From khokhloma to family stories: guests at the National Centre RUSSIA give new life to the iconic roly-poly doll
Guests at the National Centre RUSSIA continue to create their own self-designed versions of roly-poly dolls. During a workshop held on 13 December, participants decorated the famous toy to their own taste: adding elements of khokhloma, gzhel and other traditional folk crafts, or simply painting it in a favourite colour and inventing a personal pattern.
Within the walls of the National Centre RUSSIA, the roly-poly doll has become a symbol of pre-New Year home comfort, folk traditions, childhood memories and the resilience of the Russian people throughout history.
"What makes the roly-poly doll especially interesting and symbolic is that it never loses heart. It is also important that younger generations, who naturally grew up with different toys, learn here about what their parents played with as children. I would love to see more workshops like this – many thanks to the organisers. My children were completely absorbed in the process, barely noticing what was happening around them. It seems to me that they would happily continue sitting like this, putting their soul into creativity. We will be celebrating the New Year at our country house, bringing all the roly-poly dolls with us, placing them under our Christmas tree, admiring them and remembering this wonderful workshop," promised the mother of seven children, public adviser and blogger Yekaterina Antonova.
Each workshop participant was able not only to fully immerse themselves in the creative process, but also to quite literally breathe a piece of family history into the toy.
"I wanted to recreate the pattern from my grandmother's favourite shawl. It did not turn out very similar, but I hope she will like it," shared a young guest of the National Centre RUSSIA, Anya.
A series of workshops dedicated to creating festive New Year items began at the National Centre RUSSIA with the start of the New Year season. The main goal of the initiative is to strengthen family bonds through shared creativity. The event schedule is available in the "Events" section on the russia.ru website and on the National Centre RUSSIA social media channels.
Event photobank
Participants of the first intake of this new educational project, who successfully passed the competitive selection process, shared their stories of discovering the School and their fresh impressions from the classes.
The date was chosen for a reason: it was on 2 March 2018 that the decree establishing the "For Mentorship" award was signed.
