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17 most beautiful types of folk art in Russia.

Handicrafts are exactly what makes our culture rich and unique. Painted objects, toys and fabric products are taken with them by foreign tourists in memory of our country.

Almost every corner of Russia has its own kind of needlework, and in this material we have collected the brightest and most famous of them.

Dymkovo toy

The Dymkovo toy is a symbol of the Kirov region, emphasizing its rich and ancient history. It is molded from clay, then dried and fired in a kiln. After that, it is painted by hand, each time creating a unique copy. There can be no two identical toys.

Zhostovo painting

At the beginning of the 19th century, the Vishnyakov brothers lived in one of the villages near Moscow of the former Troitskaya volost (now the Mytishchi district), and they were engaged in painting lacquered metal trays, sugar bowls, pallets, papier-mache boxes, cigarette cases, tea kettles, albums and others. Since then, art painting in the Zhostovo style began to gain popularity and attract attention at numerous exhibitions in our country and abroad.

Khokhloma

Khokhloma is one of the most beautiful Russian crafts, which originated in the 17th century near Nizhny Novgorod. This is a decorative painting of furniture and wooden dishes, which is loved not only by connoisseurs of Russian antiquity, but also by residents of foreign countries.

Intricately intertwined herbal patterns of bright scarlet berries and gold leaves on a black background can be admired endlessly. Therefore, even traditional wooden spoons, presented on the most insignificant occasion, leave the recipient with the kindest and longest memory of the donor.

Gorodets painting

Gorodets painting has existed since the middle of the 19th century. Bright, laconic patterns reflect genre scenes, figurines of horses, roosters, flower ornaments. The painting is carried out with a free stroke with white and black graphic outlining, decorates spinning wheels, furniture, shutters, doors.

Filigree

Filigree is one of the oldest types of artistic metalworking. The elements of the filigree pattern are very diverse: in the form of a rope, a cord, weaving, a Christmas tree, a path, a smooth surface. The weaves are made of very thin gold or silver wires, so they look light and fragile.

Ural malachite

There are well-known deposits of malachite in the Urals, Africa, South Australia and the United States, however, in terms of color and beauty of patterns, malachite of foreign countries cannot be compared with the Ural. Therefore, malachite from the Urals is considered the most valuable in the world market.

Gusev crystal

Products made at the crystal factory in the city of Gus-Khrustalny can be found in museums around the world. Traditional Russian souvenirs, household items, sets for the festive table, elegant jewelry, boxes, handmade figurines reflect the beauty of native nature, its customs and primordial Russian values. Products made of colored crystal are especially popular.

Matryoshka

A chubby and plump cheerful girl in a headscarf and Russian folk dress won the hearts of lovers of folk toys and beautiful souvenirs around the world.

Now the matryoshka is not just a folk toy, the keeper of Russian culture: it is a memorable souvenir for tourists, on the apron of which play scenes, stories of fairy tales and landscapes with sights are subtly drawn. Matryoshka has become a precious collectible, which can cost more than one hundred dollars.

Enamel

Vintage brooches, bracelets, pendants, which have rapidly “entered” modern fashion, are nothing more than jewelry made using the enamel technique. This type of applied art originated in the 17th century in the Vologda region.

Masters depicted floral ornaments, birds, animals on white enamel using a variety of colors. Then the art of multicolored enamel began to be lost, it was replaced by monochromatic enamel: white, blue and green. Both styles are now successfully combined.

Tula samovar

In his free time, an employee of the Tula arms factory Fedor Lisitsyn liked to make something from copper, and once made a samovar. Then his sons opened a samovar establishment, where they sold copper products, which were wildly successful.

Samovars of the Lisitsyns were famous for a variety of shapes and finishes: barrels, vases with embossing and engraving, egg-shaped samovars with dolphin-shaped cranes, loop-shaped handles, painted.

Palekh miniature

Palekh miniature is a special, subtle, poetic vision of the world, which is characteristic of Russian folk beliefs and songs. The painting uses brown-orange and bluish-green tones.

Palekh painting has no analogues in the whole world. It is performed on papier-mâché and only then transferred to the surface of boxes of all shapes and sizes.

Gzhel

Gzhel bush, an area of ​​27 villages located near Moscow, is famous for its clays, which have been mined here since the middle of the 17th century. In the 19th century, Gzhel craftsmen began to produce semi-faience, faience and porcelain. Of particular interest are still products painted in one color - blue overglaze paint applied with a brush, with graphic details.

Pavlovo Posad shawls

Bright and light, feminine Pavloposad shawls are always fashionable and relevant. This folk craft appeared at the end of the 18th century at a peasant enterprise in the village of Pavlovo, from which the shawl manufactory subsequently developed. It produced woolen shawls with a printed pattern, which was very popular at the time.

THE ARTS OF EATING

Original Russian Text © L.A. Kuznetsova

L.A. KUZNETSOVA, Candidate of Pedagogical Sciences, Associate Professor of the Department of Decorative and Applied Arts and Technical Graphics, Oryol State University

Tel. 89065717982

FOLK ART

The article reveals the history of the study of folk decorative art, its role in the development and formation of artistic, aesthetic inclinations of students. The article examines folk crafts, their role in the upbringing of the younger generations. The question of the role of the collective in the process of creating decorative items by masters of folk applied art is touched upon, the role of the heritage of decorative and applied art for contemporary artists is revealed.

Key words: folk art, arts and crafts, craft, folk master, folk culture.

“... Folk art is the past, living in the present, looking into the future with its dream of the unprecedented. It creates its own world of Beauty, lives by its ideal of Good and Justice, develops according to its inherent laws only. This is the cultural memory of the people, inseparable from the deepest aspirations of our time ”1.

The study of folk art began in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The works of art critics A.V. Bakushinsky, V.S. Voronova. A significant contribution was made by the works of A.B. Saltykov, V.M. Vasilenko (50s, 70s of the 20th century). AND I. Boguslavskaya, T.M. Razin, A.K. Chekalov in his writings revealed various aspects of folk art. A special place is occupied by the research of M.A. Nekrasova, in her works, at the methodological level, the role of folk art in culture is determined, the laws of its development are revealed, a system of concepts related to the specifics of folk art as a special type of artistic creation is revealed.

Scientific research on folk art has become part of art theory today. The science of folk art was formed, gradually emerging from the context of issues of culture, ethnography, material life, art history. The work that folk art researchers have done and are doing is important not only as a method for solving scientific problems. The study of folk culture in the 18th century was closely associated with the strengthening of the state. Ethnographic materials obtained as a result of expeditions at the end of the 18th century became the basis for subsequent methods of studying folk art. The beginning of the 19th century was marked by a confrontation between "Westernizers" and "Slavophiles", the discussion between which contributed to the formation of versatile ideas about popular culture. By the middle of the 19th century, ethnography was established as a science. It receives official recognition, and the newly formed Russian Geographical Society (1845) for the first time clearly proclaims its main provisions. In the pre-reform 50s and post-reform 60-70s of the 19th century, state changes took place that caused great changes in Russian society. Folk art issues

the Society of Ancient Art and the Archaeological Society in Moscow and St. Petersburg begin to study. During this period, such scholars as V.I. Dal, P.A. Bessonov, P.I. Yakushkin and others.

The mid-19th - early 20th centuries are characterized by the emergence of ideas about the content and high value of folk culture. The economic interest in the craft is of great importance. The problem of figurativeness appears along with an understanding of the social heterogeneity of Russian art. The first experience of a systematic study of peasant crafts dates back to the early 50s of the 20th century. On the instructions of the Ministry of State Property, special commissions were created, which were entrusted with the most complete collection of information about peasant trades and handicraft industries. During this period, V.S. Voronov, A.I. Nekrasov, A.V. Bakushinsky, N. Shcheko-comrade. The researches of V.S. Gorodtsov (1926), which were continued by L.A. Dinces (1951), V. Ya. Propp (1963). The research of these scholars revealed the meaning of semantics for art history. When the semantic basis, the ritual and rhythmic basis, the meaning of the ornamental compositions of the artistic image are clear, then it is revealed more clearly and fully.

Folk art is of interest not only from an artistic point of view, but also from a historical, ethnographic, sociological and scientific point of view. Knowledge of the origins of folk art, its artistic nature and spiritual values ​​should become an integral part of the spiritual culture of a student studying art. Folk art allows them to cultivate in them a certain culture of perception of the material world, to develop the creative qualities of the individual, ensuring the readiness to inherit the spiritual values ​​of folk art, to be ready to conduct a dialogue between cultures of different eras and peoples of the world.

Folk art, culture, constantly creating, giving experience, wisdom to the culture of professional artists, help them to show the ability to settle down, feel the world. The synthesis of natural and folk can be identified as the main source of aesthetic experiences in Russian art. The world of folk art is the world of an integral person. It grows, develops in a natural environment. A person using the benefits of nature obtained by labor

on earth, feels like inside nature. Thus, the folk artist especially feels the involvement in the culture of his native land, preserving the universal scale in his work. An artist who turns to folk art learns the world through knowing himself. Involvement in the whole creates in each culture its own national image of the world, its own images, types. The essence of the popular ideal has always been the opposition of good - evil, beauty and order - to world chaos, transforming forces of creativity - decay, death, eternal - finite, temporary.

Folk most often means its decorative, graphic and applied form, which is associated with household items, folk architecture. Other types of folk art have their own names, for example: folklore, folk dance, oral creativity, fairy tale and other folk art as a social phenomenon goes back to the worldview of the pre-Christian or even pre-pagan period of the development of society. After the adoption of Christianity by Russia, folk art adopted a lot from the Greco-Byzantine culture.

