The exhibition "Christian Folk Culture in the USSR: a Disappearing Heritage" began its work on the ground floor of the Transfiguration Cathedral in Tver with a press screening on November 1 and will last until January 31, 2025. 

The exposition of unique artifacts of folk religious culture – folezh (from the word "foil") icons of the Soviet era was opened with the blessing of Metropolitan Ambrose of Tver and Kashinsky and with the participation of the charitable foundation of the Tver and Kashinsky Diocese for the restoration of ruined shrines.

At the official opening of the exhibition on November 2, the head of the Tver Metropolitan expressed gratitude to the organizers, admitted that he was well acquainted with this art since childhood. According to the archpastor, the presented collection of false images of the Soviet era is a witness to the faith of our people in the difficult age of persecution of the Russian Church:

– When I first entered this hall, my heart sank, because I belong to the generation of the 70s and 80s. My childhood and youth were spent in the years when such icons were in front of my eyes in village houses, in those villages where my grandmothers, my aunt, my uncle lived. These icons were completely different, but they were created by the hands of ordinary people, not professional icon painters. I still have a similar icon of the Mother of God in my apartment in my hometown, which was given as a blessing to my mother for marriage. These images are even understandable and familiar to me. They spread, so I even saw some of them, though in a slightly different version. But I want to thank you for collecting these icons. It's not that simple. Probably, if the icons that are in the houses are appreciated and preserved by families, then they will not be taken away. If they are intended to be destroyed due to various circumstances, thank you for saving them, because although these images are quite simple, it seems to us, but someone would try to create something like this from scratch now. Although they look very simple, but in fact they contain the soul, talents, and skills of people, and most importantly, faith.

In the hardest years of our 20th century, New martyrs and confessors prayed in front of these icons — people who believed and knew how to pray in a completely different way than we do today. They are truly spiritual giants compared to us spiritual dwarfs. And these icons preserve the memory of those people who turned to God, to the saints, to the Mother of God depicted on them, with fervent prayer for their families, their children, and the fate of the Fatherland. And they sometimes kept them secretly, hiding them in closets or covering them with a cloth, hiding them from prying eyes, because at that time it was also unsafe for these icons to be seen in homes. 

The scientific director of the project, Director of the Educational and Scientific Center (UNC) for Visual Studies of the Middle Ages and Modern Times of the Russian State University, Professor Dmitry Antonov, delivered a welcome address from the Rector of the Russian State University for the Humanities A.V. Loginov at the opening of the exhibition:
– It is no exaggeration to say that the project "Christian Folk Culture of the USSR: a disappearing Heritage" is the first and only one of its kind in Russia both in terms of concept and composition of exhibits. The project introduces us to the unique artistic traditions of the spiritual culture of Russia, which were formed and developed even during the difficult time of persecution of the Church. Despite the fact that temples were destroyed and icons were trampled on, people of faith and art were able not only to preserve the heritage of great Russia for future generations, but also to multiply the ancestral traditions of the Russian Orthodox Church in a difficult period for religion.

A striking example of the preservation of these traditions are icons and objects of church worship, which were created by the hands not of craftsmen, but of clergy and ordinary believers from improvised materials in places of detention, such as the concentration camp on Solovki, the homes of the disabled on Valaam, or for home altars and red corners. And His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia told a lot about this, how at home with his brothers, father and grandfather, priests, he organized liturgies and prayer services with closed windows with bowls made of household utensils.
Soviet icons are mute witnesses to the history and destinies of people. Each exhibit presented at the exhibition contains unique stories about faith, perseverance and skill. 
The official opening day of the exhibition was accompanied by curators' lectures on Soviet icons and book presentations.

The organizers presented Metropolitan Ambrose with the book "Halo and Cross: how to read Russian Icons".
During the tour, Metropolitan Ambrose met three icon restorers, students of the Russian State University. 

On Sundays, throughout the exhibition at 15:00, the curators will conduct author's tours and presentations of books about icons of the Soviet era for everyone.
Also, within the framework of the exhibition project, master classes on teaching the technique of making a folezh icon, lectures for representatives of the museum community and local historians on the problem of museification of artifacts of religious art and everyday life of the Soviet era will be held.

Russia's first interregional exhibition project "Christian Folk Culture in the USSR: a Disappearing Heritage" is being held with the support of the Presidential Foundation for Cultural Initiatives in five major Russian cities in 2024-2025. It is dedicated to Soviet icons – unique witnesses of the continuous religious life of the people in the conditions of state atheism. 
The project is being implemented by a team of specialists from the Center for Visual Studies of the Middle Ages and Modern Times of the Russian State State University (head Dmitry I. Antonov) and the Scientific Publishing Center "Indrik" (head Kirill Alekseevich Vakh). The project partners are the Synodal Department for Relations with Society and the Media, the Imperial Orthodox Palestinian Society, and the Mikhail Abramov Society for the Promotion of the Preservation and Popularization of Russian Culture.
The purpose of the exhibition project is to popularize, exhibit and save this material and cultural heritage in the regions of Russia. Thanks to the implementation of the project, unique artifacts and local traditions of the Soviet era will be identified and preserved locally, attracting tourists and opening up new opportunities for the activities of local organizations — local history, historical, children's, church, etc.

According to the materials of the press service of the Tver Diocese 
Photo by Vyacheslav Yurchenko, Dmitry Doronin