'This past weekend a whole cultural detachment from the Aleksandrovskaya Sloboda museum-reserve "landed" at the site of the "Russia" forum — the main exhibition project of recent times. Together with colleagues from the AHM we once again represented our district at the combined Vladimir Region stand. But this time we allowed ourselves to tilt toward the unique history of our small homeland and publicly highlight its tsarist pages as much as possible. We focused on costumed dramatizations, interactive activities with visitors, mixed with master classes by us and by colleagues, and colorful printed materials; we had bright themed roll-ups specially produced. And the effect did not disappoint,' says Svetlana Smirnova, head of the socio-cultural communications department of the Aleksandrovskaya Sloboda museum-reserve.
The stand was in great demand, which is not surprising: richly dressed and in a modernly brutal manner, Tsar Ivan the Terrible loudly beckoned visitors to the sloboda's 'Chelobitny Prikaz' to submit petitions-letters to the sovereign about our traditional troubles — roads, officials' lawlessness, and meager pay. Need I say, there was no shortage of people eager to scold the authorities and take photos with the colorful historical characters (who were, moreover, friendly!). By the way, the actors were brothers Andrei and Nikita Shabanov; over the past years they have actively helped the museum in a variety of work. And now, as students of Vladimir State University, they continue to be our best cultural volunteers.
The tsar theme was complemented by various master classes presenting old folk traditions: 'My angel flew to me' (for Easter); making a 'tree of happiness' from multicolored stone and an antique bonbonniere. And all the spots in this activity area were constantly occupied.
Staff who worked two days at the exhibition have the pleasant feeling of a job well done. Also present at the forum, Marina Konstantinovna Rybakova, acting director of the Aleksandrovskaya Sloboda museum-reserve, in particular noted: 'We have been greatly honored to represent the Aleksandrovsky District together with the local history museum at this grand venue. Therefore "Sloboda..." came here with its key project that brought it fame and demand — Ivan the Terrible and his deeds, when our kremlin for 17 years was a "stolny grad." We very much hope that this presentation will be remembered by compatriots and foreign guests of the exhibition, will arouse interest in the creator of the unified Russian realm, in the Sloboda's Tsar's court, and will surely increase the tourist and economic attractiveness of our district as a whole.'