As a historical and artistic form of experience, folk art ends in the 20-30s of the 20th century. Now Russian folk art remains only the source of our ideas about the history of the world outlook. The change in popular consciousness in the first third of the 20th century was associated with social reorganization, when the values ​​of the peasantry and handicraft were pushed into the background by the development of an industrial society. But folk art is still of great importance to this day, this is due to its diverse functions. One of the most important is the experience of aesthetic experience, which still remains in demand, despite the new realities. The peculiarities of the artistic form, the concept of the national ideological basis are closely intertwined in it. All this is convenient material for educational programs, in which the figurative nature of knowledge is associated with technological experience, techniques and methods of sensory and sensitive experience inherent in the visual and decorative arts. In the humanization of education, turning to folk art will make it possible to form the general cultural intelligence of the individual, to bring it closer to nature as the beginning of the human soul.

Folk art expressed a holistic outlook, world outlook of the Russian person. The main thing in it was not momentary, it relied on the eternal, the general, which determined the connection of time.

me and at each of its stages of development created something of its own, new. Despite the diversity of its manifestations, Russian folk art is distinguished by a great love for natural forms. Folk art, like any folk craft, is the result of the creativity of the collective, constantly honing and improving the culture of craftsmanship, artistic language. Providence not only unites people by a common cause, but also directs the creative activity of different individuals towards one goal. The deep collectivity of village life has had a great impact on the entire folk culture. In folk art, he gives the image a universal scale and forms the very essence of creativity, its spiritual and moral basis, the principles of collectivity on which art is born and formed in folk craft.

The pedagogical value of cognition of folk and decorative and applied art lies in the fact that the works of these types of art allow to bring up a certain culture of perception of the material world, contribute to the formation of an aesthetic attitude to reality, help to better understand the artistic and expressive sides of the environment. On the basis of knowledge about folk art, national regional programs for the revival of the crafts of the peoples of Russia are being developed. Educational programs, in which materials of folk art were introduced, were given the opportunity to refer to the roots of the historical and artistic heritage, which determines the broad social context of folk art.

The objective world around us is changing very quickly. It is necessary to practically direct the artistic inclinations of students so that it helps them in organizing their homes, choosing clothes, and revealing the aesthetic significance of works of decorative and applied art of past and present times. Acquaintance of students with decorative imagery, especially in the work of folk artists, contributes to the development of their aesthetic attitude to reality. The origins of decorative expressiveness, decorative art - in the ability of masters to aesthetically comprehend nature. The value of works of decorative and applied art for the formation of artistic taste is also due to the fact that expressive means of other types of fine arts are specifically refracted in them.

art - painting, graphics, sculpture, architecture. For example, in Russian artistic varnishes, such pictorial techniques as underpainting, glazing are preserved, giving a special sonority and expressiveness to the color range. In other types of arts and crafts - ceramics, artistic processing of wood, stone, bone, horn - sculptural qualities prevail. In the work of folk artists, one can see a deep understanding of the organic connection of the aesthetic perception of the form of an object with its functional purpose. The process of generalization in decorative creativity, the creation of a form, is inseparable from the identification of material properties. The material dictates its own terms. Consider a folk toy whistle. The toy is based on a decorative image of a bird, but how differently it is interpreted in clay and in wood. Making clay whistles presupposes the softness, pliability of clay, the ability to reveal in different ways the texture, shiny under the glaze and matte, rough in simple painting. The shape of a chiseled wooden toy has strict lines, the volume of the toy is created on the basis of rotation with the surface of the tree, smooth to shine. Different forms of whistle birds are not only due to the difference in the material of execution, all clay toys are different in shape, character and expressiveness. One and the same material behaves differently in the hands of different masters of the Dymkovo, Filimonov, Kargopol, Pleshkovo toys. Using the example of the old masters, modern masters learn to understand the decorative nature of the material: texture, color, texture.

It is difficult to imagine objects of decorative and applied art without a pattern. Over time, an amazing harmony of content and form, ornament and means of its embodiment was born, which even today delights us in any product of folk art. Examples of ornamental compositions made by folk craftsmen in different materials, using various technologies for processing the shape of an object, make it possible to simply and intelligibly acquaint students with the unity of the aesthetic and functional in creating an artistic thing, highlight the techniques of decorative generalization, show that every thing is created for a person and lives in close relationship with the surrounding things.

Folk art shows us an example of the true greatness of artistic power, created by a folk collective, it is brilliant, it continues to live and develop.

PEDAGOGY AND PSYCHOLOGY

Bibliographic list

1. Boguslavskaya I.Ya. Problems of tradition in the art of modern folk art crafts // Creative problems of modern folk art crafts. - L., 1981.

2. Vasilenko V.M. Russian applied art. - M., 1977.

3. Kaplan N., Mitlyavskaya T. Folk art crafts. - M., 1980.

4. Koshaev VB Questions of the formation of concepts in the science of folk art. - Izhevsk, 1998.

5. Nekrasova M.A. Folk art of Russia // Folk art as a world of integrity. - M., 1983.

6. Popova O., Kaplan, N. Russian art crafts. - M., 1984.

7. Rondeli L. Folk arts and crafts. - M., 1984.

This article exposes the history of folk decorative art research, its role in development and formation of artistic and aesthetic bents of students. In this article folk crafts and their role in education of rising generations are considered. The role of the collective in the process of decorative products creation by masters of a folk applied art is mentioned. The role of arts crafts heritage for modern artists is revealed in the article.

Key words: folk art, arts and crafts, craft, folk master, folk culture.

Topic 1. Folk and arts and crafts

Folk and arts and crafts are an integral part of artistic culture. Folk art develops according to its own laws and interacts with the art of professional artists.

In a broad sensefolk art (folklore) - it is created by the people on the basis of collective creative experience, national traditions and popular among the people poetry (legends, fairy tales, epics), music (songs, tunes, plays), theater (drama, puppet theater, satirical plays), dance, architecture, visual and arts and crafts.

Works of folk art have spiritual and material value, are distinguished by their beauty and usefulness. Craftsmen of folk arts and crafts create their works from a variety of materials. The most common are art ceramics, weaving, lace-making, embroidery, painting, wood or stone carving, forging, casting, engraving, chasing, etc. at home.

Of great importance in folk art isornament, which adorns the object (thing) or is its structural element. The motives of the ornament have ancient mythological roots.

There are two directions in folk art:urban art craft andfolk arts and crafts. As an example of traditional art crafts, one can name: painting on wood (Khokhloma, Gorodets, Severnaya Dvina) and on porcelain (Gzhel), clay toy (Dymka, Kargopol, Filimonovo, Abashevo), matryoshkas (Sergiev Posad, Semenov, Polkhov-Maidan) , trays (Zhostovo), lacquer miniatures (Fedoskino, Palekh, Mstera, Kholui), scarves (Pavlovsky Posad), carved wooden toys (Sergiev Posad, Bogorodskoe), jewelry (Kubachi), etc.

Folk art has lived for centuries. The skills of technical craftsmanship and the images found are passed from generation to generation, remaining in the memory of folk artists. Because of this, the tradition, which has been consolidated for centuries, selects only the best creative achievements.

Decorative arts - this is one of the types of plastic arts. Decorative arts are divided into those directly related to architecture -monumental decorative art (stained glass windows, mosaics, murals on facades and interiors, decorative landscape gardening sculptures, etc.),arts and crafts (household art products). The term "decorative arts" is broad in scope. The decorative arts have a lot to do with the arts industry anddesign. Together with architecture and design, it forms a material object-spatial environment, introducing an aesthetic, figurative principle into it.

Decorative and applied arts - the field of decorative arts: the creation of artistic products that have a practical purpose in everyday life and are distinguished by decorative imagery (dishes, furniture, fabrics, clothing, jewelry, toys, etc.). All objects surrounding a person should be not only comfortable, practical, but also beautiful. The subject should be expressive as a whole - in design, proportions, details, as well as in decoration. To paint a jug with patterns, decorate a cutting board with carvings, knit a lace napkin, weave patterns on fabric - all this requires painyour skill. Such ornamented products are classified as arts and crafts also because you need to put your hands on to create this beauty. Benefit and beauty are always close when artists get down to business and from a variety of materials (wood, metal, glass, clay, stone, fabric, etc.) create household items that are works of art.

Another area of ​​arts and crafts is associated with the decoration of the person himself - the creation of an artistically executed costume that makes up an ensemble together with a headdress, shoes and jewelry. But lately, the costume has been increasingly referred toto fashion design.

However, decorative items demonstrate not only the aesthetic taste and imagination of the artist. They, as well as in works of other types of art, reflect the material and spiritual interests of people. And although today the art industry creates products of applied art, they largely preserve national characteristics. All this allows us to say that in the decorative art of a certain historical era, features of stylistic unity are clearly expressed, for example, the period of Gothic, Art Nouveau, Classicism, etc.

How can you tell if a given piece is a work of arts and crafts? Sometimes they reason like this: if a vase has a beautiful shape, but it is not decorated with anything, then it is not a work of decorative art, but it is worth putting some kind of pattern on it, so it will immediately turn into a work. This is not true. Sometimes the ornaments that adorn the vase make it a tasteless fake, turn it into kitsch. Conversely, a vessel made of pure clay or wood can be so striking in its perfection that its artistic value becomes obvious.

The expressiveness of the line, silhouette, rhythm, color, proportions, shape, space in each of the types of decorative art largely depends on the materials used, the technology of their processing.

The relationship between form and material is obvious. The plasticity of clay, the fibrousness of wood, the fragility and transparency of glass, the strength of the metal make it possible to create vessels of various shapes, its best artistic-shaped solution is due to the properties of the material.

A folk master or artist of decorative and applied arts in his work seeks to show in the best possible way the aesthetic qualities of materials: wood, textiles, metal, ceramics, glass, paper, bone, leather, stone, etc.

