Day #35: Traditional Siberian crafts

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Today we were given the opportunity to try our hand at traditional Siberian painting. In style it reminds me of English canal boat painting. In the Russian tradition the background is always black and the designs painted on top are usually primarily in red and gold, with small amounts of other colours. Usually the designs are flowers and leaves, or just swirling designs. It is popular as a souvenir, but unlike a lot of traditional crafts, it genuinely remains popular with local Russians - in my homestay there is a large table in the design, and many homes and public buildings have something - bowls, tables, spoons, decorative eggs - in the tradition.

Today was my chance to have a go, though I am no artist! We were given boards that had been pre-painted black, given a design, and left to it, with varying results. The tricky thing is getting the amount of paint right, so that it doesn't get lost against the black background, and trying to keep the edges neat. The clean lines of the work of the professionals is amazing. It is easy to be snobby about this kind of touristy activity, it was fun to do in our group.

Also popular in Siberia, though I did not give it a go, are items made from silver birch, unsurprisingly given how much of it there is about. I don't know exactly how they are made, but I presume designs are burnt onto the woven wood. I would be tempted to purchase a souvenir but I don't want to have to carry it around the whole of Asia!

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