In the afternoon of Weds Sept 26, my new friends Victoria, Maria and Olesya picked me up at the hotel (after my morning with a tour guide) and we made our way through the Moscow traffic to the Textile Academy.
They picked up up TWO HOURS before our appointment, because the traffic and the parking is so horrible in Moscow. It took us over an hour to get there, and quite awhile to find a parking place. Did I mention that double parking and even triple parking is the norm in Moscow?!? The two way street in front of the college building had so many cars double parked that it was reduced to a one way street. We ended up parking on the main street a block away – there was one line of cars parked on the side of the street, and TWO lines of cars parked on the wide sidewalk! We parked in the second line of cars on the sidewalk, blocking any pedestrian passage. What a crazy system!
As we entered the several story building that was the Textile Academy, I asked about this school. It is a college for textile design and production, and attracts students not only from all over Russia and former USSR member countries, but from around Asia, including China and South Korea.
We were greeted by a professor Tatyana who had agreed to give me a private tour of the school's textile museum. I had absolutely no idea what to expect. We went up several floors and waited in a classroom. Tatyana got a key and opened a door that led into a long hallway that was filled with textile display cases and wall hangings. Then we turned right into a large room – and I quickly realized that I was in not just a museum, but a library filled with the history of the Russian textile industry.
Along the front wall were shelves filled with thick books. It was explained that these were swatch books from Russian textile manufacturers. Each heavy book was filled with samples and swatches of fabrics and designs, and each book represented ONE year of designs and production from one factory.
I was told that I could take all the pictures that I wanted, but I could not share them publicly. They said the only photos I could share were of this wall full of shelves and swatch books.
Here I am with Victoria, who owns a patchwork shop (and who arranged for the tour), and Tatyana the professor. This is only part of the wall!
Behind the photographer in this room, were display cases, textiles hanging on the walls, ethnic embroidered costumes on mannequins, and larger precious swatchbooks dating back over 200 years. Some of the textiles were from the 18th century.
As we progressed from one display room to the next, Tatyana turned off the lights in one room, and turned on the lights in the next room. The only room in which she wouldn't allow me to take photos, was the room where I wanted *most* to take photos – the history of Russian Art Nouveau.The historic textile samples locked in wall cases, were some of the most beautiful versions of Art Nouveau that I have ever seen.
In Russia this was known as Stil Modern, or "Modern Style". It's counterparts were Jugendstil (German for "youth style") and Secession in Vienna.
In Italy it was known as Stile Liberty from the department store in London, Liberty & Co., which popularised the style. The style was influenced strongly by Czech artist Alphonse Mucha. In Spain, the style was based mainly in Barcelona and was an essential element of the Catalan Modernisme. Architect Antoni Gaud?,
used Art Nouveau's floral and organic forms.
As I moved through the rooms and main hallway of the museum, I tried to take thoughtful photos of the intrinsically Russian textile designs, especially focusing on those that displayed technical expertise and the most sophisticated designs. So many of the historic textile designs are still being reproduced today, in the babushka wool challis scarves that are so often sold to the tourists. The big bold florals in jeweltones and black, are seen on tourists and Russian grandmas alike.
The other room which could not be photographed was the Asian collection room, which was full of vintage Japanese and Chinese textiles. There were several exquisitely intricate embroidered murals and room screens, and a formal embroidered wedding kimono stood on a mannequin in the center of the huge room. I didn't feel quite so bad about not being able to take photos there, because I've had so much exposure to Asian textiles since I lived in Hong Kong, and also from my annual trips to the Tokyo Quilt Festival.
When we got to the end of the tour, I told Tatyana that my website could be of great inspiration to her students, since we have over 1000 new textile designs every month. I also pointed her towards my video page, with dozens of artist reviews and quilt show reviews. She was also interested in my photo page (http://www.flickr.com/photos/luanarubin/) where I post hundreds of photos from my travels around the world.
It was truly an amazing afternoon, and I feel so lucky to have experienced this private museum tour. Many thanks to Tatyana who opened up the museum for my visit, and Victoria who arranged for the private tour!
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Luana, Very lovely and inspiring. I have just begun my journey of quilting for the past two years and enjoy it so much. I hope to do work like yours someday. Barbara
I think it is truly amazing that you were even allowed a private tour of the textile museum in Russia. However, it is extremely sad that you are not allowed to share the photographs of the textile collections that you saw. The fact that you were only allowed to take pictures to share with us in front of drab textile swatch books says a lot about the Russian policy of policeing everything from outsiders eyes.
I am 64 years old and remember the cold war and everything that that stood for. I thought progress had been made but obviously not if countries can’t share their artistic endeavors with each other.
I guess we still take our liberties and freedom of expression for granted. Think of what avenues would be opened if minds were not so fearful of others taking advantage of what they have learned.
I wish we could see some of the designs especially the art nouveau that you were not even allowed to photograph. This is a sad statement when people are not allowed to share their history with other countries. I don’t really understand it.
Maybe your trip will have opened some doors to the women who quilt and textile designers in Russia. They have such a rich history.
It would be interesting to see and purchase products from that area.
Your travels keep us encouraged and inspired. Keep doing what you’re doing. Your website and blogs are very informative and link us to other people who sew and create around the world.
Jude – In general in Russia, you are not allowed to take photos of the museums and churches. There was a lot of beautiful icon art and medieval frescoes in the cathedrals and chapels that I really wanted to photograph, but I had to respect their wishes of course. You ARE however allowed to take photos in the Hermitage, which I took advantage of naturally!