Decorativeness in folk and applied arts is the main means of expressing beauty.

It should be borne in mind that in each type of art, the artistic image has its own structure, due, on the one hand, to the peculiarities of the expression of the spiritual content, and on the other hand, to the technology, the nature of the material in which this content is embodied. The artistic image in folk and decorative-applied art has common and distinctive features.

A decorative image expresses not a single one, but a general one - “specific”, “generic” (leaf, flower, tree, bird, horse, etc.). A decorative image requires artistic and figurative thinking, a mytho-poetic attitude to reality.

Therefore, in folk art, it is customary to distinguish images-types of products of traditional art crafts, which reflect the mythological and aesthetic ideas of the people. For example, the image of a bird, a horse, a tree of life, a woman, signs-symbols of the earth, water, sun can be seen in various artistic materials: embroidery, weaving, lace, painting on wood and metal, woodcarving, ceramics, etc. the traditional character of these images largely determines the high artistic and aesthetic value of works of folk art.

At the same time, the universality of image-types in the art of different peoples of the world shows their unity, associated with the generality of approaches to the process of aesthetic knowledge of natural and social phenomena.

Images in professional decorative arts also reflect the ideas of a particular people about beauty. They, too, are often created on the basis of natural or geometric motives, but here a great deal of freedom in the interpretation of images is allowed.

Analyzing the artistic merits of a particular work of folk or professional decorative art, it is necessary to pay attention to its figurative solution, taking into account the peculiarities of the material, expressiveness of form and proportions, to the color scheme, the connection of ornament with the form of products, plastic, pictorial or graphic merits of the thing. At the same time, it is important to note how rhythmic repetitions, compositional features of the construction of an ornament and things in general affect its figurative solution.

Folk and professional arts and crafts are interpreted as arts that serve the needs of a person and at the same time satisfy his aesthetic needs, bringing beauty to life.

However, you need to be aware of the significant differences between these types of arts. Folk art, transforming reality, is considered by modern art critics as a special type of artistic creation, the distinctive features of which are: collective origin and traditions, the stability of themes and images, the universality of the language understandable to all peoples of the world, the universal humanity of spiritual values. All these features of art are determined by a holistic perception of the world.

The results of the artistic and creative activity of the people reflect their life, views, ideals, therefore, the experience of moral feelings, knowledge, behavior is contained in the works of folk art.

The theoretical foundations of folk art, its essence and significance as an artistic system as a whole were substantiated by the leading Russian scientists A.B. Bakushinsky, I.Ya. Boguslavskaya, G.K. Wagner, V.S. Voronov, M.A. Nekrasova, S. B. Rozhdestvenskaya, A.B. Saltykov and others.

One of the first researchers of folk art, who recognized the high artistic and scientific value of "peasant" art, was VS Voronov. He defined artistic traditions as "folk style". The scientist believed that tradition is capable of change, internally and externally, it is mobile. According to Voronov, decorativeness, constructiveness and ornamentation in peasant everyday life "assert the undeniable right to be called art" and "are a characteristic summary feature by which it is always possible to distinguish and highlight the product of artistic peasant labor."

M.A. Nekrasova considers folk art as a creative, cultural, historical system that asserts itself through the continuity of traditions, functionsas a special type of artistic creation in the collective activity of the people. And each nation carries its own culture of poetry-figurative and craft traditions. They have been formed over the centuries and have been polished by many generations of people. Traditions in folk art convey not only craftsmanship, but also images, popular motives, artistic principles and techniques. Traditions form the main layers of folk art culture -schools and at the same time determine the special vitality of folk art.

In folk art, artistic skill, technical skill, methods of work, motives are passed from master to student. The art system is worked out collectively.

Main literature

Konstantinova S.S. History of arts and crafts. Lecture notes - Rostov n / a: Phoenix 2004.

Butkevich L.M. Ornament History: A Textbook for Stud. h. ped. study. institutions .- M .: Humanit. ed. Center VLADOS, 2003.

Armand T. Guide to painting fabric. / Ed. N.N. Sobolev. - SPb., Polytechnic, 1992.

Sokolova M.S. Artistic painting on wood. - M .: Humanities. Ed. Center VLADOS, 2005.

A.S. Khvorostov Arts and crafts at school. - M .: 1988.

Koroleva N.S., Kozhevnikova L.A. Modern patterned weaving. - M., 1970.

additional literature

1. Decorative and applied art and folk crafts / ON. Nizhibitsky. - SPb .: Polytechnic, 2007.

2. Zhegalova S.K. Khokhloma Paintings: A Story. - M., 1991

3. Konovalov A.E. Gorodets painting: Stories about folk art. - Gorky, 1988

4. Skvortsov K.A. Practicum in training workshops. - M .: 1987.

5. Kozlov V.N. The basics of textile decoration. M., 1981.

6. Kozlov V.N. The basics of textile decoration. M., 1981.

Svetlova L.P. The alphabet of the ornament. - M., 1998.

Mititello K. Application: technique and art. - M .: EKSMO, 2003.

L.V. Banakina Patchwork: technique. Receptions. Products. - M .: AST-PRESS KNIGA, 2006.

9. Makhmutova Kh.I. "We make from fabric, knitwear and leather." Book for students. - M .: School press, 2004.

Nagel O.I. Artistic patchwork sewing (Basics of patchwork sewing and traditions of folk textile patchwork): Teaching aid for the teacher. - M .: School press, 2004.

Gilman R.A. Needle, thread in skillful hands. - M .: Legpromizdat, 1993.

Drozdova O.E. Patchwork. Ornaments and products. - M .: Fashion and needlework, 2001.

Zhuravleva I.D. Fabrics. Treatment. Care. Coloring. Application. Batik. - M .: Eksmo, 2003.

Dvorkina N. Tapestry for ten evenings. - M., 1998.

P.K. Senzyuk Composition in decorative arts. Kiev, 1998.

Kuzeev R.G., Bikbulatov N.V., Shitova S.N. Decorative art of the Bashkir people. - Ufa: Bashk. book ed., 1979.

Maksimova M.V., Kuzmina M.A. Scraps. - M .: Ed. EKSMO, 2003.

Mititello K. Golden collection of applications. - M .: Ed. EKSMO, 2003.

Shitova S.N. Folk art: felt, carpets and fabrics among the southern Bashkirs (ethnographic essays). - Ufa: Kitap, 2006.

Yanbukhtina A.G. Decorative art of Bashkortostan. XX century: from tamga to avant-garde. - Ufa: Kitap, 2006.

Folk art

artistic, folk art, folklore, artistic creative activity of the working people; poetry, music, theater, dance, architecture, fine and decorative-applied arts created by the people and existing among the masses. In collective artistic creation, the people reflect their labor activity, social and everyday life, knowledge of life and nature, cults and beliefs. The social theory, which has developed in the course of social labor practice, embodies the views, ideals and aspirations of the people, their poetic fantasy, the richest world of thoughts, feelings, experiences, protest against exploitation and oppression, dreams of justice and happiness. Having absorbed the centuries-old experience of the masses, N. t. Is distinguished by the depth of the artistic assimilation of reality, the truthfulness of images, and the power of creative generalization.

The richest images, themes, motives, and forms of creative art arise in the complex dialectical unity of individual (although, as a rule, anonymous) creativity and collective artistic consciousness. For centuries, the folk collective has been selecting, improving and enriching the solutions found by individual craftsmen. Continuity, stability of artistic traditions (within which, in turn, personal creativity is manifested) are combined with variability, diverse implementation of these traditions in individual works.

The collectivity of art, which constitutes its permanent basis and undying tradition, manifests itself in the course of the entire process of the formation of works or their types. This process, including improvisation, its consolidation by tradition, subsequent improvement, enrichment and sometimes renewal of the tradition, turns out to be extremely lengthy in time. It is characteristic of all types of N. t. That the creators of a work are at the same time its performers, and the performance, in turn, can be the creation of options that enrich the tradition; also important is the closest contact of performers with people who perceive art, who themselves can act as participants in the creative process. The long-lasting indivisibility, the highly artistic unity of its types, belongs to the main features of folk art: poetry, music, dance, theater, and decorative arts merged in folk ritual performances; in a folk dwelling, architecture, carving, painting, ceramics, and embroidery created an inseparable whole; folk poetry is closely related to music and its rhythm, musicality, and the nature of the performance of most works, while musical genres are usually associated with poetry, labor movements, dances. The works and skills of N. t. Are directly transmitted from generation to generation.

N. t. Was the historical basis of the entire world artistic culture. Its initial principles, the most traditional forms, types and, in part, images originated in ancient times in a pre-class society, when all art was the creation and property of the people (see Primitive art). With the social development of mankind, the formation of a class society, the division of labor, the professionalized "high", "scientific" art is gradually emerging. N. t. Also forms a special layer of world artistic culture. It distinguishes strata that differ in social content and are associated with the class differentiation of society, but by the beginning of the capitalist period, social science was universally defined as the collective traditional art of the working masses of the countryside, and then of the city. The organic connection with the fundamental principles of the world outlook of the people, the poetic integrity of the attitude to the world, and incessant polishing determine the high artistic level of folk art. In addition, N. t. Has developed special forms of specialization, the continuity of skill and training in it.

N. t. Different, often far apart from each other peoples has many common features and motives that have arisen in similar conditions or inherited from a common source. At the same time, the N. t. For centuries has absorbed the peculiarities of the national life and culture of each people. It retained its life-giving labor foundation, remained a treasure trove of national culture, an expression of national self-awareness. This determined the strength and fruitfulness of the influence of N. t. On all world art, as evidenced by the works of F. Rabelais and W. Shakespeare, A. S. Pushkin and N. A. Nekrasov, P. Bruegel and F. Goya, M. I Glinka and M. P. Mussorgsky. In turn, the N. t. Took a lot from "high" art, which found diverse expression - from classical pediments on peasant huts to folk songs to the words of great poets. The N. t. Has preserved valuable evidence of the revolutionary mood of the people and their struggle for their happiness.

