Peoples of Russia: Unique exposition dedicated to the culture of the peoples of the South Caucasus in Saint-Petersburg

Exposition devoted to the culture of peoples of Georgia, Armenia, and Azerbaijan opens in the Russian Ethnographic Museum (REM) in Saint-Petersburg on May 18, 2012: on the World Museum Day and for the 110th anniversary of REM formation.

According to the director of REM Vladimir Grusman, the presentation of the culture of peoples of the South Caucasus, which will be held on May 18 in the framework of the session of the Club of Friends of the Russian Ethnographic Museum, is the first step in the large-scale project, the task of which is to present the culture of the entire ethno-cultural space of the Caucasus, including the North Caucasus and Dagestan.

The exposition opens after 5 years, during which a new museum project devoted to the Caucasus was developed, and during which the audience did not have access to this part of the REM’s collection. The authors of the exposition mention that “while the world has changed, the artistic and scientific approaches to the presentation of the culture of these peoples have changed as well”.

Besides the separate sections of the exhibition, devoted to the culture of the Azerbaijanis, Armenians and Georgians, the exposition includes materials on the culture of the ethnic Abkhazians, Kurds, Talysh and other nations.

Also the new exposition of the REM pays a considerable attention to the religion as an important component of national and cultural identities of the peoples of the South Caucasus as well as the characteristics of male and female social roles in different areas of life.

A great number of costumes, for the show of which the old anthropological mannequins have been restored, in the entire fullness reflect the diversity of the traditional costume.

“A unique photographic material of late XIX- early XX centuries, fully represented at the new exposition, gives opportunity to get more full and fair idea of the traditional culture of the peoples of the South Caucasus and to feel the national character of the region”, said the museum representative.