Exhibitions of the Museum of Folk Crafts and Trades

About exhibition

The museum exhibition is housed in an old early 20th-century building, built by Yelets merchant A.N. Zausaylov in the Art Nouveau style and decorated with majolica and an emblem depicting a pelican with chicks. The museum building itself is of great historical value as an object of regional cultural heritage. The exhibition is located on two floors and tells the story of the city's crafts and trades and its cultural and economic development. In the first hall visitors will learn about the history of leatherworking, blacksmithing, pottery, felting crafts and the Yelets piano-harmonica, and will also hear it played. In the next hall visitors will encounter antique household items and works by contemporary craftsmen made of wood, bast, wicker and kap (local material). This hall also features examples of folk art decorated with embroidery and weaving, and visitors can see a loom at work. On the second floor you can admire Yelets lace, and guests are shown how it is made.