The aspects of teaching folk art at a university

The paper deals with the topical issues of teaching woodcarving, a kind of folk art, to students at a university. The increased interest in modern society to handmade items, crafts, and traditions, the theoretical and practical research, the analysis of relevant sources and facts help the authors discuss the subject matter based on personal teaching practices and field studies of the Folk Art and Crafts Department at Krasnodar State Institute of Culture. The research describes the main types of woodcarving in the Kuban region and presents the findings of ethnographic expeditions carried out within the Krasnodar Territory. The systematic interaction with different museum pieces has ample opportunities for the educational process in the context of high information and communication technology. The paper focuses on the importance of field research conducted by students supervised by teachers and collaboration between students and folk craftsmen when learning woodcarving. The peculiarity of this art determines the specific nature of its teaching and mastering, its historical and technical aspects. The authors conclude that first students should study and systematize the available information on woodcarving and examine its varieties. Then students should gradually master different woodcarving techniques with the help of folk craftsmen, thereby combining academic training and mastership and apprenticeship practices of folk education based on relevant scientific literature and tradition.