On November 22 through 25, 2010, within the framework of the St.Petersburg Government to implement the state policy of Russian Federation concerning the compatriots abroad, master classes were run in St.Petersburg for professionals in the area of traditional Russian arts and crafts among the compatriots living abroad.
On November 22 through 25, 2010, within the framework of the St.Petersburg Government to implement the state policy of Russian Federation concerning the compatriots abroad, master classes were run in St.Petersburg for professionals in the area of traditional Russian arts and crafts among the compatriots living abroad.
Organizer of the event was St.Petersburg Committee for External Relations, with the support of the Foreign Affairs Ministry of Russian Federation.
The aim of this project was to increase interest among the educated and enterprising compatriots interested in traditional Russian arts and crafts, to study different styles of Russian paintings, as well as maintaining interest in the traditions of Russian culture in the Russian-speaking community abroad.
Country delegations invited to participate in the activities were formed in cooperation with the diplomatic missions of Russian Federation and representatives of Rossotrudnichestvo abroad.
The master-classes were attended by 76 citizens from 16 countries: Austria, Armenia, Belarus, Belgium, Bulgaria, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Israel, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Lithuania, Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Ukraine.
Training program for compatriots, professionally engaged in the maintenance of interest in Russian language and culture abroad, was developed by the Russian Ethnographic Museum commissioned by the Committee for External Relations of St.Petersburg and includes three main areas:
1. Decorative and applied art in Russia;
2. Theory and methods of teaching the painting by brush;
3. The traditional doll.
During the lessons that were conducted by leading experts of the museums - ethnographers, cultural scientists, art critics, as well as the masters of applied arts, the teachers were made familiar with the history of decorative arts in Russia, peciliariries of the crafts at the most famous centers of artistic production, the variety of types of traditional doll, and the ambiguity of its functional usage in the folk tradition.
To enable the participants of the courses to directly get in touch with the authentic sources, the Russian Ethnographic Museum provided them with a unique opportunity to see not only the museum items on display at the exhibitions, but also items deposited in the museum storage.
Particular attention of the program was paid to the practical part - the master-classes, during which the participants acquired skills to work with different material following the traditional technologies (weaving the belts, embroidery, painting of a wooden ruler, making dolls out of straw, bast, and cloth, painting the clay toys, making the toys from birch bark).
In addition to the Russian Ethnographic Museum, the lessons on the program of master classes were conducted at the State Russian Museum, the Museum of Decorative and Applied Arts at St.Petersburg State Artistic and Industrial Academy named after A.Stieglitz, and the St.Petersburg Museum of Dolls.
Source: St.Petersburg Committee for External Relations