Geography Lessons at the Department Store: flavours, patterns and stories from across the country
The Department Store of the National Centre RUSSIA brings together a wide range of Russian producers who help shape an understanding of the country — its flavours, traditions and history. To mark the opening of the "Geography Lessons" exposition, a themed display has been prepared here. Visitors can see, discover and experience the country through unique products and authentic brands — from Far Eastern sweets and Orenburg down shawls to educational materials from the Russian Geographical Society and Roskadastr.
The gastronomic section is centred around confectionery brands. Suvorov Sweets (Suvorovskie Konfety) and Primorye Confectioner (Primorskiy Konditer) showcase different regional traditions — from classic recipes to bold flavour combinations. At Primorye Confectioner, visitors can find dark chocolate with sea urchin and laminaria, chocolate bars with seaweed, and dark chocolate with lingonberry and Himalayan pink salt. This is an example of how the geography of the Far East — the sea, the taiga, northern berries — is transformed into distinctive flavours that cannot be replicated in other regions.
From the Krasnoyarsk Territory, the display features the NUUU Honey brand from the Romanchenko family apiary in the environmentally clean Kuraginsky District. Its history dates back to the 1960s and continues today into its third generation. The brand is built on respect for bees, manual labour and a careful approach to preserving what nature has created.
Alongside gastronomy, the Department Store also presents brands working with textiles and ornamentation. Uzor and the Orenburg down shawl factory Orenshal demonstrate how geography is reflected in objects through patterns and materials. The Orenburg down shawl has long been one of Russia’s symbols, and the Orenshal factory continues a craft tradition dating back to the 18th century. Light, intricate and almost weightless shawls remain recognisable and in demand both in Russia and abroad — an example of how craftsmanship preserves a connection to the place and climate where it originated.
Vyatka Basket (Vyatskaya Korzina) presents products of the traditional basket-weaving craft of the Kirov Region. Their distinctive feature is a combined technique: willow vine is paired with birch bark, conifer roots and other natural materials. Artisans use rods of different colours and textures, sometimes incorporating carpentry elements and wood stamping. The technique is recognised as an element of the region’s intangible cultural heritage. The baskets, trays and caskets themselves serve as a vivid example of how local materials are transformed into a sustainable craft.
The journey concludes with an information section featuring materials from the Russian Geographical Society and Roskadastr. This serves as a kind of guide to the "Geography Lessons" exposition: encyclopaedias, maps, atlases and travel guides help connect geography, history, culture and tradition into a unified vision of Russia.
The display dedicated to the "Geography Lessons" exposition at the Department Store of the National Centre RUSSIA is an invitation to travel without suitcases — from Primorye to the Far North, from Vyatka to the Orenburg Region. Here, visitors can assemble a small "collection" from different parts of the country and experience how the geography of Russia is reflected in the objects that surround us every day.
The meeting took place as part of the Young Journalists School programme — an original project of the National Centre RUSSIA.
Its future concept was presented on 4 April on the NTV programme "Today in Moscow".
During the spring holidays, the "Geography Lessons" exposition opened at the National Centre RUSSIA.
