Promoting American understanding of Russian folklore and traditional Russian life and culture.
2012 Expeditions
Team 1: Cossack Winter Traditions
Dates: January 11 - January 22, 2012
Location: Rostov province (capital: Rostov-na-Donu), Belokalitvenskii district, khutor (village) Kakichev
Cost: $1806 (US dollars)
Rendezvous point: Moscow End point: Moscow
We invite you to join our research team as we return to the Cossack khutor of Kakichev, this time to document the special songs and customs dedicated to Sviatki (holy evenings), better known to English speakers as the Twelve Days of Christmas.
Starting with Christmas, Sviatki extend all the way to Epiphany, with a stop for a New Year's celebration along the way. (Of course, everything is observed according to the Russian Orthodox calendar, so the local dates are January 7 to January 19). Two traditions are especially strong in Kakichev -- the New Year's masquerade and bathing in icy waters on Epiphany. We plan to be there to record the songs, accompany the masquerades, watch the bathers plunge into the blessed water through the hole sawed in the ice, enjoy the wonderful Cossack cuisine and admire the snowy landscapes of the Severskii Donets river.
On our summer 2011 expedition to Kakichev we discovered the depth and breadth of the singing tradition here. Along with documenting the Sviatki festiivities, we plan to record more songs and also to record the local lore and oral history of the dramatic role the Cossacks have played in Russian history. What better way to spend a long winter evening?
A detailed briefing and itinerary will be available soon. For a general description of life on an expedition, take a look at What To Expect.
Holiday specialities (photo by Anna Berman)
Team 2: Folklore of Western Russia - Selezni
Dates: May 31 - June 11, 2012
Location: Smolensk province, Velizh district, Selezni village
Cost: $1400 (US dollars)
Rendezvous point: Moscow End point: Moscow
Tucked up against the Belarusian border, the region around the west Russia town of Velizh has preserved a rich variety of folk songs and ritual traditions. People still strongly believe in house spirits, forest nymphs and witches. We will be staying in the village of Selezni, home to a wonderful, authentic folklore singing group. As most of singers are in their 70s, one of our most urgent projects will be to record their songs.
In addition, we timed our expedition in order to document the important religious holiday of Trinity (Whit Sunday, June 3rd). We expect to see both Christian and pagan elements in the local Whitsuntide (Trinity week) observances. According to local belief, during Trinity week you may meet a house spirit or a forest nymph, or have a prophetic dream. We will document the Whit Saturday rituals for commemorating the dead, and record the holiday dancing and singing.
Our third major project in Selezni will be visiting local residents to collect their stories about house spirits, forest nymphs, witches and other magical personages.
On our way to Selezni we will visit the city of Smolensk, the “western gate” to Russia. Founded in 863, Smolensk has dealt with centuries of invasions from the west - Lithuanian, Polish, French, and German. The city was burnt down 27 times, but its 12th century churches and large Kremlin still stand, along with more recent monuments and a modern city center.
In addition, our team members will have an option to visit the wonderful museum-estate of the famous Russian zoologist and explorer Nikolai Przhevalskii (1839-1888), a place where we can feel the atmosphere of that elegant epoch which the Russian revolution closed down with a crash.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nikolai_Przhevalsky
A detailed briefing and itinerary will be available closer to the expedition date. For a general description of life on an expedition, take a look at What To Expect.
Rendezvous point: Moscow End point: Irkutsk, Siberia
One hundred years ago the Stolypin land reforms encouraged millions of peasants from the western and southern parts of the Russian Empire to move to Siberia for land and a better life. Through our research program Dynamics of Folklore Traditions, we are documenting and comparing the folklore traditions of two sets of villages: the "new" Siberian villages founded in 1906-1916, and their "mother" villages back in Ukraine and Belarus.
In Sulket village we will interview residents to record their family stories. What can they tell us about their pioneering grandparents? Why did those grandparents leave the motherland for distant Siberia? What sort of houses did they build, what crops did they plant, what were their relations with the indigenous Siberians?
In addition to family stories we will be documenting examples of Belarusian folklore, mythology and heritage which have been preserved to the present day. Sulket is famous for its unique authentic singing group, whose Belarusian repertiore we will record.
The expedition starts in Moscow, where our team will board the storied Trans-Siberian railroad for a 4 day trip to Irkutsk. On the way we will get to know each other and learn the background and history of Sulket and other Stolypin land reform villages in Siberia. Our team will tour Irkutsk and see its elaborately decorated traditional wooden houses. We will also spend 1 night in the most beautiful and pristine place on Earth – Lake Baikal. The “Blue Eye of Siberia’ is the world’s deepest fresh water lake, home to thousands of unique species of plants and animals, a UNESCO World Heritage site and a center for generous, Siberian-style hospitality.
