The tourism industry will give a new impetus to the development of folk arts and crafts

Inna Svyatenko, Vice-Speaker of the Council of Federation told the EcoTourism EXPERT about the integration of the two industries in Russia.

- Recently, ethnotourism aimed at getting acquainted with folk customs and traditions and crafts has become one of the popular tourism segments. Does this have any positive effect on the folk arts and crafts industry?

- Of course, tourism creates demand for items made by the folk arts and crafts industry and contributes to their popularization and promotion. On the other hand, the development of the folk arts and crafts industry arouses great interest and gives impetus to developing a greater number of interesting regional tourist destinations. Already now, a number of tourist master plans are made in a way to cover the areas where a folk arts and crafts industry exists and gives an opportunity to purchase amazing handmade works, visit the production units, watch and participate in the process of creating handmade artworks.

There are a number of good opportunities for family tourism and recreation there, including a lucky chance to make something with your own hands to take it as a souvenir or give an item you made to your friends, as well as to get children interested in various types of art that are being developed in a particular region.

- Are there already examples of successful integration of the tourism and the folk arts and crafts industries?

- I can give you an example related to Nizhny Novgorod where a very interesting route is offered to the city of Semyonov, the capital of Golden Khokhloma. In the city, high-quality services and modern tourism infrastructure are now under development, the construction of some hotels and other accommodation facilities will soon be completed. Thematic tourism zones are being made, and there is an opportunity to visit the store selling Khokhloma items and souvenirs and also the units where they are manufactured, the tourists can purchase both traditional souvenirs and stylized decorative elements.

Part of the work of the commission is to pay great attention to the preservation of folk arts and crafts that contain the cultural code of our people, and we contribute to the popularization and promotion of the items made in Russia that use both the elements of traditional arts and modern context. While preserving the country’s cultural code, marketers and designers include the elements of the country’s cultural heritage into the elements of decoration, interior design, and clothing. By the way, head-bands in the form of a ‘kokoshnik’ (kind of head-dress worn by Russian women), painted by the Russian craftsmen in the traditions of a particular region, have become fashionable now.

There are plans to hold the traditional international forum Commonwealth of Fashion in St. Petersburg this autumn that will include a display of collections of the works created by designers using ethnic elements in decorations, beautiful embroideries, as well as gold embroideries and much more that distinguishes the style of the Russian craftsmen. I am sure this will arouse interest in these unique items of folk arts and crafts both in Russia and abroad.

- It’s no secret that some traditional crafts were on the verge of extinction until recently. What support does the folk arts and crafts industry need now?

- The offsite meeting held recently by our commission in the famous Stroganovka (Stroganov School for Technical Drawing) was devoted to this topic. We paid special attention to support measures that can motivate young artistic professionals to work in places where a folk arts and crafts industry exists.

At the meetings held by our commission in Uryupinsk, Mstyora, and Palekh, we have already discussed the measures required to support the folk arts and crafts industry aimed at attracting talented young specialists to the production of items of folk arts and crafts. Thanks to the updated law on folk arts and crafts adopted recently, much has already been done both at the federal and regional levels. In particular, the successful experience gained by the Fedoskino Factory in preserving the school of craftsmen and attracting additional specialists having skills in creating lacquer miniatures (for which the Fedoskino Factory was always famous) was announced, and many young artists who received their education in Moscow and St. Petersburg returned to work at the production units located in the Moscow Region.

Among the new initiatives is a proposal that is similar to the Zemsky Doctor (country doctor) and Zemsky Teacher initiatives, to develop the Zemsky Craftsman program, so that young talented people would return to those regions where various folk crafts are developed and continue folk arts and crafts traditions. Some of the traditions, including wool felting and bone carving, are now being actively revived and developed.