Exhibition 'The Volga-Don Steppes — an Ancient Place of Power'

About exhibition

This traveling exhibition 'The Volga-Don Steppes — an Ancient Place of Power' presents original artistic illustrations by the well-known Volga designer Olga Kraineva, based on the region's historical and archaeological data. The exhibition tells who the cattle-herding nomads, Scythians, Sauromatians, Sarmatians, Alans, Ogurs, Huns, Turks, Khazars, Pechenegs, Don Slavs, and Polovtsians (Cumans) were — people who lived here at different times. What did they look like, how did they live? Where did all these tribes and peoples come from in the Volga-Don steppes? Where did they go? What cultural heritage did they leave us? Where in the civilization of the Russian world did the traditions of ancestor veneration and the erection of monuments in their honor on kurgans originate? Why was there no traditional slavery in Russian culture and why is caring for elderly relatives customary? Which traditions of the steppe peoples, rooted in the depths of centuries, underlie the Russian cultural code and identity? Bright computer-generated illustrations will help schoolchildren study both the regional and the broader ancient history of Russia and the territories that are part of it today.