Craftswomen create textile version of Belarus’ Red Book
A picturesque canvas of the Belarusian land is covered with multi-coloured flowers from early spring to late autumn. They grow in forests and fields, in flower beds and in gardens. It’s hardly possible to pass them by, without picking delicate flowers. Meanwhile, few of us have thoughts that flowers in bouquets can be represented by rare species. Such plants are united by the Red Book of Belarus which is celebrating its 40th anniversary this year.
In honour of such a significant date, the craftswomen of the Roshva folk club of patchwork lovers from the Polotsk Regional Centre of Crafts and National Cultures, Svetlana Sverzh and Nina Yarmukh, decided to sew their own Red Book. However, before they began a practical part of work, the ladies studied the theory in detail.
“Employees of the Polotsk Natural and Ecological Museum organised a series of master classes and lectures for our club participants. We were invited to learn more of the native nature, watch colour presentations and leaf the pages of Belarus’ printed Red Book over,” Ms. Yarmukh smiles.
The needlewomen have been painstakingly creating a book since January. They face a difficult task: to depict the beauty of plants and make them look alive. Lady’s slipper, white water lily, Siberian iris, meadow lumbago and many other flowers ‘grow’ in the ladies’ book. Authors from Postavy, Mogilev, Minsk and Novopolotsk have also expressed their desire to join the project.
The work is almost complete and soon the pages with rare plants will be collected under a textile cover. On October 15th, an unusual version of the Red Book will be solemnly presented to the Polotsk Natural and Ecological Museum.
