Presidential Library held video lecture "Ethnographers tell about Yugra"

On December 2nd, 2024 the Presidential Library hosted an event dedicated to the Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug – Yugra as part of the Knowledge of Russia video lecture series.

Yugra is a leader in oil and gas production and an energy hub, while also being a region that successfully develops in the fields of education, science, culture, tourism, and sports. It is also a region with a high standard of living for its residents.

Experts from the Russian Ethnographic Museum were  featured in the video lecture.

The lecture by the head of the photography department, Karina Solovyova, a Honored Worker of Culture of the Russian Federation, Yugra through the lens of an ethnographer, prepared based on materials from the photo collections of the Russian Ethnographic Museum, focuses on one of the most important sources of the museum's collection - photography as an integral part of the research work of scientists, ethnographers, and travelers.

The audience had a rare opportunity to view unique footage of the inhabitants of Yugra from the late 19th and early 20th centuries, their daily lives and rituals. This footage is from the expeditions of renowned scientists, whose collections form some of the earliest visual representations of the lives of the indigenous people of Yugra - the Khanty and Mansi.

The materials presented during the lecture allowed attendees to not only explore the unique photographic legacy of these renowned researchers, but also see how the traditional lives of Yugra's people are connected to the modern world - which traditional practices have been preserved and which have undergone significant change.

Elena Kolchina, head of the department of ethnography of Volga region and the Urals and a member of the Russian Geographical Society, presented a lecture on the topic of Folk Dolls in the Russian Ethnographic Museum: Current Practices of Museum Presentation. The lecture focused on different forms of presenting a folk doll as an ethnocultural heritage.

Elena Andreeva, a researcher at the Russian Ethnographic Museum, discussed the topic of Traditional Toys of the Finno-Ugric Peoples of Siberia in the Collection of the Russian Ethnographic Museum. The museum's collections include more than a hundred children's toys from this region.

The recording of the event is available on the Library's Rutube channel and on social media platforms such as VKontakte and Odnoklassniki.

The Presidential Library portal presents the online project Centuries-old Yugra, dedicated to the exhibition of the same name, which is now unfolding in the halls of the Presidential Library. The exposition is available for visit until December 12, 2024.