Exhibition 'Yarmanka'

About exhibition

Almost everyone has been to — or at least heard of — a fair. It’s interesting: what thoughts and emotions does the cheerful word “yarmanka” evoke? Undoubtedly, laughter, noise, shouting. “Krik” (literally “shout”) is a professional term: hawkers and traders used it to refer to the short slogans or cries with which they sold their goods. The “krik” served both as a sign and as advertising. When did people first begin to sell and buy? Who was involved? What kinds of goods were displayed for sale? What animated films did fair visitors like to watch? You can find answers to these and other questions by visiting the “Yarmanka” exhibition. A visit will show what the main technical symbol of the new Russia of the 19th century looked like, what lies behind the figurative notion of the “resourceful Yaroslavl peasant,” and what creative advertising looked like in 19th-century Russia. Although fairs in the Yaroslavl province were held on a modest scale, they too became part of the region’s history.