Bashkirian version of a Latvian folk costume

The folk costume was made in 2004 in Bashkiria as a stage costume for the “Atbalss” Latvian folklore ensemble. The inspiration for the folk costume has not yet been identified. It was one of the first folk costumes worn by the folklore ensemble and has been worn by children of at least three generations as they performed at various events, including at the Maxim Gorky School, in the Arkhangelsk Oblast, in the Republic of Bashkortostan, and elsewhere in Russia. A few years later, new folk costumes were made. Ten years ago, the ensemble received “real” made-in-Latvia folk costumes.

Teachers travelled from Latvia to teach the Latvian language, songs and dances at the Maksim Gorky Village School to the Latvian descendants living in Bashkiria; the teachers thought this colourful and stylised folk costume, with its atypical patterns and strange shawl, was “a very peculiar interpretation of the Latvian folk costume”. Yet the girls of the folklore ensemble wore the folk costume with great joy. As Latvian-language teacher Kristīne Apse, who worked in Bashkiria during the 2004–2005 school year, recalls: “The girls wore the folk costume and were very happy! Life is life. You have to accept that everything flows and changes – it’s better to have some Latvian elements in a folk costume than none at all!”