According to the stories of grandmothers: Belgorod began to recreate old dolls

It all started with yarn

Love for sewing Rakitian master instilled mother and grandmother. Her children are also creative: the eldest son Nikita graduated from BGIIK with a degree in choreography, but now works as a sound engineer. The middle child Vyacheslav danced before he suffered a back injury. The youngest daughter Ulyana draws, although he wants to enter the land management.

The creative path of Antonina Martynova began in 2013 after the family moved to her husband’s relatives. The first serious project was an exclusive case for a baby carriage made of yarn.

Later, a friend suggested the Rakitian to lead a circle of decorative and applied arts in the local House of Culture. To do this, she received a profile education: she graduated from the Institute of Culture in the specialty “folk artistic creativity”.

During her studies, she managed to head the Vyshnepensky DK. Realizing that it did not suit her, she moved as a master to the House of Crafts in the Builder.

Baba Shura's victory

In 2018, her fascination with dolls led her to master embroidery and work with clay. She did not want to look for a ready-made form - she collected it bit by bit: she communicated with local grandmothers, absorbed ancient traditions and sought her own style. Inspired by folk crafts, the needlewoman created her first clay doll, calling it Baba Shura.

In 2023, this work won the All-Russian exhibition-competition “All dolls to visit us!” in the Russian Ethnographic Museum of St. Petersburg. Now it is stored in museum funds.

Later, Antonina Martynova went to this museum for a conference, where she gave a report on her dolls and presented the museum with two more works based on the stories of grandmothers.

Also in the house of a large mother gathered a large collection of rag, clay and wooden dolls, which she brought from various festivals.

Creative expeditions

Antonina Martynova is a national master of the Belgorod region on horse-tipping. At exhibitions, she often shows author’s dolls than textiles.

Rakitian not only leads a circle of Russian folk dolls, but also engaged in research work. She regularly attends seminars and studies the history and origins of each image. She also participates in ethnographic expeditions to the villages of the municipality. More in detail - in the material "BelPress".

Earlier we told how the Belgorod citizen creates wooden products from improvised means.