On November 16 at 18:00, a lecture evening dedicated to the outstanding theater scholar and pedagogue Līvija Akurāteri (09.23.1925 – 01.26.2017) will be held in the series “Conversations in Smiļģ’s Cabinet” of the Eduard Latvian Academy of Culture Smilļģa Theater Museum.
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According to the director of the museum, Jānis Siliņš, his daughter will participate in the talks Ieva Akurateretheater scholar Guna Zeltiņa, actress Raymond Vazdikwho will read the poems of Livija Akurateres taken from the book of poems, photographic impressions and memories published this year “A una corda. On one string” (compiler and editor Sanita Dāboliņa).
As Siliņš recalls, Līvija Akurātere graduated from the Theater Institute of the LPSR in 1950, but in 1951 she became the head of the literary department of the Art Theater headed by Eduards Smilļgias. From 1953 to 1961 she was an employee of the Theater Department of the Ministry of Culture of the LPSR, then she worked as a drama consultant in the Writers’ Union and as an editor in the literary and dramatic broadcasts of the Latvian television. Līvija Akurātere was a member of both the Union of Latvian Theater Employees (n0 1951) and the Union of Latvian Writers (since 1964). She was the first director of the People’s Film Actors Studio of the Riga Film Studio (1965-1967), but from 1968 to 1992 she was a research associate of the Latvian Language and Literature Institute of the Latvian Academy of Sciences, later the Institute of Letters, Folklore and Art, from 1985 to 1992 for the year – head of the theater, film and music section.
Among the books written by Livija Akurāteres is a study on actors: Artūras Filipsons (1970), Emilija Viesturis (1976), Gunaras Cilinski (1978), Emilija Bēržinius (1985), Irmgardi Mitrēvici and Nikolaj Mūrnieks (1988), Luija Šmitas ( 2007), also about production designer Rudolph Pīlādzi (1985). The acting profession of Līvija Akurāteres contributed to a large extent to create the monograph “Acting in Latvian Theater” (1983), which historically accurately and systematically examines the processes of professional acting education. This voluminous work was also the basis for which Līvija Akurāteri deservedly received the title of Doctor of Letters enabled by the Association of Latvian Art Universities in the restored country in 1993.
According to the director of the museum, Livija Akurater was a person of absolute theater; “She was especially interested in all processes of the performing arts: in professional and amateur theater. Her criticisms, reviews, analyzes were professionally thorough, humanly wise and saturated with the stage. Sometimes they included black and white tones, but more often: sharp -seer, understanding and anticipating the development of the performing arts evaluation process. Without hypocrisy and excessive abstractions and always very good in Latvian. Līvija Akurātere also knew German, English and Russian, which allowed her to see the processes taking place in the Latvian Theater in a truly international dimension.”
Līvijas Akurāteres’ teaching career began at the Drama Faculty of the Latvian State Jāzeps Vītolas Conservatory (since 1952) and ended at the Latvian Academy of Culture, where she was a professor of world and Latvian theater history from 1993 to 1999.
In 2019, the National Cultural Center of Latvia established the Līvijas Akurāteres Award for Amateur Theater Excellence, which is awarded every four years to a Latvian amateur theater for a significant contribution to the development of Latvia’s cultural environment.
The book “A una corda. On one string” written by Ieva Akurāteres and Sanita Dāboliņa instead reveals the poetic and philosophical nature of Livija Akurāteres. This shows that it is necessary to talk about Livius Akurateri and to encourage others to study the creative and scientific legacy he left behind in a multifaceted way.
The talks will be led by Jānis Siliņš, professor of the Faculty of Arts, director of the Eduardas Smilļģa Theater Museum.
