Tuvan folk arts and crafts: trends of development and current state

Since the late 19th century, original folk art of Tuva has been the subject of interest and study in Russian scholarly and artistic circles. Tuvan craftsmanship which had existed as home production, became professional by the early 20th century. At that time, expeditions started, and their participants gathered an extensive corpus of historical sources: folk objects of art were purchased for the leading museums of the country, art sketches of household items were created, and first photographing experiments were conducted. Museum collections were formed on the basis of objects acquired in the field. By the 1950s, crafts fell in decline. Over the next period and up to the present day, Tuvan folk art has revived with state and public support. There are some attempts to develop local industry based on traditional technologies. Stone carvers from the village of Kyzyl-Dag in Bai-Tayginsky Kozhuun actively participate in reviving other crafts, and the basics of folk art became included in the educational programs of the region both at the school level and at the level of secondary professional education. Objects of modern folk art, primarily artistic carving from agalmatolite and serpentite, retain their position as a brand of the Republic of Tuva. Interest in the problems of preservation and development of historical and cultural heritage triggered the processes happening in the Tuvan folk art; festivals, scholarly conferences, and workshops have been initiated. It can be concluded that the contemporary Tuvan folk art has been developing in the following areas: manufacturing products using traditional technologies, copying museum designs with their subsequent interpretation and adaptation to contemporary life, and artists’ creative work in line with stylization and use of the present-day technologies.