All Things Matryoshka

The Russian Club has been focused on the Matryoshka- or Russian nesting dolls- for the past two weeks. First, we painted our own dolls (and, man, some people are so talented and creative!) and then a special guest lecturer visited our club to shed some light on the background of these dolls.

Our wonderful guest speaker and scholar- Professor Helena Goscila from Ohio State University- gave a really interesting talk about the history and significance of the Matryoshka. She shared with us traditional pictures of the dolls, plus some non-traditional ones (like, The Beatles or Alice in Wonderland Matryoshka!)

It turns out that the origins of the Matryoshka doll are unknown, and one theory even supposes that they actually originated in Japan. The dolls became famous after they won a bronze medal at the 1900 Paris Exposition. After that, the world couldn't get enough of the dolls, and they quickly became a famous symbol of Russia.

Check out the gallery for some of my fellow classmates excellent Matryoshka dolls! I painted some as well, but mine are more..abstract...(they're the two little ones in the gallery- was not blessed with the artistic touch). Also included are some fun pics of non-traditional Matryoshka dolls, like Scooby-Doo and The Beatles =).