Under capitalism, once it has fallen into the sphere of bourgeois socio-economic relations, scientific theory develops extremely unevenly. Many of its branches degrade, completely disappear or are threatened with displacement; others lose their value as they industrialize or adapt to market demands. In the 19th century. the growth of national self-awareness, democratic and national liberation movements, and the development of romanticism awaken interest in N. t. In the late 19th and 20th centuries. the influence of folklore on world culture is increasing, some of the lost branches of folk art are being restored, museums and societies for its protection are organized. At the same time, public and private philanthropy often subordinates N. t. Commercial purposes, the interests of the "tourism industry", for which it cultivates the most archaic features and religious-patriarchal vestiges.

Conditions have been created in socialist society for the preservation and development of N. t .; inheriting and affirming national folk traditions, it is imbued with the ideas of socialism, the pathos of reflecting a new, transformed reality; N. t. Enjoys the systematic support of the state and public organizations, its masters are awarded prizes and honorary titles. A network of research institutions - institutes and museums - has been created that study the experience of scientific research and contribute to its development. Many traditional genres of folk art are dying out (for example, ritual folklore, conspiracies, and folk drama), but others are finding a new place in life. New forms of artistic culture of the masses are also being born. Amateur art activities (choirs, choreographic collectives, folk theaters, etc.), which have a different nature than the artistic movement, but partly use its heritage, is developing intensively. The high examples of creative art created over many centuries retain the significance of an eternally living cultural heritage, a treasury of the artistic experience of the masses.

Folk poetic creativity - mass verbal artistic creativity of a particular people; the totality of its types and forms, denoted in modern science by this term, has other names - folk literature, oral literature, folk poetry, folklore. Verbal artistic creativity arose in the process of the formation of human speech. In pre-class society, it is closely related to other types of human activity, reflecting the beginnings of his knowledge and religious and mythological ideas. In the process of social differentiation of society, various types and forms of oral verbal creativity arose, expressing the interests of different social groups and strata. The most important role in its development was played by the creativity of the working people. With the advent of writing, literature arose that was historically associated with oral N. in t.

The collective nature of oral N. t. (Meaning not only the expression of the thoughts and feelings of the collective, but above all - the process of collective creation and dissemination) determines the variability, that is, the mutability of texts in the process of their existence. At the same time, the changes could be very different - from minor stylistic variations to a significant reworking of the concept. In memorization, as well as in the variation of texts, a significant role is played by peculiar stereotypical formulas - the so-called common places associated with certain plot situations, passing from text to text (for example, in epics - the formula for saddling a horse, etc.).

In the process of existence, the genres of verbal N. t. Experience "productive" and "unproductive" periods ("ages") of their history (the emergence, spread, entry into the mass repertoire, aging, extinction), and this is ultimately connected with social and cultural - everyday changes in society. The stability of the existence of folklore texts in folk life is explained not only by their artistic value, but also by the slowness of changes in the way of life, worldview, tastes of their main creators and keepers - peasants. The texts of folklore works of various genres are changeable (albeit to varying degrees). However, on the whole, traditionalism has an immeasurably greater force in literary talent than in professional literary work.

The collective nature of verbal N. t. Does not mean that it is impersonal: talented masters actively influenced not only the creation, but also the dissemination, improvement, or adaptation of texts to the needs of the collective. In the conditions of the division of labor, a kind of professions of performers arose. N. t. (Ancient Greek Rapsods and Aedy, Russian Skomorokhs, Ukrainian kobzars (See Kobzar), Kazakh and Kyrgyz Akyns, etc.). In some countries of the Middle East and Central Asia, in the Caucasus, transitional forms of verbal N. have developed: works created by certain persons were distributed orally, but the text changed relatively little, the author's name was usually known and was often introduced into the text (for example, Toktogul Satylganov in Kyrgyzstan, Sayat-Nova in Armenia).

The richness of genres, themes, images, and poetics of verbal N. t. Is due to the variety of its social and everyday functions, as well as the methods of performance (solo, chorus, chorus, and soloist), the combination of text with melody, intonation, movements (singing, singing, and dancing, storytelling, acting out, dialogue, etc.). In the course of history, some genres have undergone significant changes, disappeared, new ones appeared. In the most ancient period, most peoples had ancestral legends, labor and ritual songs, conspiracies. Later, there are magical, everyday tales, tales of animals, pre-state (archaic) forms of Epic a. During the formation of statehood, a classic heroic epic took shape, then historical songs (See Song), ballads (See Ballad) arose. Even later, an extra-ritual lyric song, Romance, Chastushka, and other small lyrical genres and, finally, working folklore (revolutionary songs, oral stories, etc.) were formed.

Despite the bright national coloring of the works of verbal N. of t. Of different peoples, many motives, images, and even plots in them are similar. For example, about two-thirds of the stories of European peoples' fairy tales have parallels in the fairy tales of other peoples, which is caused either by development from one source, or by cultural interaction, or by the emergence of similar phenomena on the basis of general laws of social development.

Until the late feudal epoch and the period of capitalism, verbal neural writing developed relatively independently of written literature. Later, literary works more actively than before penetrate into the folk environment (for example, "The Prisoner" and "The Black Shawl" by A. S. Pushkin, "Korobeyniki" by N. A. Nekrasov; see also about this in the article Free Russian Poetry, Popular literature). On the other hand, the work of folk storytellers acquires some features of literature (individualization of characters, psychologism, etc.). In a socialist society, the availability of education provides an equal opportunity for the disclosure of talents and creative professionalization of the most gifted people. Various forms of mass literary and artistic culture (creativity of songwriters, chastushki, composition of interludes and satirical scenes, etc.) develop in close contact with professional socialist art; among them, traditional forms of verbal N. t continue to play a certain role. tastes, everyday life. This also determines the deep influence of verbal N. of t. On the development of literature. M. Gorky said: "... The beginning of the art of words is in folklore" ("On Literature", 1961, p. 452). About N.'s record of t., Its study and methodological principles of studying, see Folkloristics.

Folk music (musical folklore) - vocal (mainly song), instrumental and vocal-instrumental collective creativity of the people; as a rule, it exists in a non-written form and is transmitted through performing traditions. Being the property of the whole people, musical performance of music exists mainly due to the performing art of talented nuggets. Such are among different peoples Kobzar, guslyar (see Gusli), buffoonery (See Skomorokhs), Ashug, Akin, kuyshi (see Kui), Bakhshi, gusan (See Gusans), Hafiz, olonkhosut (see Olonkho), aed (See Aedy), Juggler, Minstrel, Shpilman, and others. The origins of folk music, like other arts, go back to the prehistoric past. The musical traditions of various social formations are exceptionally stable and tenacious. In each historical epoch, more or less ancient and transformed works coexist, as well as those created anew on their basis. Together, they form the so-called traditional musical folklore. It is based on the music of the peasantry, which for a long time retains the features of relative independence and, on the whole, differs from the music associated with younger, written traditions. The main types of musical N. t. Are songs (see Song), epic legends (for example, Russian Epics, Yakut olonkho), dance melodies, dance choruses (for example, Russian ditties (See Chastushka)), instrumental pieces and tunes (signals , dancing). Each piece of musical folklore is represented by a whole system of stylistically and semantically related variants that characterize the changes in folk music in the process of its performance.

The richness of the genre of folk music is the result of the diversity of its vital functions. Music accompanied the entire working and family life of a peasant: calendar holidays of the annual agricultural circle (carols (see Kolyadka), Vesnyanka, Shrovetide, Kupala songs), field work (mowing, harvest songs), birth, wedding (lullabies and wedding songs), death (funeral lamentations). Among the pastoralists, songs were associated with the domestication of a horse, a corral of cattle, etc. Later, lyrical genres were most developed in the folklore of all peoples, where simple, short tunes of labor, ritual, dance and epic songs or instrumental tunes were replaced by detailed and sometimes complex musical improvisations - vocal (for example, Russian drawn-out song, Romanian and Moldavian Doina) and instrumental (for example, program pieces by Transcarpathian violinists, Bulgarian cavaliers, Kazakh dombra players, Kyrgyz komuzists, Turkmen dutarists, Uzbek, Tajik, Indonesian, Japanese and other instrumental ensembles and orchestras).

In various genres of folk music, various types of Melos a have developed - from recitative (Karelians, Runes, Russian epics, South Slavic epic) to richly ornamental (lyrical songs of Near and Middle Eastern musical cultures), polyphony (see Polyphony) (polyrhythmic a combination of voles in ensembles of African peoples, German choral chord, Georgian quarter-second and Middle Russian under-voice polyphony, Lithuanian canonical Sutartine), rhythmics (see Rhythmics) (in particular, rhythm formulas that generalized the rhythm of typical labor and dance movements), scale systems (from primitive narrow-volume modes to developed diatonic "free melodic structure"). The forms of stanzas, couplets (paired, symmetrical, asymmetrical, etc.), and works in general are also varied. Musical N. of t. Exists in monophonic (solo), antiphonic (see. Antiphon), ensemble, choral, and orchestral forms. The types of choral and instrumental polyphony are varied - from heterophony (see Heterophony) and bourdon (continuously sounding bass background) to complex polyphonic and chord formations. Each national folk musical culture, including a system of musical and folklore dialects, forms a musical and stylistic whole and at the same time unites with other cultures into larger folklore and ethnographic communities (for example, in Europe - Scandinavian, Baltic, Carpathian, Balkan, Mediterranean and etc.).

