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Libraries & Museums
Russia has over 50,000 state public libraries (39,000 of these
rural) in total possession of over a billion books, and the stock
is steadily growing. Every general-educational school and the
majority of offices and large factories have libraries of their
own.
Close to 1,500 museums cover practically all fields of knowledge-historical
, ethnographic, memorial, of folk crafts, fine and applied arts,
theatre, music, natural sciences, technology, and many others.
Museums-reserves have lately come into the foreground. Twenty
open-air ethnographic museums present folk architecture, arts
and everyday life. All museum collections, with a total exceeding
fifty million items of historical, scientific and artistic value,
comprise Russia's invaluable museum fund, its precious national
treasure.
Theater & Art
The reforms removed all fetters from the stage. Despite all the
problems of contemporary Russian life, the number of theatres
is growing. Up to fifty new companies have appeared in 1993-1994.
All told, Russia has 413 companies, with drama accounting for
over half. Since 1989 local budgets have financed theatres to
encourage provincial theatre. There are 31 languages of acting
in our multi-ethnic country. Some ethnic companies are top-notch,
and worthy rivals of Moscow theatres.
In 1974, a team of Moscow artists opposing officially encouraged
practices for the first time threw a public challenge to the powers-that-be
with an impromptu shaw on a strip of waste land in Belyaevo, a
distant suburb. The police literally razed it to the ground with
orders to bulldoze the pictures. Later, some non-conformistworks
found their way abroad.
Things have now changed beyond recognition. The new Artists' Union
Charter, adopted in 1993, proclaims freedom of creativity, high
professionalism and humane goals among its basic principles. The
union arranges exhibitions for its 13,000 members, and helps them
with Picture sales in its many salons. Private galleries are also
burgeoning throughout the country. Moscow alone has over a hundred.
Folk Art
Today, folk art in Russia survives in two basic forms - handicrafts
practiced on a broad scale and works of art created by gifted
persons working at home. Articles fashioned from marble, glass,
ceramics, metal, or ornamental textiles have really become part
of our lives, adding a touch of beauty and hannony to our daily
existence.
The most popular handicrafts in present-day Russia are: wood carving
and painting (Bogorodskoe, Khotkovo, Abramtsevo-Kudrino)- the
Golden Khokhloma; artistic ceramics (Gzhel); clay toys (Dymkovo,
Kargopol, Filimonovo, Abashevo); acquer painting (Fedoskino, Palekh,
Mstera, Kholui); decorative tray painting (Zhostovo, Troitskoe);
artistic metalworking (Veliky Ustiug silver, Rostov enamel, Kazakovo
filigree)- bone carving (Kholmogoli, Tobolsk, Chukotka, Khotkovo);
artistic stone working (Tyva carved sculpture)- lace making (Vologda,
Vyatka, Yelets) - embroidery, golden thread needlework, pattern
weaving and rug making. Whatever kind of folk art is looked at,
it reflects the richness and diversity of the nation's soul and
the splendor of the works crafted by its hands.
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