Peoples of Russia: Ethnographic exhibition of traditional culture of the Mari people in Yekaterinburg

The Center of Traditional Folk Culture of the Middle Urals (Yekaterinburg) hosts the ethnographic exhibition of traditional culture of Mari Urals people “Mysteries of Mari”.

Ural Mari is small people, living in the South-West of the Sverdlovsk region – in the Achitsk, the Artinsk and the Kranoufimsk districts. Their ancestors in the 16-17 centuries ran away from the forced Christianization and thus were able to maintain archaic rituals, language, unique culture and language beliefs. 

The exhibition "Mysteries of Mari" was the centerpiece of birch grove as the iconic national symbol, revered in the Mari traditional religion. Also the exposition is complemented with male and female costume complexes, women's jewelry, hats, textiles and folk embroidery, musical instruments and household items.

Another section of the exhibition is the Yekaterinburg photographer Sergey Poteryaev with a series of photographs depicting portraits of Mari and originality of the spiritual culture of the Mari. Pictures reflect the unique characteristics of the religious rites in natural cultural places of the Mari - "sacred groves".