Russian Patchwork

The main goal of the exhibition is to present the local features of patchwork in numerous centers of folk art in Russia and to show the original creative style of individual masters of the 20th century. The exhibition introduces the viewer to the truly folk patchwork, which was developed not in creative units and clubs, but in the villages and small towns of Russia.

In development of artistic principles and techniques, craftswomen were consulted by centuries of experience of work on peasant costumes. The folk costume of the 19th century is characterized by a combination of several fabrics in one item, forming patterned compositions. The exhibition presents sets of traditional clothing, in which the blend of such decorative elements as lace and woven spacers, silk ribbons and laces made of metal threads, colored braid, sequins and buttons create an extraordinary decorative richness.

At the end of the 19th century in Russia, patchwork becomes an art. A unique series of textile panels made in Kazan in the 1890s demonstrates the scale of compositions and the complexity of patterns. They are made up of hundreds of hand-sewn miniature details: squares, rhombuses, triangles of fabrics, folded into a single composition like a precious mosaic. These panels show the variety of printed fabrics of that time. The exposition will present a variety of artistic techniques for making patchwork items and reveal the role of Russian patchwork masters as true keepers of the centuries-old tradition of folk art. In the motley mosaic of the presented artworks, all the principles inherent in folk ornament have been preserved for a long time: the proportionality and rhythm of the parts, the versatility of the pattern within the plane, bright color accents.

The exhibition is organized with the support of Severstal, Power Machines, Lenta.