Ieva Jakuša

Tuned Voices is an audiovisual installation that examines how traditional culture is often perceived as orderly, disciplined, and shaped to serve national identity. In Latvia, folk songs have long been presented as national treasures, commonly performed by choirs in highly formalised settings. Yet beneath these polished surfaces lies an institutionalised echo of oral traditions, reshaped to fit a homogenised sense of identity.

At the centre of the work is Pūt, vējiņi (Blow, Wind), a folk song that originated with simple lyrics sung in homes and taverns. In 1884, Andrejs Jurjāns arranged the song into a grand choral composition, transforming it into a key symbol of Latvian national identity.

In contrast to this formalised version, Tuned Voices brings together recordings of nine individual folk singers from various regions of Latvia, each performing a personal rendition rooted in oral tradition. These interpretations reveal lesser-known, unpolished variations rarely heard within institutional frameworks. Each voice begins in its raw, authentic state before being gradually autotuned and synchronised, reflecting the flattening and standardisation that occurs when living traditions are absorbed into national narratives. Tuned Voices explores the tensions between tradition and nationalism, and reclaims folklore as plural, unfixed, and resistant to the pressures of uniformity.