Russian art and culture are synonymous with Russian heritage, and this unique heritage is marked by very old and long traditional values in the subject of arts, literature, philosophy, architecture, music, etc. Russia's involvement in the field of tourism internationally is marked by tens of millions of visitors seeking out Russian cities, towns, museums, and art galleries. Since Russia was closed during soviet times, there has been an explosion of interest in Russia over the past 20 years.
When referring to Russian art, Russian dolls rank in an important place. The Russian Dolls are also named as "Matryoshka", "Babushka Doll" or Stacking dolls. Russian nesting dolls contain a set of dolls. The dolls will be of decreasing size and each doll will be placed inside the other doll. This can well be understood by citing "Onion" as an example. An Onion, in a whole is an onion with a particular shape and size. When the whole outer layer is removed, one will find a similar onion inside, which will resemble the original onion in its structure, but with decreasing size. As one goes on removing the layer, one will find similar onion, but in decreasing size. In Russian nesting dolls also, one will find dolls inside another doll of the same features but in decreasing size. Normally, the total dolls will be five in number; however there is no hard and fast rule regarding the number of dolls placed inside the other. Traditionally, there were at least five dolls, placed one inside the other doll, however the doll count can go up to several dozen nested dolls. Each doll will be sufficiently painted and crafted. The paintings and the artisanship will be the same for all the dolls placed one inside the other.
Russian nesting dolls has become so famous, that, every exhibitions, festivals, conducted in ant country, will find the Russian nesting dolls being exhibited. These dolls have an almost cylindrical form. It will have a rounded top in the head region and will thin out towards the bottom as compared to the head region. It may contain protruding features. These dolls will have no hands in form, but one can see hands in the painted form. They were made of wood.
The word "Matryoshka" means "little matron". The name "Matryona" was a very famous female name, which means "mother". Originally, the name was denoting the image of a mother who belonged to a big peasant family. She was very healthy and she had a stout body. Later, in course of time, it became a symbolic name. First doll was made in 1890, by Vasily Zvyozdochkin. The dolls may be designed in the form of peasant girl wearing the traditional dress or can take the form of soviet leader or it can take any fairy tale character, robots, movie stars, etc.. They may also specify certain categories of people or subjects. It may even include nature. Thus, Russian dolls are the perfect platforms to display art as well as an apt message to the society.
Russian nesting dolls have remained a favorite of many Russians for ages now and these Russian dolls are now being marketed worldwide via online sites making it an easier access for art lovers. The author hones immense expertise on Russian culture and has written many articles on the same.
No comments:
Post a Comment