Title:
Artists Map Russia’s Regions in Folk Embroidery
Author:
Samantha Berkhead
Published:
The Moscow Times, 10 June 2022
From the article:
In ancient Russia, embroidery was more than a form of art: It was a language unto its own. Cloth and thread took the place of paper and ink, while symbols and motifs made up their own alphabet — all woven together according to the grammar of deep-seated folk traditions.
In a celebration of these traditions, hundreds of Russian artisans have redrawn the map of their country — by embroidering it according to the traditional folk styles of each region.
The Embroidered Map of Russia project was organized by the Culture Ministry of the republic of Chuvashia, which lies east of the city of Nizhny Novgorod and is home to the Chuvash peoples, a Turkic ethnicity renowned for its traditions of embroidery.