About us
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About us
The Society for Traditional Culture APRIKA is a non-governmental non-profit organization comprising folklore teachers, children’s and youth folk group leaders and other professionals, as well as others with an interest in the teaching, acquisition, and promotion of traditional culture. APRIKA was founded in 2009, taking over the work of the University of Latvia’s Ethnic Culture Centre which was closed when the University was reorganized during the 2008 fiscal crisis.
The Society is responsible for the organization of children’s and youth folk festivals, traditional cultural events for a variety of audiences, seasonal celebrations, folklore competitions for children and youth. Its staff also consults on issues relating to the acquisition, inheritance, and transfer of traditional culture. The Society is also responsible for the development and implementation of lifelong learning and in-service training programmes for folklore teachers, often in the framework of international projects.
The project PEPT (Pulkā eimu, pulkā teku) is one of the main projects managed by APRIKA. PEPT is a children’s and youth folklore movement which offers educational programming designed to facilitate the acquisition of traditional knowledge and culture. A wide range of activities take place annually within the framework of the school year across the country facilitated by various government and non-governmental structures, educational and cultural institutions. The content of the programming is determined on the ground and differs according to the economic and cultural context, local political traditions, and the characteristics and personalities of the participants and teachers involved.
APRIKA also organizes courses, seminars and conferences in cooperation with other institutions and organizations dedicated to issues related to the acquisition and inheritance of traditional culture including skills development and training in storytelling singing, dancing and traditional musical instruments. Its first conference in 2012 “Traditional cultural learning and succession. Topical problems of children’s and youth folklore groups: experience, education, development”, was held in cooperation with the Pārdaugava Folk Music Society (Pārdaugavas Tautas mūzikas biedrība) and the support of the European Social Fund and the Latvian Society Integration Fund. A second conference took place in 2013, on the “Acquisition of traditional culture skills and abilities: intergenerational cooperation and contexts of modern education. A third conference in 2014 focussed on “The Inheritance of Traditional Culture Skills and Abilities Through the Ages: the persistent an the variable”. In 2015, the Conference centred on the role of folklore in education in the context of the Song Festival tradition at the turn of the 21st century. The 2016 conference will focus on the ability to transfer and receive intangible cultural heritage in the skill training process.
APRIKA also organizes courses, seminars and conferences in cooperation with other institutions and organizations dedicated to issues related to the acquisition and inheritance of traditional culture including skills development and training in storytelling singing, dancing and traditional musical instruments. Its first conference in 2012 “Traditional cultural learning and succession. Topical problems of children’s and youth folklore groups: experience, education, development”, was held in cooperation with the Pārdaugava Folk Music Society (Pārdaugavas Tautas mūzikas biedrība) and the support of the European Social Fund and the Latvian Society Integration Fund. A second conference took place in 2013, on the “Acquisition of traditional culture skills and abilities: intergenerational cooperation and contexts of modern education. A third conference in 2014 focussed on “The Inheritance of Traditional Culture Skills and Abilities Through the Ages: the persistent an the variable”. In 2015, the Conference centred on the role of folklore in education in the context of the Song Festival tradition at the turn of the 21st century. The 2016 conference will focus on the ability to transfer and receive intangible cultural heritage in the skill training process.
Our
Goals
Long Term Goals
APRIKA is committed to the identification, research, preservation, promotion, and transfer and inheritance of the tangible and intangible traditional Latvian culture.
Short term goals include
- the organization of annual children’s and youth folklore festivals in collaboration with the National Centre for Education and other partners;
- the development of training material for folklore teachers’ training programme;
- the organization of folklore teachers’ and folk group leaders’ annual summer schools in various historically significant districts;
- the presentation of practical training sessions for the acquisition of traditional skills;
- annual conferences for folklore teachers and folklore group leaders to assess progress and develop future projects, implementation strategies, taking into account the dynamics of tradition and interactions with the historical situation, the community and other cultural contexts;
- annual competitions in a variety of traditions areas, including story-telling, musical performance, singing, and dancing in cooperation with the National Centre for Education, the Rīga Latvian Society, Rīga Technical University, the Archives of Latvian Folklore and other partners;
- regular participation in the development and implementation of folklore programmes for the Youth Song Festivals and Nationwide Song and Dance Celebrations;
- regular contributions to the organization of the International Folk Festival “Baltica”.
traditional
Culture
Preservation, transfer and inheritance of traditional culture
The viability of traditional culture is determined by the extent to which it can be safeguarded, transferred to others and inherited. These preconditions are founded in an ongoing process of continually remaking traditional culture made possible only through communication and dialogue with cultural space, community, and history. Tradition in its dual role as both framework and traditional culture comprises both existing oral culture and the materials gathered by folklorists and local historians is one sign of the sustainability of tradition. This is one model which through the work of culture is capable of articulating both individual and community identities. Intangible cultural heritage holds as much significance as material culture, which the UNESCO Convention for the Safeguarding of Intangible Cultural Heritage (2003) defines as “the practices, representations, expressions, knowledge, skills – as well as the instruments, objects, artefacts and cultural spaces associated therewith – that communities, groups and, in some cases, individuals recognize as part of their cultural heritage. This intangible cultural heritage, transmitted from generation to generation, is constantly recreated by communities and groups in response to their environment, their interaction with nature and their history, and provides them with a sense of identity and continuity, thus promoting respect for cultural diversity and human creativity.”
Intergenerational communication and the traditions of transfer ensure the sustainability and development of traditional culture. The inheritance and transfer of traditional culture is possible in both formal and informal educational situations as well as through direct intergenerational and interpersonal dialogue. Transfer is the concern and responsibility of the holder of heritage but the inheritance of culture is characterized by individual commitment to the acquisition process. The transfer and inheritance of traditional culture may take place on an intergenerational basis, as it is traditionally when the holder is an elder, a member of the older generational. However, today, for example, internet usage traditions can be passed from younger to older generations. Likewise, the transfer of skills and traditional repertoire takes place within generational cohorts. In the cultural space of early 21st century Latvia, the safeguarding, promotion, inheritance, and expression of tradition culture takes place in parallel with other cultural practices. While traditions are still passed on in family settings, the cultural experience offered by non-formal educational undertakings is becoming more and more important. As a result, non-governmental organizations and other associations are acquiring a special role in the learning, safeguarding, and promoting of traditional culture. APRIKA is one of these