Exhibition "Folk Treasury"

About exhibition

An exhibition-lecture of traditional national chest ornaments that are an important element of the folk women's costume. The pieces are handmade using various components of museum value. These chest ornaments are characteristic of most peoples of the Volga region and the Cis-Urals, but in one form or another each people preserves distinctive features in coloration, the nature of the base trimming, and ornamentation. Izyu is a fabric chest ornament with a quadrangular shape and rounded lower corners, fastened to the chest with ties. Tatar and Bashkir women wore these ornaments to hide the dress's front opening; they also had a sacred protective meaning as amulets against the evil eye and illness and served as symbols of preserving family values. Izyu was decorated with strips of pozument, fine fabrics, multicolored ribbons, as well as coins, metal plates, buttons, beads, etc. The chest ornaments harmoniously complemented all elements of the national costume, which represented a unique system of folk artistic crafts. The exhibition will attract great interest and draw attention to the preservation and development of the people's traditional spiritual and moral values.