A new exhibition is being created at the Pēteris Upītis Horticultural Museum
The Pēteris Upītis Horticultural Museum is working on creating a new exhibition about outstanding Latvian cultural figures, to whom lilac varieties are dedicated.
From 1948 to 1976, breeder Pēteris Upītis (1896–1976) created an extensive lilac collection. Supplemented with foreign varieties and new varieties and hybrids by Laimonis Kārkliņš (1923–2005), it is currently one of the largest lilac collections in Europe and the largest in the Baltic States.
P. Upītis had friendly relations with outstanding Latvian cultural figures. As a testament to respect and friendship, high-quality lilac varieties were created. Among these cultural figures are also the most outstanding Latvian thinkers included in the Latvian cultural canon — Imants Ziedonis, Jānis Poruks and Aleksandrs Čaks. This tradition is continued today. For example, in 2022, two lilac varieties were given names: 'Emīlija' - in honor of Aleksandrs Čaks' mother and 'Jānis Jaunsudrabiņš'. In turn, next year, the naming ceremony will be for the lilac variety 'Vilis Plūdons' in honor of the outstanding cultural figure on his 150th anniversary!
While working on the implementation of the project, on August 22, members of the Breeder Pēteris Upītis Society and employees of the Horticultural Institute went on an experience exchange trip to Bauska region.
We visited the Vilis Plūdonis Museum and the Bauska Museum to identify the materials in the collections of the project's cooperation partners that will be used in the creation of the exhibition.
The exhibition is planned to open to visitors next year.
The project is implemented with the support of the State Cultural Capital Fund and the Zemgale Planning Region.