Promoting American understanding of Russian folklore and traditional Russian life and culture.
Expeditions and Projects
Upcoming Expeditions
We are planning an interesting and exciting expedition season for 2011!
We are now accepting volunteers for our summer 2011 expeditions to Irkustk province, Krasnodar province and Belarus.
We look forward to your joining us!
Summer Expeditions 2011
Team 1: Folklore of Siberian Villages
Dates: June 28-July 16, 2011
Location: Irkutskaya province (Irkutsk), Kuitunskii district, Sulket
village
Cost: $3800 (US Dollars)
We continue to investigate the dynamics of
folklore traditions in Siberian villages which were settled as a result of
the Stolypin land reforms of 1906-1916. Founded by Belorusian peasants in search of freedom and land, the village of Sulket still preserves strong living folk traditions of narrative and music brought from the motherland. Our research group will
document lyric songs, record descriptions of rituals, and collect mythological stories about spirits inhabiting the home and nature. A special focus of our research will be collecting the oral history of the founding of this beautiful village in Eastern Siberia.
The oldest singer in Bobry khutor (photo by Vasilisa Minyonok)
Team 2: Cossack Folklore Expedition
Dates: July 20-July 31, 2011
Location: Rostov province (capital: Rostov-na-Donu), Belokalitvenskii district, khutor (village) Kakichev
Cost: $2600 (US Dollars)
Kakichev and nearby villages have been home to the Cossacks since the time of Peter the Great. Our research will be mostly focused on recording their rich musical traditions. We will also document Cossack mythological stories and oral histories.
When Peter settled
the Cossacks here to secure Russia's borders, they inherited a struggle which
had been underway for centuries. The area's most famous battle was fought in
1185, when Prince Igor led Russian forces against the nomadic Polovtsy.Igor and the battle wereimmortalized in“The Tale of Igor's Campaign” (Slovo o
Polku Igoreve), a monument of Russian medieval epic poetry.
Location:Belarus,
Brestskaya province (Brest), Pruzhanskii district, Kabaki and Soshitsy villages
Cost: $2000 (US Dollars)
One of the branches of our research program is
investigation and documenting of folklore traditions in Siberia villages which were
settled as a result of the Stolypin land reforms of 1906-1916. Last season (2010), our research group
conducted an expedition to an amazing Siberian village - Turgenevka - settled by
Belorussian families in 1909. This season we will travel to Belarus to visit Turenevka's two mother villages - Soshitsy and Kabaki. Do these villagers still remember their ancestors who set off for Siberia one hundred years ago? How do the folklore traditions of the mother villages compare with the traditions of their Siberian offshoot? We will document the songs, stories and oral histories of these two Belurusian villages in search of the answers.