The fixation of folk music (in the 20th century with the help of sound recording technology) is a special scientific discipline - musical ethnography, and its research is ethnomusicology (musical folklore).

On the basis of folk music, almost all national professional schools arose, each of which contains samples of various uses of folklore heritage - from the simplest arrangements of folk melodies to individual creativity, freely embodying folklore musical thinking, laws specific to a particular folk musical tradition. In modern musical practice, N. t. Is a fertilizing force both for professional and for various forms of amateur art.

In Russia, the most widespread among the peasant, soldier, and factory environment were the dramas Tsar Maximilian and his rebellious son Adolf, The Boat (variants - The Boat, The Band of Robbers, Stepan Razin, The Black Raven); The dramas “Tsar Herod” and “How the Frenchman took Moscow” were also performed. By their type, they belong to the tyrannical, heroic, or so-called robbery dramas known among many peoples. Tsar Maximilian has a literary source - the school drama The Crown of Demetrius (1704), which is based on The Life of St. Demetrius; The Boat (late 18th century) is a staging of the folk song Down the Mother Volga. The final formation of these plays is associated with the inclusion in their text of fragments from the works of poets of the late 18th - first half of the 19th centuries. - G. R. Derzhavin, K. N. Batyushkov, A. S. Pushkin, M. Yu. Lermontov, motives and images of popular novels. In Russia, there were also satirical plays "The Master", "The Naked Master", "Petrushka".

The most characteristic feature of folk theater (as well as folklore art in general) is the open convention of costumes and props, movements and gestures; During the performances, the actors directly communicated with the audience, which could give remarks, intervene in the action, direct it, and sometimes take part in it (sing along with the choir of performers, portray minor characters in crowd scenes). The folk theater, as a rule, had neither stage nor scenery. The main interest in it is focused not on the depth of disclosure of the characters of the characters, but on the tragedy or comicality of situations and positions. Of great importance are the weekend monologues of the heroes, the performance of songs by the actors (folk or specially composed for the performance), arias from operas. In folk drama, there are two types of characters - dramatic (heroic or romantic) and comic. The first are distinguished by a high solemn style of addresses, monologues and dialogues, the second - comic, parody techniques, a play on words. The tradition of performance in the folk theater subsequently determined the emergence of a special type of theatrical performances, which acquired a stable form. These performances are called traditional theater in many countries. Since ancient times, folk dance pantomimic performances have been widespread in Asian countries. On their basis, the traditional theater of the peoples of Asia was formed: the wayang-topeng theaters in Indonesia, kolam on about. Sri Lanka (Ceylon), Kathakali in India, etc.

The originality of the artistic and performing techniques of the folk theater attracted and was used by the workers of the professional theater (W. Shakespeare, Moliere, K. Goldoni, A. N. Ostrovsky, E. De Philippe, and others).

Folk dance is one of the most ancient types of N. t. Dance was a part of folk performances at festivals and fairs. The appearance of round dances and other ritual dances is associated with folk rituals (the Ceylon fire dance, Norwegian dance with torches, Slavic round dances associated with the rituals of curling a birch tree, weaving wreaths, lighting fires). Gradually moving away from ritual actions, the round dances were filled with new content, expressing new features of everyday life. The peoples engaged in hunting, animal husbandry, reflected observation over the animal world in the dance. The character and habits of animals, birds, domestic animals were figuratively and expressively conveyed: the dance of the bison among the North American Indians, the Indonesian penchak (tiger), the Yakut dance of the bear, the Pamir - the eagle, the Chinese, the Indian - the peacock, Finnish - the bull, the Russian crane, the gusky, the Norwegian cockfighting, etc. There are dances on the themes of rural labor: the Latvian dance of the reapers, the Hutsul dance of the woodcutters, the Estonian dance of the shoemakers, the Belarusian lianok, the Moldavian poame (grapes), the Uzbek silkworm, buttermilk (cotton). With the advent of handicraft and factory labor, new folk dances appear: the Ukrainian cooper, the German dance of glass blowers, the Karelian “How the cloth is weaved”, etc. The folk dance often reflects the military spirit, valor, heroism, scenes of battle are reproduced (“pyrrhic” dances of the ancient Greeks, combining dance art with fencing techniques, Georgian horumi, berikaoba, Scottish sword dance, Cossack dances, etc.). The theme of love occupies an important place in dance N. t. originally these dances were frankly erotic; later, dances appeared expressing the nobility of feelings, a respectful attitude towards a woman (Georgian Kartuli, Russian Baynov's Quadrille, Polish mazur).

Each nation has developed its own dance traditions, plastic language, special coordination of movements, methods of correlating movement with music; for some, the construction of a dance phrase is synchronous with a musical one, for others (among Bulgarians) it is not synchronous. The dances of the peoples of Western Europe are based on the movement of the legs (the arms and body, as it were, accompany them), while in the dances of the peoples of Central Asia and other countries of the East, the main attention is paid to the movement of the arms and body. In folk dance, the rhythmic principle always dominates, which is emphasized by the dancer (stomping, clapping, ringing rings, bells). Many dances are performed to the accompaniment of folk instruments that dancers often hold in their hands (castanets, tambourine, drum, doira, accordion, balalaika). Some dances are performed with household accessories (scarf, hat, dish, bowl, bowl). The costume has a great influence on the character of the performance: for example, a long dress that covers the soles of the feet helps the smoothness of the movement of Russian and Georgian dancers; a characteristic movement in the Russian and Hungarian men's dance is a beating on the tops of hard boots.

The flourishing and popularity of folk dance in the USSR contributed to the emergence of a new stage form - folk dance ensembles. In 1937, the USSR Folk Dance Ensemble was created, which approved the stage folk dance in professional choreography. Folk dance elements are also used in classical ballet. Professional folk dance ensembles and song and dance ensembles have been created in all the republics of the Soviet Union. Professional and amateur collectives of folk stage dance are widespread in countries around the world (see Dance).

Folk architecture, fine and decorative arts include tools, buildings (see Wooden architecture, Dwelling), household utensils and household furnishings (see Wood in art, Iron, Ceramics, Art varnishes, Furniture, Copper, Art vessels, Glass ), clothes and fabrics (see Embroidery, Kilim, Carpet, Lace, Heel, Clothes, Artistic fabrics), toys (See Toy), Lubok, etc. Pottery, weaving, artistic carving, decorative painting, forging, artistic casting, engraving, embossing, etc. Folk architecture and arts and crafts belong to material production and are directly constructive in nature; hence the fusion in them of aesthetic and utilitarian functions, imaginative thinking and technical ingenuity.

Creating and shaping the objective environment and giving an objective and aesthetic expression to labor processes, everyday life, calendar and family rituals, N. t. From time immemorial was an integral part of the slowly changing system of folk life. In some features of N. t. Standards of labor and life, cults and beliefs, dating back to the Neolithic and the Bronze Age, can be traced. The most common element of N. t. Is the ornament, which was born in antiquity, which helps to achieve the organic unity of the composition and is deeply interconnected with the technique of execution, the feeling of the object, the plastic form, and the natural beauty of the material. In some ornamental motifs, most of which originally had a mythological meaning ("world tree", "great goddess" with the forthcoming, solar symbols), the features of primitive consciousness, mythological and magical ways of communicating with nature were imprinted. These ancient roots show through, for example, in a folk toy, which traces the features of primitive cult plastics. The works of N. t. Are often inherent in a specific connection with one or another custom, which persists even when the memory of the cult nature or the mythological conditionality of this custom is lost. This also explains the fragility and ephemerality of many items of N. t. (Drawings with sand, painted eggs), designed for periodic reproduction in a regularly repeated rite.

In contrast to the "high" art of the social upper classes, N. t. Does not know the contrasting changes in artistic styles. In the course of its evolution, separate new motives appear, but the degree of stylization and the nature of the interpretation of old motives change more; images, once associated with indigenous ideas about the world, gradually acquired a narrowly utilitarian meaning (for example, in various charms and spell signs that adorned household items) or began to play a purely decorative role, while the shape of the object often underwent only minor structural and functional changes ... The idea of ​​a thing in N. t. Is usually not fixed in the preparatory model or drawing, but lives in the mind and hand of the master; at the same time, the results of his individual ingenuity, leading to the development of the most rational methods of work, must be accepted by the people's collective. Because of this, the tradition, fixed by age-old selection, undergoes constant, but only partial, specific changes. The oldest objects (for example, wooden ladles in the form of a duck) can be extremely close to nature; The later interpretations of these forms in N. t., preserving the original typology and figurative basis, combine them with the centuries-old methods of generalization and decorative stylization, with the rational use of technical means and materials.

As the class differentiation of society, the prerequisites are formed for the emergence of a non-profit material that serves the needs of the lower strata of society and was initially reduced to domestic artistic work for oneself and to rural handicrafts. The presence of a special folk branch is already found in ancient art (for example, in votive objects (see Votive objects) of the Italo-Etruscan circle, reminiscent of Neolithic sculpture). The original monuments of palace and even cult architecture are clearly associated with the simplest ancient examples of folk wooden and stone architecture (Aegean Megaron, Germanic Halle), portable dwellings of nomads, etc., but then the paths of urban and manor construction and folk architecture, serving in mainly peasant life (dwelling house, threshing floor, barn, barn, barn, etc.).

