Making folk costumes in refugee camps

In the refugee camps, Latvians were actively involved in social life. Events were organised to maintain spirits and keep the link with Latvia alive, as well as to demonstrate Latvian culture to the local community and the camp administration. This was the impetus for many Latvians to get their own folk costumes. The folk costumes were made both in workshops organised in the camps and in people’s free time. Given the scarcity of materials in the post-war years, it was necessary to be imaginative in adapting different fabrics to make the costumes. The most common folk costumes made in the refugee camps were those of the Bārta, Nīca and Rucava regions, as they were relatively easier and simpler to make in the existing conditions. Folk costumes made in the refugee camps demonstrate essential details that reveal both the fact of living in a foreign country while longing for the homeland and the resultant desire to preserve what is Latvian.