folk-groups had secretly brought the banned national flags that were raised at the Baltica festival’s opening event in the presence of dismayed Communist officials. Thus, the Baltica ’88 festival became the climax and resume of Latvia’s decade-long folklore movement. In April 1989, organizers of the Baltic festivals in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania established their regional association of the same name. By granting the association membership in September 1990, the CIOFF became one of the first UNESCO organizations to implicitly recognize the Baltic states as subjects of international law even before they had restored their sovereignty. With the restoration of independence the public role of the folklore movement changed. The status of an ideal alternative culture changed also in that the previous obstacles to achieving it had been removed. As the image of the “common enemy” had vanished, folk-groups felt free to choose their individual path, to develop their unique style and work on more contemporary interpretations. In October 1991, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania were admitted to the CIOFF at the level of fully-fledged national committees. The tradition of the Baltica festival continued in Latvia but only as one of many folklore events whose numbers surged after the restoration of independence. A centre for the promotion of folklore was also finally set up under the Latvian Culture Ministry