In medieval Europe, feudal-church culture was opposed by the desire to preserve the cultural tradition of the tribal system, economic and political isolation, the cult of local gods; the expression of this becomes the popular stream in medieval art, usually saturated with images of the animal style (see Animal style). The popular worldview, expressed with particular purity in pagan jewelry-amulets, also appears in monuments that are examples of the influence of folk culture on the court and church (such are the reliefs of the Vladimir-Suzdal school (see Vladimir-Suzdal school), grotesque sculpture of Romanesque and Gothic churches, ornamentation of manuscripts). However, the underdevelopment of commodity-money relations, weak differentiation of forms of life, as well as the fundamental anonymity of medieval art and the closeness of its masters to the folk environment did not contribute to the complete isolation of N. t. In countries that later entered the early capitalist stage of development, in particular in medieval Russia, similar the situation persists until the late 17th - early 18th centuries. In the countries of the East, which preserved the medieval way of life especially for a long time (until the 19th and 20th centuries), all decorative and applied art is deeply imbued with folk craft skills, and highly developed art of crafts does not differ fundamentally from crafts for the privileged strata; in the fine arts of a number of countries, the popular stream (Chinese, Japanese, Indian popular prints) is strong. Finally, in countries that have survived colonization, ancient indigenous culture usually served as the basis for N. t., Although it absorbed many features of the brought cultures.

With the disintegration of feudalism and the guild system, a folk art craft working for the market took shape; thanks to this, the art of science, while still maintaining a close connection with the people's way of life, is mastering new types of products, new forms and themes. On the other hand, the revelation of artistic individuality and the cult of ancient art, which became firmly established in the Renaissance, lead to the fact that N. t. Appears more and more clearly as something local, isolated, tied to native antiquity. Folk art culture - works of religious art (votive painting, icons painted on glass, painted sculpture), which developed rapidly from the 16th-17th centuries. (especially in the countries of the Catholic cult), the decoration of festivities, popular prints, with their naive archaism of forms, already have a completely different figurative system than exquisite, sometimes innovatively unusual works of "high" art; a similar discrepancy arises in the style of household items. This gap is less pronounced where folklore elements penetrate deeply into the culture of the privileged classes and the church. In Russia, this manifested itself, for example, in the architecture of the palace in the village. Kolomenskoye (17th century), with its abundance of forms of folk wooden architecture, and in Latin America - in the decor of baroque churches, which absorbed the features of the art of pre-Columbian civilizations. In the 17-18 centuries. in N. t. ideographic principle is noticeably weakened. In plant motifs, now everywhere replacing symbolic and geometric patterns, the decorative system becomes freer and more diverse. More and more fresh observations and everyday plots are penetrating into scientific literature, and the desire for a fairy-tale folklore interpretation of the life of the upper strata of society, for borrowing the forms of dominant styles, and for imitating the texture of expensive and time-consuming materials, is growing. However, new motifs and forms (Renaissance, Baroque, Empire style), penetrating into N. t., Retain only a very distant resemblance to the model, simplifying and solidifying in a rhythmically clear decorative scheme. In general, for the 17th - early 19th centuries. the heyday of N. t. falls, which gave an extraordinary variety of its types and forms. This was facilitated by equipping N. of t. Materials and tools previously inaccessible to him, the emergence of new technical capabilities, the broadening of the horizons of folk artists, and the development of folk lyrics and satire.

In the 19th century. the intensively developing art handicraft production is more and more involved in the system of the capitalist economy; the commercial craft in most countries is completely separated from the conservative domestic craft. In Russia, after 1861, folk arts and crafts acquired the character of private workshops working for the all-Russian market. The narrow specialization of crafts, the growing division of labor and the standardization of motives give rise to patterns and shapes that are extremely merged with virtuoso techniques of technical execution (sometimes reaching almost machine speed); at the same time, handicraft, mechanically impeccable craftsmanship is increasingly replacing creativity. By imitating the models of mass urban production, often accidental and anti-artistic, the masters destroy the unity of technical and aesthetic principles typical of folklore. Compositions, previously strictly organized, saturated with semantic associations, become freer, but less logical. In painting, tempera paints are supplanted by oil paints, and later by aniline; folk icons and popular prints are replaced by Oleographies; in plastic, the three-dimensional object form loses its architectonicity. The image and ornament, previously merged with the thing, now become, as it were, a picture pasted onto the surface. Some industries, unable to compete with cheap factory products, decline or die out, but others arise and expand, using mostly technology, style, and even examples of professional easel art and commercial art industry. In a number of countries that previously possessed the richest N. t. (England, Denmark, the Netherlands), it almost completely disappears, but is intensively developing in industrially backward areas that have preserved powerful layers of medieval culture (northern province in Russia, Brittany in France, Tyrol in Austria , Slovakia, Balkan countries, Spain, Sicily in Italy).

From the middle of the 19th century, following the recognition of the value of verbal folklore, in a number of countries there was an interest in folk decorative art. Since that time, the aesthetics of the art of painting (both national and exotic), its colorfulness and rhythm have increasingly influenced professional architecture and the fine and decorative arts. The collection of collections of scientific literature begins, public organizations and philanthropic circles revive a number of dying trades and organize new ones. This activity acquired a special scope at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries. with the spread of the "Modern" style and associated national-romantic trends. However, imposing easel-type solutions on folk craftsmen, artists and theorists of "modern" often showed a lack of understanding of the specifics of N. t. Similar mistakes were made later (including in the Soviet practice of the 1930s-1950s); in a number of capitalist countries, on the contrary, attempts were made to bring folk sculpture and ornament closer to abstract art.

The works of modern N. t. Are mainly decorative items and souvenirs, figuratively testifying to the originality of the folk culture of a particular area; through their clearly handcrafted appearance, they endow the traits of national tradition and immediate humanity in an environment created mainly by standardized industrial means. Folk arts and crafts play an important role in the economies of developing countries. In many countries (primarily in the USSR and other socialist states) funds are being sought to protect folk crafts and their artistic originality, the activities of folk craftsmen are encouraged through competitions and exhibitions, vocational schools and colleges train artists and performers. With the participation of scientific research institutes and museums, traditions are thoroughly studied and samples of N. t. Are collected, in particular, in order to highlight products and decorative techniques that are consonant with the modern way of life. N. t. Has an unrelenting influence on the art industry, helping to find the most expressive forms and decor of household items; individual traits of N. t. live in the works of amateur craftsmen, as well as professional artists using the experience of folk art. In the USSR, a number of stalled folk crafts have been revived, many have received a new development and orientation associated with Soviet life (for example, the former centers of icon painting became world famous centers of lacquer miniature). In the diverse types and genres of Soviet scientific literature, the careful preservation of folk traditions is combined with a breadth of interests and an active perception of Soviet reality.

On N. t. Of various peoples, see the sections Literature, Architecture and Fine Arts, Music, Ballet, Drama Theater, Circus in articles on individual countries and republics of the USSR.

Lit .: Chicherov V.I., K. Marx and F. Engels about folklore. Bibliographic materials, in the collection: Soviet folklore, No. 4-5, M. - L., 1934; Bonch-Bruevich VD, VI Lenin on oral folk art, "Soviet Ethnography", 1954, No. 4; Lenin's heritage and the study of folklore, L., 1970. Propp V. Ya., Specificity of folklore, in the book: Proceedings of the anniversary scientific session of Leningrad State University. Section of Philological Sciences, L., 1946; his, Folklore and Reality, "Russian Literature", 1963, no. 3; Chicherov VI, Questions of theory and history of folk art, M., 1959; Gusev V.E., Aesthetics of folklore, L., 1967; PG Bogatyrev, Questions of the theory of folk art, M., 1971; Kravtsov N.I., Problems of Slavic folklore, M., 1972; Chistov KV Specificity of folklore in the light of information theory, "Problems of Philosophy", 1972, No. 6; Schulze F. W., Folklore ..., Halle / Saale, 1949; Cocchiara G., Storia del folklore in Europa, Torino, 1952 (Russian translation - M., 1960); Corso R., Folklore, 4th ed., Napoli, 1953; Thompson S., Motifindex of folk-literature, v. 1-6, Bloomington, 1955-58; Aarne A. The types of the folktale. A classification and bibliography, 2 ed., Hels., 1964; Krappe A. H., The science of folklore, N. Y., 1964; Bausinger H., Formen der "Volkspoesie", B., 1968; Vrabile G., Folclorul. Obiect. Principii. Metodă. Categorii, Buc., 1970.

Melts M. Ya., Russian folklore. Bibliographic index, 1945-1959, L., 1961; the same 1917-1944, L., 1966; the same 1960-1965, L., 1967; Kushnereva Z.I., Folklore of the peoples of the USSR. Bibliographic sources in Russian (1945-1963), M., 1964; Volkskundliche BibliogrgIphie B, -Lpz., 1919-957; [Continuation], in: Internationale volkskundliche BibliogrgIphie Bonn, 1954-70.

Bartok B., Why and how to collect folk music [trans. from Hung.], M., 1959; Kvitka K.V., Fav. works ..., t. 1-, M., 1971-1973; Essays on the Musical Culture of the Peoples of Tropical Africa, collection of articles. Art., comp. and rub. L. Golden, M., 1973; Bose F., MusikaIlische Völkerkunde, Freiburg im Breisgau, 1953; Nettl B., Theory and method in ethnomusicology L. 1964; Brăiloiu S. Folklore musical, in his book: CEuvres, v. 2, Buc., 1969, p. 19-130.

Alferov A. D., Petrushka and his ancestors, M., 1895: Onchukov N. E., Northern folk dramas, St. Petersburg, 1911; Russian folk drama of the 17th-20th centuries. Texts of plays and descriptions of performances, ed., Entry. Art. and comments by P. N. Berkov, M., 1953: History of Western European theater, under the general editorship of. S. S. Mokulsky, t. 1, M., 1956; Avdeev A.D., The origin of the theater, M. - L., 1959; Vsevolodsky-Gerngross V.N., Russian oral folk drama, M., 1959; Dzhivelegov A.K., Italian folk comedy ..., 2nd ed., M., 1962; Cohen C. Le théâtre en France au moyen-âge, v. 1-2, nouv. éd., P., 1948.

