Folk Art in the Soviet Union

📕 Folk Art in the Soviet Union is the first large, comprehensive survey aimed at providing a panoramic view of folk arts and crafts in the USSR. Never-before-seen objects from every region, from the European border to the Pacific Ocean and from the Arctic to the southern deserts, dating mostly from the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, are presented in this remarkable book. In 1,430 pictures, many in full color, and with a brilliant text accompanied by detailed maps, the richness, variety, and ingenuity of the folk arts of the peoples of the USSR are spread before us, revealing an amazing complexity and skill. In this unique book, the work of many different ethnic groups, each possessing different historical backgrounds, and living in vastly different geographical and climatic regions, are shown. Handicrafts are an essential element of a nation's culture. They originate from customs, rituals, and practical needs, lending beauty to handmade objects while continuing age-old traditions. Folk artists often use readily available materials, such as clay, wood, bark, cotton, flax, straw, wool, fur, and grasses. Unschooled, they draw on the skills of their ancestors, adding their own techniques and improvisations. This book is a tribute to the thousands of women and men, in a vast territory, who have lovingly created useful, everyday objects of distinction. The book is divided into five major geographical sectors: the Russian Soviet Federated Socialist Republic, by far the largest; t...