Where does the pride in the traditional crafts of our ancestors go?

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

Russians have ceased to be proud of what their ancestors had created for centuries. It is considered old-fashioned to keep Russian household items in your home.

Rather, we will decorate our living space with consumer goods from large furniture companies or buy European interior items and inventory for crazy money.

But our grandmothers also kept the most valuable things in their chests: what was made by the hands of our ancestors: embroidery, lace.

The services contained fancy teapots, plates and lovely porcelain figurines.

What constitutes the self-identity of a Russian person today?

A sad trend of our days: bragging by the power of Russian weapons, tricolor, pompous mass events that strengthen the "spirit". Plus, news feeds, where we are urged to "be patient, while there is no money" and "to understand the situation", because there are only enemies around!

You can ask any student what crafts he knows?

It will be Gzhel, Khokhloma, Zhostovsky tray and Palekh casket.

Unfortunately, even popular items of folk art can be seen less and less often in the houses and apartments of Russians. Apparently, now it is considered irrelevant. For the inhabitants of the metropolis, in general, everything "Russian-folk" is a bad form. As they say now - "not in trend".

And who decides for us what to be in trend ?! Why do we look to the west all the time and think that theirs is better and more beautiful ?!

Not so long ago, almost every corner of our country had its own crafts. Manufacturing: tableware, carved wooden toys and furniture, jewelry, lace, embroidery, blacksmithing and much, much more. Now these amazing things can be seen only in small local museums, where, thanks to caring local residents and curators, it is miraculous to preserve collections in memory of local life and traditions. Many crafts have been partially or completely lost.

Do you know about Konakovsky faience, Ramon ceramics? The list of crafts can be supplemented by residents of those towns and villages where nothing of the local applied art is left, or instead of production there are small workshops that can barely make ends meet by trading in the markets.

What has changed over time? Why did people stop producing locally what was originally supposed to provide their everyday life with everything they need: dishes, various utensils, serve as a decoration for their home?

Now there is an extremely acute problem in choosing a course towards globalization and immeasurable consumption! Advertising, fashion trends; everything that is imposed on us from the outside in order to force a person to buy the products of corporations and suppress their will.

Many Russians get rid of their grandmother's ceramic plates and cups, disgustingly sending them to the country or, at all, to the trash heap.

It is possible that many of these items are badly worn by everyday life, nondescript and, often, do not have any historical value, since they are the products of large factories in the USSR. But even among them there are beautiful, stylish things. And, perhaps, someday, these "dacha exhibits" will be in demand among collectors.

But back to the problem of crafts.

Here is how artisans from the south of Russia write about the current situation:

Galina works at a ceramics enterprise, paints urns for ashes.

As we can see, the situation is extremely difficult. It is necessary to create conditions and provide support at the state level: if you want - to promote and advertise craft production. After all, if the local workshops were working in full force, then people could buy handicrafts again and again, and then they did not have to give their hard-earned money to foreign corporations.

For example, almost everyone has been abroad: if you go into the house of an Italian, then you will certainly find there grandma's cute sugar bowl and a brand new shiny blue and yellow dish with the image of juicy lemons, bought at a family factory from hereditary ceramists.

Or, for example, let's take - the eastern countries, with their incredible flavor. Any oriental bazaar on the doorstep will overwhelm you with a wave of colors, smells, sounds, bizarre ornaments. It is hard to imagine that local residents, coming home, would drink coffee in Arabic from a mug "Made in China", isn't it ?!

So why are the nesting dolls, Khokhloma, Gzhel bought only by foreigners for souvenirs? Why are these things hung on the wall, put in a sideboard or on a bookshelf, like some kind of decoration ?!

Thus, a disappointing conclusion can be drawn: modern Russians devalue their own culture and traditions; after all, household items were created to serve a person. He should admire them, feel a connection with generations and be proud of the achievements of his fellow countrymen, and not be a wonder for a tourist! These things are valuable because they are made by hand, by craftsmen, with a soul (because for such beggarly salaries that craftsmen in Russia receive, people are clearly ideological and principled!)

Flip the plate of the Swedish company: maid in Romania, read the towel or tablecloth label: maid in Bangladesh or China.

Now think about the meaning of such purchases: after all, we buy consumer goods from Bangladesh or China. We pay for logistics, customs clearance. In this case, it does not interfere with reflecting on what harm is done to the environment, this is: transportation, gasoline, resources, chemical production, the construction of shopping centers in deliberate quantities, where at every step they shout to us: “Buy! Buy … Discount, Sale.!."

The whole world is entangled in a web of points of sale, where lines of trucks, ships, planes carry their goods, so that next year or season we will buy something new, and throw out the old (as we are tired and advertise newer).

Almost all people on earth are victims of hidden or direct advertising of global corporations. And their goal is to make the appearance of "elite" low-quality junk. We must remember: if all the peoples of the world at the same time cease to perceive their cultural code, if everyone imagines himself to be an "elite", then our world will simply collapse!

This is exactly what everything goes to …

Elite is a very dangerous concept for the minds of people, aimed at making us spend more and consume more. With the “reputation” that, for example, the “Russian elite” has won for itself, the following can be considered a synonym for this word: degradation, social inequality, theft, greed, corruption, bribery, deception, hypocrisy, vice, dementia, squalor, irresponsibility, hostility, selfishness, arrogance, infantilism, mental illness, isolation from reality.

And not sable furs at all, black caviar with spoons, an expensive car, a palace, a yacht, a football club. Sane people around the world consider all this to be nothing more than vulgarity and bad form. This should become a new "trend" in our country: economy, care for nature, common sense, intelligence.

Perhaps then, people will remember what the peoples of Russia can rightfully be proud of, but for now, support the museums of folk art, visit them! Explore your own culture and the way of life of your ancestors.

After all, imagine: if, suddenly, they turn off: electricity, heating, and people have nothing to eat, we will not run to the bank for a deposit, but for a rolling pin, a candle, a packet of seeds, a potato, a poker and a cast iron. We'll dig up the clay with a shovel and blind the crooked cup … And those who have the most (seemingly) simple skills of life without the benefits of civilization will survive. Those who are able to plow the land and plant their own food. It is possible that many will not master this! And not a single corporation will help to survive, that's for sure!

Therefore, it is very important to accustom your children to manual labor, to be able to do something ourselves. As experts say, it is extremely useful for the neural connections of the brain. Apparently, this is why our ancestors were not fools and did not destroy Mother Earth, unlike modern "individuals".