The Decembrists' House Museum in Kurgan hosts a Musical Drawing Room exhibition of dolls

The building of the Decembrists' Museum is an object of cultural heritage of federal importance, an architectural monument of the late 18th century. The Decembrist M.M. Naryshkin and his family lived in this house from 1833 to 1837.

Mikhail Mikhailovich Naryshkin, Colonel of the Tarutinsky Infantry Regiment, belonged to a noble and wealthy family. After the suppression of the uprising in the Senate Square, he was sentenced to hard labour, and in March 1833, with his wife Elizaveta Petrovna, who shared his fate, he arrived in Kurgan for settlement. The house in which the family settled was one of the biggest and richest houses of the district town. Here the exiled Decembrists gathered, and musical evenings were held.

Today the Decembrists' House Museum is a trademark of the city and the region. A monument to M.M. Naryshkin has been erected on the territory of the museum. There are guided and themed tours, traditional musical salons "Naryshkin Fridays", literary salons, and other interactive events.

The culprit and initiator of the exhibition is the harmonium. It has been restored. This event was the driving force behind the creation of the Music Lounge exhibition. An American-made instrument, made in 1894, unusual - three-tiered. Used to stand in a Catholic church.

In author dolls, each artist prefers one type of material over another. It sometimes takes a long time to explore their properties and uses. You can see the results of such creative experiments at the "Music Room" puppet exhibition.

The artists work in a variety of techniques and use all kinds of materials. In our project, we decided to take a risk by combining the work of puppet-makers with the products of applied arts and craftsmen. The exhibition features vintage Christmas decorations, ornaments and embroidered shawls. Each author of the dolls is presented "in its own interior" of the Decembrists' House. We wanted the whole exhibition to look not only holistic and artistic, but also in keeping with the spirit of the time.

It is hoped that this arrangement of compositions will allow the viewer to see each character and grasp the idea of the exhibition. Visitors to the exhibition will learn about the history of dolls, present and past masters, and experience dolls and decorations in the style of the 19th century in the halls of the museum!

Masters taking part in the exhibition: Lyudmila Pankova (teddy, textile doll), Natalia Simonenko (textile doll), Olga Semenova (textile), Tatiana Slabodina (wool felting), Lyudmila Polentseva (plastic, textile), Nadezhda Necheukhina (papier mâché), Tatiana Solovyova (wood), Elena Proskurina (textile doll), Elena Kazurova (teddy), Elena Uglenko (plastic, textile), Tatiana Drozdova (earrings, brooches), Nafisa Arkhipova (necklaces), Tatiana Borodina (costume jewellery), Lyubov Abramovskaya (embroidery), Irina Shubina (Christmas balls).

Thank you to the head of the Elena Alexandrovna Vyugova and a member of the museum staff Olga Pisarevskikh for the opportunity to hold an exhibition within the museum's walls.

The exhibition can be visited at: Decembrists' House Museum (Kurgan, 80A Klimova Street) from 29 January to 26 February 2022.

Material prepared by Tatiana Solovieva, Kurgan