Museum of Folk Life and Crafts

In 2022, the House Museum of Folk Life and Crafts opened in the village of Tayaty, Krasnoyarsk Krai. It became possible due to the victory of the project “Village is longing for city, and city is longing for village” in the contest “Start-ups in the Field of Culture, Art, and Creative Industries” held by the Presidential Cultural Initiatives Fund. Tayaty is a village in the Karatuzsky District of the Krasnoyarsk Territory, located in the foothills of the Eastern Sayan Mountains on the left bank of the Kazyr River. It was founded in 1890 by Old Believers from Central Russia. The distance to the district centre of Karatuzskoe village is 73 km, the nearest relatively large town, Minusinsk, is 140 km. The old believers of Tayaty village are natives of central Russia.

The museum has a permanent exposition and temporary exhibitions. Household items and handicrafts of the beginning of the XIX century, brought from the Perm Territory, are represented. These are bast boxes, spinning wheels, bast chests, and birch bark tubs. Many utensils from neighbouring villages and Tayata itself: spinner, beam, churn, baskets, tubs, jugs, griddles, brass pans, sieves, chests and much more. There is also a collection of paraffin lamps and towels from all over the Krasnoyarsk region as well as furniture and carpentry tools.

Old photographs, books about old believers and a map of the area’s development can be seen in the museum. And a coal samovar is sure to be set for guests! You can find out more about the exhibition through the museum’s quest for groups of three or more people. For example, participants will be offered to place the dice with the names of the antiquities presented in the museum. The quest lasts 40 minutes.

At the museum you may receive a booklet with the developed cultural tourist route “Inspiration of Tayati” which includes historical facts, information about the craftsmen who live in the village, the natural sights. For instance, there are stone placers in the vicinity of the village, the so-called Tayatski Pillars.

The founders of the museum are the Gorbel family from Novosibirsk, who moved to the village in 2015. The residents actively promote handicrafts and hold workshops at the museum: birch bark, basket weaving, felting, painting, the art of writing with a Russian pen, etc.