Students attended Shrovetide festivities

06.03.2020

On February 29 and March 1, M.A. students of the Center for Typology and Semiotics of Folklore, along with the Dr. Khristoforova, Director of the Center, attended the celebration of the final days of Shrovetide festivities in Zaraisk near Moscow. On the first of two days of the trip, the students engaged in participant observation and conducted a survey of the participants in the festivities in Zaraisk Kremlin.

Local residents (teachers and students of the pedagogical class of one of the schools in Zaraisk) organized folk-themed competitions and entertainment for children and adults (tug-of-war, bag fight, etc.). The students talked with the organizers and employees of the museum about the traditions of Shrovetide festivities in the Zaraisk district in the past, including during the Soviet era.

The conversation about the traditions of folk festivals continued at the local archaeology and art museum, where folk costumes from the ethnographic part of the exhibition aroused the students’ particular interest. The artifacts discovered on the Upper Paleolithic dig site on the territory of modern Zaraisk made a great impression on the students. In addition, the trip participants marveled at an impressive collection of paintings and applied art, that had been previously located in the Keller Estate in the village of Sennitsy.

The second day of the trip was dedicated to the participant observation of the Shrovetide festival in a modern style, organized by the Zaraisk municipality. It drew several hundred local residents and included a concert of musical groups, including folk bands, a fair and entertaining contests for children and adults.

Then the students, accompanied by a local guide, examined the historical part of the city, which comprised the most significant buildings and temples, the mass grave of those killed in the struggle against the Polish invaders during the Time of Troubles, the house in which the aviation school was located in the 1920s, etc.

They also climbed the old water tower, which offers a wonderful view of the city and surroundings; visited the museum of the sculptor Anna Golubkina. Based on the results of the trip, the students drew up field reports and wrote short essays.

Organizers: The event was organized with the support of the Student Affairs Department.

Text: Ms. Veronika Gudkova, M.A. student of the Center for Typology and Semiotics of Folklore.

Photo: Ms.Ekaterina Yakel, M.A. student of the Center for Typology and Semiotics of Folklore.

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