New Year tree of the Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Area: tutchans with secrets and reindeer skins
The decoration of the Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Area's fir tree features real applied items that are made and used in their daily lives by the indigenous peoples of Khanty and Mansi.
The Crafts Center of Yugra collected the items from small villages and sent them to the New Year tree at VDNH. These are different kinds of tutchans - bags for needlework made of cloth, fur and embroidered with beads, as well as bags for clothes made of cloth and ravduga - suede made of deerskin. There are 13 types of these traditional items on display at the fir tree.
Tutchan is a woman's bag, the main household attribute of a Khanty woman, made of reindeer fur and cloth. Tutchans were decorated with fur and leather mosaics, ornaments, beads, metal pendants protecting the owner from the influence of evil forces of the lower world.
When making a tutchan, colors were carefully chosen. Each color is symbolic for the Khanty people: white is the color of goodness, luck, purity, prosperity, red is the color of fire and warmth.
On the Main Alley of VDNH visitors are greeted by 89 New Year trees, each of them 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.
