Kurbads: From Internship to Valuable Work Experience
21. Aug '25
Once upon a time – not so long ago – Kurbads, the Mare’s Son sung of in songs and legends, decided it was time to find a place to settle. Those were not easy days – the world was struck by a plague, and the thunder of war rumbled ominously above. Yet he gathered his courage and set out on his journey. When he came to a place that spoke to him, Kurbads stopped, raised his sword toward the sky, and declared: “Here shall be my home.”
Kurbads remains an eternal guardian – for light and balance in the world.
A fire was lit, and around it Kurbads called his friends – Milda, the spirit of Latvia, the warrior Namejs, the adventurer Crocodile Harry, the bard Haralds Sīmanis, and many others. But his actual task was only one – to stand guard, keeping his sword hidden beneath his bed, and to protect this place from darkness, from many-headed beasts and devils. Locals used to say: if you had once sat by Kurbads’ fire and listened to his stories, your path in life would never again be ordinary. For you too would face serpents and three-headed monsters – but you would overcome them, drawing strength, just as he did, from the roots of the earth and the bright lightning in the sky.
The story of the Kurbads sculpture began with the rock opera “Kurbads. The Mare’s Son,” whose image was created by artist Ieva Kauliņa. With her consent, Kurbads first took form as small statuettes, given at year’s end to the best employees of the Kurbads group of companies. Later, the idea arose to embody him in a larger form – a sculpture symbolizing strength, courage, and the eternal struggle for balance.
Its creation was not easy – the most challenging part proved to be Kurbads’ face. Sculptor Oskars Mikāns, listening to the vision of Andis Pikāns, refined it again and again, seeking inspiration also in nature, until this expressive image emerged. The sculpture reveals Kurbads’ source of power – the energy he draws both from the sky and from the earth. Yet every viewer may see something different in his hair, face, posture, and figure – their own interpretation.
At present, the sculpture is made of polyester resin, but in the future it will be cast in bronze. Already in the tales recorded by Ansis Lerhis-Puškaitis, Kurbads appears as a force of light, standing against many-headed monsters, witches, serpents, and devils. And even today, he embodies the never-ending battle between light and darkness that surrounds us. Kurbads remains an eternal guardian – for light and balance in the world.
