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The same way, 4 years ago, here on the territory of the “Ludorvai” Museum-Reserve, the “Aikai” ensemble carried out a reconstruction of the wedding ceremony. The idea belonged to Denis Knyazev. The photographer decided to create a series of photo books about the weddings of the peoples of the world. As a native of the Malopurginsky region, he decided that the first book in the series would be about the Udmurt rite.
Denis Knyazev, author of the book “Traditional Udmurt Wedding”:
Shooting weddings, I realized that all traditions are levelled - one wedding is similar to another, and there are almost no folk traditions left. So, I decided to reconstruct the wedding ceremony, show it all in books and describe weddings in three languages, in order to reach as much readers as possible.
There is no need to read multi-volume treatises, everything is clear, simple words in three languages — Russian, Udmurt, English — shows the entire wedding ceremony, and Berisha - it is a ceremony in the groom's house and bride's house.
It was possible to collect in one book not only staged photos; it also includes archival materials. The authors showed one of the most complex rites of the Udmurts. The book describes in detail the traditional way of life, clothing, and cuisine of the Udmurt people. The content of the album will be interesting for both ethnographers and ordinary people, the project's scientific Director Alexey Zagrebin is sure.
Alexey Zagrebin, ethnologist, Deputy of the State Duma of Russia:
One can compare what we show in the album now with what it was. This is reflected in the texts, and the texts, in my opinion, are written in good language and even with humour, because a wedding is fun.
Only the bride had no time for fun on the wedding day. According to the Udmurt tradition, the girl literally shed tears. So, for example, the bride's crying could look like in the Northern regions of the Republic.
Now the Udmurt wedding traditions will be known all over the world. The Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs offered to present the album at the UN headquarters in new York in April next year on the Day of Indigenous Peoples. And the authorities of the Republic plan to give the book to foreign delegations.
Anastasia Natalenko, Deputy Chairman of Government of Udmurtia:
These books will be in libraries; they will be in schools. These are gift editions prepared with the support of the Government as part of the centenary of Udmurtia statehood in order to tell the world what a beautiful, multi-ethnic and friendly Udmurtia is.
It is also planned to publish the electronic version of the book on the official website of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Recall, the book “Traditional Udmurt Wedding” was published as part of the project of the Eurasian Peoples’ Assembly “Weddings of the peoples of the world: world cultural heritage”.