Exhibitions
6+Northern Atlantis
Kolomenskoe
March 27 — September 7, 2025
Tue. - Thu., Sun. 10:00-18:00
Palace of Tsar Alexey Mikhailovich, Towers of Tsar's Daughters, Entrance 7. Bldg 69, 39 Andropov Avenue
Kolomenskoe Museum-Reserve presents the exhibition “Northern Atlantis”. The exhibition at the Palace of Tsar Alexey Mikhailovich is dedicated to the revival and preservation of the beauty of the traditional women’s costume of the Russian North. The project was created in partnership with the “Krokhino Cultural Heritage Revival Center” Charitable Fund and the “Russkie Nachala” Studio.
Today, the concept of the Russian North has become a metaphor for the special culture and gradually disappearing identity. Similar to the concept of Atlantis, it resembles a mysterious mythical civilization that has been irretrievably lost.
The guests of the exhibition will see costumes representing the aesthetics of each of the Russian North regions, telling about the origin and meaning of a traditional costume, as well as its aesthetic features: from unique traditional details and ornaments to various methods of needlework.
Clothing and accessories will be displayed in combination with household items and fragments of architectural objects that reflect both modern and historical aspects of the Russian North folk culture. This will allow the visitors to better understand the diversity and richness of northern traditions, as well as to feel the connection between the past and the present.
The central theme of the exhibition in the Palace of Tsar Alexey Mikhailovich is the history of the Vologda region village of Krokhino, flooded in 1964. At this day, only the church towering over the water remained of the settlement with its distinctive culture. It was this village that was captured in the famous photographs of Sergey Prokudin-Gorsky even before the revolution. The exhibition will feature authentic artifacts raised from under the water, as well as a reconstructed wedding dress from the late 19th — early 20th century. Images from the photographs of Prokudin-Gorsky will come to life in the exhibition space.
One of the curator’s ideas is to show the diversity of the culture of the Russian North, which is often perceived as something whole. The guests will be able to trace the difference between the traditions of different regions through the women’s costume. The exhibition will feature authentic outfits of women from the Russian North and tell about the fate of the villages from where they originate. The geography of the exhibits will cover the provinces of Olonets, Arkhangelsk, Vologda and Novgorod.
The final part of the exhibition will tell about the restoration project of the flooded Church of the Nativity of Christ at Krokhino and the results of ethnographic expeditions aimed at restoring the lost beauty. This will allow visitors to comprehend the richness of northern traditions and feel the connection between the past and the present.