Kyiv Hosts the First Ever Crimean Tatars Festival
Kyiv, May 28, 2012. The first Crimean Tatar Festival took place
near Kyiv showcasing the colorful spirit and culture of Crimean Tatars
through traditional dance, song, art, and food. Hundreds of visitors
attended the event, exploring the wonders of the Crimean Peninsula
residents and their lavish and mesmerizing traditional outfits,
intricate embroidery, multi-instrumental Eastern music and dance,
ancient architecture, and amazingly delicious foods. The festival
featured works of art by 50 Crimean Tatar artists and each conducted a
master class in their specific skill.
Crimea is located on the northern coast of the Black Sea, occupying
the Crimean peninsula. The territory of Crimea was conquered and
controlled many times throughout its history by Cimmerians, Greeks,
Scythians, Goths, Huns, Bulgars, Khazars, Byzantine Greeks, Turks,
Mongols, Golden Horde Tatars and many other nations. Given its dynamic
history, Crimea is called home by a variety of different ethnic groups.
Mixed within are the Crimean Tatars who formed themselves as an ethnic
nation between the 15th and 18th centuries and
still exist to this day, although considered an ethnic minority making
only 13 percent of Crimea’s total population. Although so small in
number, the Crimean Tatars have managed to preserve their rich,
original, and multifaceted culture. "We organized this festival with the
idea to ask Crimea Tatar people to showcase their culture and
traditions, in order to demonstrate the mosaic of different cultures
that exist in our multicultural Ukraine,” said Dmytro Zaruba, General
Director of the Crimean Tatar Festival.
Despite the general globalization trend the Crimean Tatars keep their
traditions and promote their own culture while making their
contribution to the treasury of world culture.. The essentials of their
national culture are the art, embroidery, jewelry, architecture, food
and the sort.
A cornucopia of booths showcased the unique and dazzling art of
Crimean Tatar artists. Everything from painted ceramics to wool-knit
clothing was presented and sold at the event. Artists conducted master
classes in looming, embroidery, clay molding, and taught the festival
patrons how to use a kiln. The event glimmered with action. Artist
Rustem Skibin was delighted to share his unique knowledge in
polychromatic painting on ceramic articles, "a traditional ornament has
deep roots in its semantic meaning. All of the elements involved in an
ornament may symbolize many things, a family, or a young girl who must
supply a dowry to her future family. Today the combination of symbols
I’m using has a special message. The message carries wishes of healthy
longevity and well-being for this young bride’s [points to ceramic
piece] future family.”
Crimean Tatar kitchen cuisine is legendary and rich with hearty meats
and freshly harvested summer vegetables. The Crimean Tatar national
dish chebureky (a hand tossed half-moon-shaped dough filled with meat
and fried in oil) has had a lot of influence internationally, becoming
an adopted dish in a number of other nations’ cuisines. At the festival,
patrons were able to feast on chebureki, a variety of slow-roasted
meats, dolma (grape leaves stuffed with summer harvested vegetables),
sarma (savory chard leaves stuffed with minced meat), samsa (a baked
pastry with spiced potato and onion filling), and loads of national
salads and soups.
Hidden in a narrow strip between the Burun Mountains and the Black
Sea, lies the ancient ruins of old Crimean Tatar architecture that very
few people know of. Three architects of the Architect Projection Group
Crimea Tatar, Yunusov Emil, Halilov Sayran, and Kerimov Edem explore the
unknown corners of Crimean Tatar design through architectural modeling
and pictures. "We have a huge project in the making. We are going
through negotiations where we will make an ethnographic village,
designed in the old-styled architecture in the Bilogorsk region of
Crimea. It’s a means of preserving and educating tourists about the
Crimean Tatars,” said Yunusov Emil.
The Crimean Tatars go to great lengths to preserve their beloved and
uniquely beautiful culture. Although such a small ethnic group in the
large country of Ukraine, it shows that even the smallest of cultural
details are important to maintain and protect. "About 3,000 people
visited our festival today. The attending artists are extremely happy
with this. Showcasing their culture, here in Kyiv, is very much
important to them,” concluded Zaruba. | 