Khokhloma at Sochi

There is an awful lot of bad press about the Olympics in Sochi, and I can be quite a complainer, do not get me wrong.  I decided that I was going to try to find good in the Games and in doing so I found something out that I think is cool.  I wondered about the origins of the patchwork flags--and the same patterns adorn the vests of the Sochi competitors. As a quilter, they intrigued me.  I found that they are artistic representations of the popular Russian folk art tradition known as khokhloma.  Wooden objects are painted with lush natural scenes in golds, reds, and greens on a dark blue or black background and it has been said that no tourist leaves the country without an example of this in their suitcase.

The Nizhni Novgorod province is the area where this folk art originated.  The lush green of the flood plain meadows stretches along the low left bank of the Volga made a major contribution to the Russian history; it is a country of many legends. This is the land that was ravaged by the invading Mongol hordes passing through it on their conquest of Europe more than seven centuries back.  The folk arts and folklore flourished there and no other territory in Russia could equal it in the number and originality of the folk arts and crafts that had sprang to life and were developed in the local communities.  These pieced quilt images are meant to evoke that natural beauty--and ironically they reflect the colors of the rainbow.  Stealth support for gay civil rights?  Probably not, but that is what it reminds me of.