Dear Lacemakers, I sent the comments about lace in Russia to a super-intellectual friend of mine in town. You know - one of those people who can churn out many books on many subjects, and is now working on her 4th university degree. We became friends because of our mutual interest in ethnic embroideries. We've had some very lively discussions here about the Goddess embroideries of eastern Europe, Greece, Czech Republic, etc.
My friend goes to Russia on personal "spiritual" journeys whenever she can scrape up air fare and arrange for free accommodations with friends there. She has picked up a fair amount of the language. Her spontaneous response follows: I saw Russian lace in Ivanovo, and there seem to be different kinds of lace, some much softer than others. We had a private lecture in Russian, with translation, in a museum there, and they took out sixteenth century fabrics and laces and let us TOUCH THEM. Quite remarkable. All was in storage, and none on display in this museum. I have a feeling this is the common way in Russia: to store the stuff away, and not always under great conditions. But Russia seems to have a bunch of these cultural artifact institutes, to preserve the Russian past, hidden in strange and unexpected buildings and towns. I don't know anything about this Moscow one; I'm not surprised there is one, though. Or, ten, if that happens to be the case. It is such a byzantine and mysterious place. Wonders can pop out right next to absolutely horrible things, glories next to degradations. Jeri Ames in Maine USA Lace and Embroidery Resource Center - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