Tkachenko T. S. Folk dance M., 1954; Goleizovsky K. Ya. Images of Russian folk choreography, M., 1964; The encyclopedia of social dance, N. Y., 1972.

K. V. Chistov(literature),

I. I. Zemtsovsky(music),

N.I.Savushkina(theatre),

A. K. Chekalov, M. N. Sokolov(architecture, fine and decorative arts).

"Man-nature-culture"

"The level of culture of the era,

as well as an individual,

determined by the attitude

to the past. "

A.S. Pushkin

Folk art is the past in the present. A living tradition that invariably preserves the chain of succession of generations, peoples, eras. Folk art has been pushed to a new level of contemporary problems by the century of space conquest, scientific and technological progress and the ecological crisis.

Throughout the history of mankind, folk art has been an essential part of national and world culture. M. Gorky wrote: “The people are not only a force that creates all material values, they are the only and inexhaustible source of spiritual values, the first philosopher and poet in time, beauty and genius of creativity, who created all the great poems, all the tragedies of the earth and the greatest of them - history of world culture "1.

Professional artists never stop turning to folk art, drawing ideas and inspiration from it. However, the depth of awareness of this appeal is determined by history, social changes, and spiritual needs. The spirit of ideas in art revives in it folk forms, folk poetics, but each time in a new way at the level of the ideological and artistic aspirations of the century.

In the same connection, folk art itself undergoes a different attitude towards itself.

The epoch of the decline of public interest in it, when it often became "despicable", is replaced by epochs of close attention, which always had its own historical reasons and which is a fact of the non-decreasing vitality of folk art. Having fierce opponents, it always had fiery defenders.

Hence the problem of folk art, its presentation presents its own history. But it was not so much the scientific development of the concept of an object and the issues of its theory that turned out to be decisive in it, as a view of it as part of the general problem of tradition and innovation. This made it difficult to evaluate folk art in terms of its own values. And if oral, musical folklore was an area of ​​study of special sciences, then fine folklore, being the subject of general art history, was studied for a long time by methods developed on the basis of professional art, remained without theory.

Its absence has become acutely felt over the past two decades, when science and the public were faced with the fact of the revival of folk art - a fact unexpected for those who believed that folk art was a long turned page of the past. Life has shown that folk art not only lives and develops, but every year the need for it grows all over the world. Interest in folk art is growing with rapid force in connection with the problems of the countryside, the countryside in the era of developed urbanism, in the aspect of general issues of spiritual culture in the modern world, the protection of nature, the human environment.

A decisive line in relation to folk art in our country was drawn by the historic decree of the Central Committee of the CPSU "On folk arts and crafts" (1974) and the Constitution (Basic Law) of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (1977). However, the problems of artistic practice and scientific study have not yet received a proper solution, and primarily questions of theory.

The Resolution of the Central Committee of the CPSU states: "Folk arts and crafts, which is part of the Soviet socialist culture ... actively influences the formation of artistic tastes, enriches professional art and expressive means of industrial aesthetics."

The problem posed in this way requires the researcher to combine the artistic, cultural, historical aspects of the study of folk art, since it is affirmed in culture not in an individual-subjective, but in a spiritual-value content, formed by collective principles, since cognitively in the qualities of historical and spiritual, moral and national -psychological. Why it cannot be limited only to the aesthetic sphere, how it cannot be understood in a formal analysis that does not take into account the content and dialectics of development.

Folk art is a huge world of the spiritual experience of the people, artistic ideas that constantly feed the professional and artistic culture.

However, for a long time it was incorrectly viewed as just a step on the path of development to a higher level - the art of individual artists. The creativity of the folk master, assessed from these positions, was reduced to the role of an appendage of modern decorative and applied art. This situation introduced a lot of negative things into the activities of folk arts and crafts, and created flawed trends in the development of thought and practice. At the root of all mistakes was the substitution of values, which has not been eliminated until now. This is the reason for many painful phenomena in the practice of folk art to this day.

The look at it as a relic of the past, subject to all kinds of modernizations and alterations, has become so established that it has become customary not only for the leaders of industries, artists who come to work there, but also for some art critics who draw this line on the pages of the press. This explains the polemical intonations in the statement of fundamental positions, in the theoretical formulation of questions on the pages of our book. In the course of numerous discussions, which until recently filled the pages of art history magazines, it was necessary to defend what, in denial, was sometimes chopped off the shoulder. It is significant that now, in the discussion of the fate of folk art, the recently debated question "Is folk art possible in the age of scientific and technological revolution?" replaced by another question: "What is folk art?" The theory of its withering away has found a new expression in the proclamation of folk art at the present stage as an independent individual creativity. In general, this judgment connects folk art with the past, it boils down to the following three provisions. The first is the fusion of folk art with the art industry. Due to inertia, this attitude continues to be declared by some art critics as theoretical, while the art of the last decade has raised the aesthetics of man-made things and folklore in general. At the same time, it acquires a new meaning and interest in the spiritual and value content of folk art, its tradition.

The second position, repeated in individual articles, boils down to equating creativity in folk crafts with the art of individual artists, while denying the local features of the former, its orientation towards tradition. This not only undermines continuity - the main force of development, but also breaks the collectivity of creativity, the culture of craftsmanship in the craft.

The third position, which we have already mentioned earlier, identifies folk art with the work of amateur artists. And this, in essence, is also his negation.

Some negative directions in practice correspond to the three points noted. The leveling of local features led to the mass creative facelessness of the products created in the craft, the breaking of cultural continuity, to the destruction of the ornamental system of folk art. This requires careful study, if only in order not to repeat the mistakes of the past.

In fact, the opposite happens most often. In pursuit of imaginary novelty and for the approval of these theses, reinforcement is sought from authorities, in the statements of V.S.Voronov, A.V. Bakushinsky fifty years ago and long outdated, often dictated by the situation of the time and not related to the scientific concept of scientists in general. Without an attempt at critical reflection, these often random statements are repeated as initial ones, they are trying to pass off as a theoretical setting, which does not at all promote thought and does not help practice. The rather strong entrenchment of erroneous opinions can be explained by the fact that until the 60s, Soviet decorative art was most often represented by works of folk crafts, from which the artistic industry originated. All this taught to look at folk art as a non-independent form of creativity, did not give an opportunity to see its true value. It was artificially adapted to methods of individual creativity that were alien to its system.

Of course, all these circumstances do not give the right to believe now that folk art has no place in modern culture. Meanwhile, just such a conclusion, scientifically incompetent, has been prevalent for a long time. Remaining unjustified theoretically, it gave rise to many negative tendencies in the art of handicrafts, from easel painting in the 40-50s, ending with the denial of ornamentation and decorativeness in the first half of the 60s, which will be discussed specifically.

Now, everything is beginning to be attributed to folk art: from glass and ceramics by professional artists to factory products - fabrics and porcelain. The concept of "folk art" still remains not only unclear, but even non-existent in art history practice as an aesthetic category. It is equated with the concept of "national property" in the broadest sense. You can often hear: "Is the art of handicrafts folk art?", "Is folk art necessary in the age of technological progress?", "Isn't it just the past?" And these questions are discussed on the pages of magazines, all kinds of false theories are put forward, scientifically, as a rule, not substantiated. However, the very fact of such questions arising is explained by the fact that there is still a lack of a theoretical position in the formulation and solution of the problems of modern folk art, despite some serious works. Much that is written about folk art does not have the proper scientific level, and is often determined by opportunistic considerations. Otherwise, it is impossible to explain the striking gap between the statements in published works and the realities of practice itself, 3 between the difficulties that folk art is experiencing, on the one hand, and on the other, the growing need for its works every day.

It should be noted that a flawed position in the view of folk art hinders its study, leads to unproductive arbitrary conclusions in scientific works. Many questions are raised and resolved, as before, by analogy with professional art.

Actually, folk art, in which our country is so rich, is passed off as an anachronism and is still not understood in its entirety and necessity as a part of spiritual culture. It is not uncommon to hear or read that the environment of a person in the technicized world technicizes art in its own way. At the same time, the person himself is not taken into account at all. Meanwhile, the standard of thinking in the age of technicism, issuing "ready-made blocks", brings them down not only on the viewer of exhibitions, but also on the person in his daily environment. And behind this lies the danger of the technicalization of perception itself, the entire structure of feeling, vision, which inevitably eats away at the living tissue of art, deadens its spiritual trepidation, and finally destroys the humanity of the environment itself. And then there is neither our own, nor someone else's, nor personal, nor common, in honor of which so many empty declarations are made.

In the first place in the understanding of art, it is not what is expressed by it that is put forward, but how it is done; this is often presented as an end in itself. But is it worth it to prove that our era, like every other in its own time, introduced new rhythms, new forms, new means and even a new world of creativity - technical aesthetics into art? This is obvious and logical. However, this does not determine the inner goal of art, spiritual culture as a whole. On the main path of their development, the comprehension of truth, truth, beauty cannot disappear. Can an artist, if he is an artist, perceive the visual sequence of his environment without worrying about the movement of ideas that excites society? Consciously or subconsciously, one way or another, it reflects the existing trends in the worldview of the era.

If not long ago artists and poets strove to introduce the world of technology into the world of man and even to technicalize his image, today, which is indicative, a different desire comes - to find in man himself what is human and through him to influence the technicized world. And this raises the question of the values ​​and integrity of art, as well as culture itself, in a completely different way. It makes us look more closely, deeper into folk art, in its connection with nature and history, not only within the ethnos, but also on a planetary scale.

