The last generation of folk craftsmen of the Russian North

2024 Author: Seth Attwood | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 15:55

The Svetotrace photo project is a collection of amateur photographs from the archive of Nina Anatolyevna Fileva, a researcher of folk art of the Russian North, supplemented by photographs by Artyom Nikitin, an Arkhangelsk photographer, from the Ghosts of Kargopolye series. Unique photos of the keepers of the memory of traditional peasant culture were made by an art historian in the 70-80s of the XX century during ethnographic expeditions in the most remote corners of the Arkhangelsk region.

The Light Trace exhibition opens at the Arkhangelsk Museum of Fine Arts on 17 January.

“Wherever you think to make a ring on the spindle, then I leave the elevation. For gifts with rings, they made it to shake, and "with a soul" inside, to blur. Such people rarely sharpened. It is necessary to insert a pebble into the insides so that it is not visible where it is hidden."

“So the father of the birds did when he splashed the baskets. They made a new one for Christmas … They made a star from pine shingles for Christmas."

“When it happens in childhood, it will be remembered for a long time … It was 12-14 years old, my father said:“Do the ladder. Step, and then - go for a walk!” I'll do it, of course, rudely, but I'll leave, and my father will fake it, and not know …"

“On Mechische (girls' brides) for the holiday, girls will wear" purses "in their ears - silver pearl earrings. Eka's legs are hanging! There were earrings "seven-legged", but different. A girl goes to Mechishche - like the Mother of God! We changed clothes several times a day - in the morning in one, in the afternoon in the other, in the evening in the third."

Folk master of Kargopol clay toys. She was the only one among other masters who was engaged in modeling toys in the 50-60s of the XX century, the years of decline of pottery. The name of the toy girl became known in the early 60s of the twentieth century. thanks to the writer and collector Yu. A. Arbat, and soon a pilgrimage of museums and collectors began to Ulyana Ivanovna. The creative handwriting of Ulyana Babkina, a craftswoman and storyteller, is distinguished by fantasy and cheerfulness, freedom of modeling, a picturesque, expressive manner of painting. Her "bobs" (as the toy was called in the old days) are figurines of peasants in festive outfits, scenes of folk games and festivities, figurines of animals. Favorite character - Polkan the hero, patron and protector, the personification of the strength of the people's spirit.

“So I came up with a wife for him - Polkaniha is. She painted it red, which means she was beautiful and kind. And he is strong, brave. He always raises his hand up."

“They poured blood out of me in the 1st war, but they didn’t pour it anymore. The Germans are coming at me and falling like sheaves. And the rifle began to shoot itself, I was just aiming … I ran, and the Germans think I am a German, and the bullet hit me, I covered myself with an overcoat - here all my blood leaked out, on the border with Germany. From that time on, I became as light as a flap in the wind. For that I was awarded the cross … Duck now I live well: "Everything is in order, everything is in order - Voroshilov is on a horse!"

"The boat is" shavings "of aspen," aspen "is hollowed out. The wider it is, the higher the skill. We said that where the motor will not pass, there will slip through the shavings. We still carry hay on them. Previously, we were pushing on a pole, but now we will hang up the motor”.

A talker and a songstress, Anna Nikolaevna Kashunina sings and talks, and at the same time her hands are always at work - she rolls the goat, knits a pattern on a mitten, works on a patchwork rug. Here she lays out on the plane of the table a roe-goat made of long bundles of dough. These are signs of deer, birds, man. By their convention, they resemble primitive art forms. She remembers the old Christmas and New Year's custom of presenting roe deer from childhood:

On New Year's Eve, the girls were rolling, rolling and slandering … They will bake a lot. "Here the deer are running through the swamp, they get their food." In whose house the peasants will come, you need to give them roes, that girl will get married.

When we make the last goat, there is nothing more to roll out of, and mother will say this saying, and with this we scatter. Mom taught us, showed us, there were 10 of us children.

Roe dough - arzhan flour, salt and water. Knead in a bowl, adding flour and water, until it sticks to your hands. I roll the tourniquet, spread it out - who will come out, who will succeed. So they did it with my mother, and now I'm inventing it myself. The goats were closed not from the picture, but from the mind. Simple round twisted, who can not. And the star is like a five-horned Christmas. Better mix, better roll. The girls were rolling, the men were not rolling. And I still do it for my grandchildren. On New Year's Eve, they used to go shulikuns dressed up, went from house to house. Kozuli were served to the grooms. The next morning they came to praise. The girls will send many baskets of treats each, and they will buy the room and have fun.