Cabinet Of Folksongs
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Cabinet of Folksongs or Cabinet of Dainas () is a cabinet tall, wide, and deep, in which all Latvian folksongs (''dainas'') collected by Latvian
folklorist Folklore studies (also known as folkloristics, tradition studies or folk life studies in the UK) is the academic discipline devoted to the study of folklore. This term, along with its synonyms, gained currency in the 1950s to distinguish the ac ...
Krišjānis Barons Krišjānis Barons (October 31, 1835 – March 8, 1923) was a Latvian writer who is known as the "father of the Daina (Latvia), dainas" (), largely thanks to his systematization of the Latvian folk song, folk songs, and his labour in preparing ...
are stored. The cabinet itself was made in
Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...
in 1880 after Barons' draft. In 2001, the Cabinet of Folksongs was included in the
UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...
Memory of the World UNESCO's Memory of the World (MoW) Programme is an international initiative to safeguard the documentary heritage of humanity against collective amnesia, neglect, decay over time and climatic conditions, as well as deliberate destruction. It ca ...
Register. The cabinet contains documents that preserve traditions and other details about pre-Christian Latvian tribes.


History

Barons started acquiring folksongs in 1868 (or 1878) with the purpose of demonstrating "that Latvian culture in its oldest part is of equal value as the culture of other nations". The cabinet was built in Moscow in 1880 and was based on Barons' draft. Due to the number of folksongs that were sent to Barons, the cabinet was deemed necessary. Prior to the completion of the cabinet, the folksongs were stored in cigarette-paper boxes. When the amount of texts approached 150,000 in 1893, Barons and his work returned to Latvia from Moscow. After the author's death, the cabinet was kept in a bank vault. It was moved to the Archives of Latvian Folklore in 1940, to the Literature, Folklore, and Art Institute of The Latvian Academy of Sciences in 1945, to the Literature, Folklore, and Art Institute of the
University of Latvia University of Latvia (, shortened ''LU'') is a public research university located in Riga, Latvia. The university was established in 1919. History The University of Latvia, initially named as the Higher School of Latvia () was founded on Se ...
in 1999, and to the new building of the
National Library of Latvia The National Library of Latvia (), originally known as the State Library of Latvia, is a national cultural institution under the supervision of the . Its current main building is known as the Castle of Light ().There is also an old library repo ...
in 2014. Before the relocation to the National Library and it being placed on public display, the Cabinet of Folksongs was insured for one million euros. The Cabinet of Folksongs had a copy in the
Krišjānis Barons Memorial Museum Krišjānis Barons Memorial Museum is a museum in Riga, Latvia. The museum is dedicated to the folklorist Krišjānis Barons Krišjānis Barons (October 31, 1835 – March 8, 1923) was a Latvian writer who is known as the "father of the Dai ...
and another one within the Stankevich manor in Russia, where Barons started working with dainas. In 1998, the contents of the Cabinet began to be digitised and its contents are completely available online since 2006. In 2001, the Cabinet of Folksongs was added by
UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...
to the
Memory of the World UNESCO's Memory of the World (MoW) Programme is an international initiative to safeguard the documentary heritage of humanity against collective amnesia, neglect, decay over time and climatic conditions, as well as deliberate destruction. It ca ...
international register.


Description

The cabinet has 73 drawers of differing sizes that are filled with papers measuring . The cabinet's three large drawers at the bottom store archive materials. The Cabinet of Folksongs houses 268,815 pages with 2-line to 4-line folksongs, as well as other texts such as
riddle A riddle is a :wikt:statement, statement, question, or phrase having a double or veiled meaning, put forth as a puzzle to be solved. Riddles are of two types: ''enigmas'', which are problems generally expressed in metaphorical or Allegory, alleg ...
s,
adage A proverb (from ) or an adage is a simple, traditional saying that expresses a perceived truth based on common sense or experience. Proverbs are often metaphorical and are an example of formulaic speech, formulaic language. A proverbial phrase ...
s, "traditions, customs, game descriptions, ndmagic spells".


References


External links


Digitised contents of The Cabinet of Folksongs
{{Authority control Folklore Culture of Latvia Memory of the World Register 1880 works