The problem of "man and the world", in whatever aspect it is taken in art, naturally, cannot be solved in isolation from human essence, ultimately from that "higher goal" which, according to Kant, the existence of man has in itself. Otherwise, it would mean to take the position of Western science fiction writers who prophesy in the future "planet of the apes."

As you know, one of the acute problems of the modern West is the alienation of a person, equating him with a thing. But no matter how human life is chained into the unnatural, artificial, nature, in the end, still dictates its natural laws, the laws of life itself. The connection between man and the earth cannot disappear!

In the vastness of our vast country, folk art lives and develops in an unusually wide variety of national, regional, regional and regional schools of folk art, in the continuity of traditions. And any attempt to see in folk art only an anachronism, alien to the modern age, the desire to prove that it does not develop and is finally destroyed by capitalism, is refuted by life itself. In recent years, the activity of enthusiasts has expanded, discovering new talented craftsmen, new schools of folk art.

The centers of folk art spread across the country and in no small number in Russia testify to the great creative potential of the people. After all, each hearth has its own talents, its own traditions, its own artistic systems and methods, verified in the experience of many generations of folk craftsmen. And this experience builds a culture of tradition that strengthens the nationality of the art of professional artists. Thus, the traditional not only nourishes the new, it organically enters the context of the era. The 70s marked a particularly noticeable milestone in artistic culture. The role of decorative art in the organization of the environment increased, industrial aesthetics gained wide scope, and decorative art itself was defined in its spiritual value and took a place equal to painting and sculpture.

In such a situation, folk art is also called upon to take its place in the system of modern culture, corresponding to its essence. Scientific responsibility in solving his problems must be increased. Responsibility is personal and responsibility is shared in the face of history. Only from the standpoint of such responsibility can one approach a productive solution, first of all, issues of conditions, incentives for its development. Many superficial judgments, a head-on understanding of the erasure of boundaries between town and country, in connection with which the supposedly natural disappearance of folk art is incorrectly put, should be subjected to fundamental "criticism, since they bring irreparable troubles to the living art of villages, contribute to the destruction of the high spiritual values ​​of the people.

We must not forget that the rapprochement between the village and the city is a complex, lengthy, far from unambiguous process, in which there are all sorts of excesses, accompanied by the denial of cultural heritage4.

It has long become clear that the rural worker, no matter how the mechanized forms of his work change, still retains the peculiarities of labor determined by the very fact - the cultivation of the land, the entire specificity of agricultural production. "This feature of agricultural labor will acquire an ever greater attractive force and social value, influencing the conditions of settlement, work and rest of the entire population."

“Man lives by nature. This means that nature is his body, with which a person must remain in the process of constant communication, “so as not to die” 6.

“As continuously humanity reproduces itself in the birth and childhood of a child, so continuously it reproduces itself in the cultivation of the earth,“ so as not to die ”7.

And this means that the direct connection of man with the earth, with nature is always preserved, the basis for folk art always remains, which continues to carry the fullness of its spiritual content and does not at all turn into a play of shapes, lines and color, accessible only to aesthetic admiration and intended, as some think, for the free stylization of a professional artist, for "playing around", as they like to say. Even this understanding of the purpose of folk art puts it in a row of something secondary in relation to genuine art, asserts the uniqueness of its content. And any formalization of artistic qualities, means deprives creativity of the sense of life, in the final analysis, gives rise to impersonal art, directed at itself.

On the other hand, the mass replication of works of folk art, turned into a souvenir industry, is the same lack of understanding of its meaningful principles.

The thesis of the fusion of folk art with industry turns into a folk industry, bringing unification and standardization to folk art. The artist's example becomes defining in this setting. In this case, the threads of continuity of folk craftsmanship break, it falls catastrophically. As a result, artistic systems in the art of folk crafts are breaking down, schools of folk traditions are being destroyed, which suffered significant damage during the periods of easel-style dominance in the 50s and no decor - in the 60s, when ornamentation was placed beyond the modern. In those periods, folk art was depersonalized in its regional, national, marginal features, averaged in its artistry. We have witnessed how often, instead of truly living art, phenomena were put forward that were internally flawed, artistically unpromising.

In such a situation, there was an obvious substitution of values ​​both in science and in practice itself, which inevitably turned into stagnation of scientific thought and troubles for folk art. But where, in this case, are the criteria for correctly understanding and managing folk art?

Where are the sources of his never-ending creative power hidden? They must be sought in folk art itself, in its connections with what is eternally valuable for mankind - with nature and culture. It is necessary to capture the historical dynamics, in other words, to understand cultural development.

It must be said that the science of folk art, due to its youth, remains as yet a little studied area of ​​knowledge. It is this, in the first place, that can explain the spread of casual and superficial judgments, points of view that currently claim to be a scientific direction, while remaining at the same time only a look that easily changes from fashion trends.

This situation has arisen due to the undeveloped nature of many of the fundamental problems of folk art. Until recently, in numerous discussions that filled the pages of our magazines, it was necessary to defend folk art not only as a spiritual culture, but also as an independent type of artistic creation.

It is precisely this approach to the formulation of the problem that was lacking in the works of V.S.Voronov and A.V. Bakushinsky (which we will discuss in more detail later). In the 1950s, A. B. Saltykov, who laid the foundations for understanding the specifics of decorative art, at the same time did not touch upon the theoretical formulation of the problems of folk art proper. At the present stage, it turned out to be separated from its past by an impassable line. It was in this direction that scientific thought developed, wishing to see everything in modern folk art, just not what it really is. Until now, in solving problems of theory and practice, little consideration is given to the results of studies of pre-revolutionary folk art in the works of the 60s and 70s by BA Rybakov, GK Wagner, and VM Vasilenko. Thus, the question itself is: what is passed off as folk art? - is of deep fundamental importance and is now becoming very acute.

In this regard, the problem of integrity is becoming topical8. It is especially important to know the origins of folk art, its living springs of creativity, enriching the entire culture, in the integrity of life - in the complexes of rural life and the nature surrounding man and the cultural continuity of traditions9. They are not only different among peoples, but also different in every region. But how, in this case, to overcome the inertia of thought, which continues to rely on attitudes refuted by time, such as the erasure of local features and signs of schools of folk art? After all, this attitude even now makes itself felt in fruitless calls for creativity without traditions.

How to find an effective unity of theory and practice, and not an imaginary one? These questions have to be answered.

If folk art is a spiritual culture, which, presumably, there is no doubt now, if it is a living part of modern culture (many exhibitions eloquently testify to this, and in particular the 1979 All-Union Exhibition of Folk Art, the first after a 15-year hiatus), Finally, if interest in folk art grows (this is obvious both in our country and abroad), then first of all it is necessary to recognize the peculiarities of folk art as a cultural integrity and, accordingly, to solve its scientific, artistic, creative, organizational problems.

Are we helping or hindering such a clarification of the matter? This question cannot but confront everyone who, in one way or another, by their kind of activity, is associated with folk art.

In the conditions of the sharpest contradictions between the modern technical achievements of mankind and the level of its morality, when the planet Earth was under the threat of destruction, it became necessary to look for new contacts with nature and to revive the lost ones. In this atmosphere, the eternal values ​​of culture sounded with extraordinary power. The craving for them increases along with the craving for nature, for the earth. At the same time, the value of natural and art is being revived. Until recently, the theme of man, the conqueror of nature, absorbed all other aspects of the relationship with her. But the conqueror often becomes a consumer, a squander of her wealth. Man, iron robot, who is he - the guardian of nature or her gravedigger?

Many contemporary artists are looking for the unity of man with nature, they move away from the rigidly drawn path of depicting the hero-conqueror. In the art of the 60s and 70s, the natural principle is noticeably enhanced, and, first of all, in decorative and applied art, with its decisive turn from utilitarian and technical things to uniquely artistic, to imagery, plasticity. Thus, in the work of the Shushkanovs, in a new, unexpected form, a connection was found between natural and folk principles, which had noticeably faded away in the art of previous years. Something similar happens in ceramics and art glass. The search for connections with folk tradition is inseparable from interest in national arts and, in general, in the culture of the past. In folklore, nature is always the exponent of Beauty, Goodness, it is merged with the moral world. Therefore, the natural acts as a criterion for human values. And this raises the problem of folk art in conditions of unlimitedly growing technical capabilities to a new level of environmental problems of the modern world.

The ecology of nature, the ecology of culture cannot but include the ecology of folk art as a part of culture, as a part of nature, with which man is initially associated.

By posing this question, we also determine the way of its solution in the system man - nature - culture.

Such a new formulation of the problem of folk art raises it to a level of great relevance, allows one to penetrate deeper into the content of images, helps to understand its essence as an independent integrity. We undertook a theoretical understanding of the problems of a huge area of ​​folk art in order to determine its artistic nature, spiritual value and, accordingly, its place in culture.

As a part of culture, folk art is both nature itself and the historical memory of the people, the unbreakable connection of times. Aesthetic unity, the integrity of folk art is evidence of its highly moral foundations. It is from these positions, reflected in the illustrative series of our book, that folk art is considered and questions of its theory are solved.

This is the problem of the general and the particular, which determines the interaction of professional art and folk art, it is also the question of the own specificity of folk art as a special type of artistic creation, the forms of its development and connections with nature. Finally, the main questions are about the values, essence, nature of the collective, about the content of the concepts of "folk art" and "folk master". The study of the key issues of the theory will allow, according to the specifics of the subject, to deepen the methodological principles of studying folk art. It will help to understand its place in the cultural system, a huge role - historical, moral, aesthetic - in human life, in the spiritual development of culture, its construction in the present for the future. The material of our book will be the folk art of many nationalities of our country, mainly over the past two decades.

So, we will consider folk art, first of all, as a world of spiritual values.