Please note: our expedition ends in Irkutsk, Siberia. Volunteers are responsible for their own travel arrangements from Irkutsk to their home countries.
A detailed briefing and itinerary will be available closer to the
expedition date. For a general description of life on an expedition,
take a look at What To Expect.
Team 4: Dynamics of Folklore Traditions - Belarus
Dates: July 5- July 16, 2012
Location: Belarus, Brest province, Berioza district, Sporovo village
Rendezvous point: Minsk, Belarus End point: Minsk, Belarus
Cost: $1300 (US Dollars)
One of the branches of our research program is documenting and comparing the folklore traditions of two sets of villages: Siberian villages settled in 1906-1916 as part of the Stolypin land reforms, and the Belarusian villages where the settlers originated.
On our 2010 expedition to the Belarusian-Siberian village of Turgenevka we recorded a number of old Belarusian songs. In 2011 we traveled to Turgenevka's mother region, the Berioza district of Belarus, looking for local variants of the songs and local relatives of the Turgenevka settlers. (See the expedition reports in our Completed Expeditions section.) In 2012 the search continues, this time centered in the village of Sporovo.
Sporova is known for its many fine singers and special sense of humor. We have timed the expedition in order to document the local celebration of Ivan Kupala (John the Baptist day) -- an ancient holiday, filled with fire and water symbolism, with roots in the pagan summer solstice celebration. But our work in Sporova will mainly focus on visiting singers in their homes, recording their oral histories, and recording songs. In addition we will be photographing and documenting examples of local architecture, handicrafts, foodways and other folklore.
We will also visit the city of Brest and the famous Brest fortress, site of heroic, doomed resistance against the invading German forces of Operation Barbarossa in 1941.
A detailed briefing and itinerary will be available closer to the
expedition date. For a general description of life on an expedition,
take a look at What To Expect.
Team 5: Folklore of Western Russia -- Liudinovo
Dates: August 11- August 22 2012
Location: Kaluga province, Liudinovo city and nearby villages
Cost: $1400
Rendezvous point: Moscow End point: Moscow apply by: June 12, 2012
The West of Russia is known as the “well” of folklore traditions. Even a place like Liudinovo – a good-sized town with many churches -- is called a “witch-town” by local people. On our 2011 expedition* to the Liudinovo area we heard detailed descriptions of witches who turn themselves into magpies and who understand animal language. We also found many households which have a domovoy (house spirit) or dvorovoy (yard spirit), a friendly presence who foretells good or bad fortune coming to the family.
Our 2012 expedition to the Liudinovo area has two main objectives. One is to visit with local residents (excellent narrators!) and record their stories of witches, the domovoy, the dvorovoy, spirits of forest and river, and other magical personages. The second objective is to record songs from “Chernovtsy,” an excellent local singing group organized by Father Alexei, priest of Liudinovo's Kazan Cathedral and enthusiastic supporter of local folklore.
On our way back we will stop at the city of Kaluga to visit the local ethnographic museum and the unique churches of the Russian Old Believers. By way of contrast, we will also have the opportunity to visit Russia's largest museum of the history of space flight, the Konstantin E. Tsiolkovsky State Museum of the History of Cosmonautics.
A detailed briefing and itinerary will be available closer to the expedition date. For a general description of life on an expedition, take a look at What To Expect.
Rendezvous point: Moscow End point: Moscow Apply by: July 21, 2012
For four centuries the Cossacks served as Russia's military caste – a trained elite who protected and expanded the borders of the Russian Empire. Modern-day Cossacks are passionately proud of this military heritage, and of the fact that their ancestors were never serfs. To this they add an intense feeling of responsibility – responsibility for their land and their traditions; responsibility to defend Russia, and responsibility to feed their homeland. (The Cossack lands encompass Russia's major grain-growing area).
Under the tsars no Cossack man expected to die in his bed, live to old age, or see his grandchildren. Perhaps it was this readiness to die for God, Tsar and country that gave Cossack culture its power and passion. Despite the drastic changes of the twentieth century, the great Cossack songs and fiery Cossack dances have survived. During our expedition we will record and film these amazing, powerful arts – fierce songs of glory and battle, tender songs of love and longing, dance songs crackling with Cossack bravado, and the dances interwoven with the singing.
We will also be in time to see a special event – the local horse races, held at Belaya Kalitva every autumn. Cossacks have been renowned for centuries for their horsemanship, and these skills are still on display. We will have a chance to enjoy the colorful show!
A detailed briefing and itinerary will be available closer to the expedition date. For a general description of life on an expedition, take a look at What To Expect.
American Friends of Russian Folklore is a California Nonprofit Public Benefit Corporation and a 501(c)(3) organization. Tax I.D. No. 26-0294873.
