New Year tree of the Udmurt Republic: straw wonders and vine curiosities

Cute Udmurt mittens with traditional ornaments, clay toys, magnificent pendants made of fine vines and straw - craftsmen of the region made all this beauty specially for the New Year tree at VDNH.

The most popular kinds of folk crafts and decorative arts of Udmurtia are presented here: wood carving, embroidery, beadwork, birch bark crafts, hand felting of valenki and weaving from bast.

The life of the Udmurt people is closely connected to the forest. From time immemorial Udmurts used birch bark for their needs. Everywhere in Udmurtia birch bark boxes, bakhars (a kind of shoes), lapti shoes, bowls, salt shakers were woven, boraks - vessels for liquids - were made. Udmurt craftsmen even made playing cards from birch bark.

Straw jewelry can also be seen on wood - straw products have long been endowed with magical properties and used for rituals. The harvest rituals are the richest in this sense: there are "the first and the last sheaf", wreaths to decorate the reapers' heads, "harvest wreaths" to mark the end of the harvest.

On the Main Alley of VDNH visitors are greeted by New Year fir trees, each representing a region of the country.

The RUSSIA EXPO is open from Tuesday through Sunday, Monday is a technical day. The best time to visit is in the mornings and weekdays, but the exposition is open to everyone on weekends as well. All expositions and events are free of charge.