Hunting and war, medicine and agriculture, duel and feast... The knife has constantly accompanied people in their professional and everyday lives. Over the centuries, in different regions and areas of activity, distinct types of knives and characteristic ways of using them emerged.
The exhibition 'Cutting into Memory' at the Panorama Museum 'The Battle of Borodino' vividly demonstrates the evolution of the knife, humanity's oldest tool, using the example of a collection of knives from Russia and Europe belonging to Vladimir Alekseevich Ponsov, a renowned restorer and an excellent connoisseur of the history of edged weapons.
The exposition spans several centuries, from a Novgorod knife of the 12th century to an astronaut's knife from the American spacecraft 'Apollo' of the 1970s.
The exhibition presents the most popular historical knives of European countries, among them the Finnish puukko, the Swedish 'barrel' knife, the Sámi knife, and the Spanish navaja. The Industrial Revolution brought changes to knife construction and improved the materials used to make them. Knife production grew from family cottage industries into enterprises of world renown, such as Victorinox in Switzerland and Böker in Germany.
A special place in the exhibition is given to specialized types of knives that were used in military equipment, maritime affairs, and veterinary practice. Travel sets or dining service knives made in the 18th–19th centuries remind us of how often this tool is used in everyday life.
Souvenir knives stand out for their originality, for example a miniature coin-knife, or a presentation knife from the French house Moët & Chandon, which produces exquisite sparkling wines, or a Chukotka knife made entirely of walrus ivory.
The exhibition is open until December 30, 2024
Age rating: 12+
