The Beginning:

"Tēva zeme nepieder

ne kalnâ, ne lejâ,

pieder mātes villainites,

vaj rakstitas, nerakstitas."

"The Fatherland doesn't belong

in the mountains, nor the valleys,

it belongs in mother's patterned shawls,

written, unwritten."

Welcome to Baltic Imports: The Blog. You may know us in Minneapolis as the gift shop and lecturers of the same name. You may know us in Riga as folk artists and cultural researchers. Or you may just be getting to know us right here.

Since the 1970's, we have served those communities mentioned and many more as supporters of the preservation of Baltic culture, most especially in traditional folk arts such as pottery, amber, linen and wool textiles, and woodwork. In our home in Latvia, we strive to provide resources for artists committed to working in the spirit of our ancestors. In our home in Minnesota, we strive to educate and inform willing ears of the rich history and tradition of the old country.

We couldn't do this without our wonderful customers and students, and we recognize how blessed we are to be able to continue to travel through the Europe we love, and along the way meet so many talented beings who share the same pride of the Baltics as we do.

This blog is both a thank you to that experience, and a tool, to be used to further explore the observations and journeys we have taken in this adventure of finding our home no matter how near or far we are to The Baltic Sea. It is an open forum, where we encourage question asking and open discussion. It is a lesson to remark on great craftsmanship, and it is a memoir of a family's multi-generational cultural passion not to preserve, but to prosper.

We will begin with Sean's travel journal from the summer, shown here exclusively in chronological order, each entry offering new remarks of places not yet seen, and musings recalling older memories of having passed through before. From there, the essays are endless.

As always, Thank You and Enjoy.

Sincerely,

Sean, Ingrida, and the Baltic Imports Family