For many Latvians, the house in the country is the ultimate battery recharger, where long summer days are spent tending the tomatoes and splashing in the pond. Few do it with more style than Dita Balčus and her daughters, who have turned an old aristocratic pile into a hotel and cultural hotspot.
The intriguing, all-female ensemble Svīres are giving Latvian music an exciting and eclectic new spin. They’ve just released their first album, and this is only the start of a rich creative journey.
When times get tough, Latvians head for the forest for nutritious and delicious treats just waiting to be plucked. It’s an ancient ritual that keeps bellies full and spirits up.
The Behmanis family left a comfortable life in England to farm on a remote property in Kurzeme. Their green and simple lifestyle challenges assumptions about what the good life is really about.
Meet a young Latvian who has inspired a team to do something really positive during the Covid-19 crisis. Helping vulnerable people with their shopping has uncovered a...
Meet a bunch of young Riga artists who have conjured up an extraordinary exhibition from practically nothing. Pamela is a stage designer and theatre director and is studying curating at the Latvian Academy of Culture. As if there’s not enough on her plate, she is also the curator of the art section of “Točka”.
The second issue of "Latvia's got personality": Encounters with intriguing Latvian characters… In the “Elizete” flower shop in the heart of the Jugendstil district, floral artist Sanita Cipruse presides over a sweet-scented wonderland.
From the Japanese onsen to the Turkish hammam, humans have devised many marvellous ways to get clean. Latvians have been doing it for millennia in wood-fired bathhouses called pirts.
This article first appeared on the Satori.lv Centenary Magazine: the music historian Armands Znotiņš is examining what he sees to be the ten most i