UNC Russian Flagship Program brings spoonfuls of culture to campus

Dey Hall was filled with students and music on Wednesday evening for “Spoonfuls of Art," an event hosted by the UNC Russian Flagship Program.

At the event, students painted wooden spoons, following a popular style of Russian folk art, Khokhloma. 

Named after the village of Khokhloma, the painting style is used to decorate wooden tableware and furniture. 

In Khokhloma artwork, flowers, berries, animals and other natural motifs are arranged in intricate patterns. The designs are known for their bold shades of gold, red and green painted on a dark background.

Stanislav Shvabrin, the director of the UNC Russian Flagship Program — a cocurricular and academic program that allows students to advance their knowledge of the Russian language and culture — said the art helped brighten the lives of Khokhloma's citizens. 

He said the art provided people with respite from their daily lives of hard work.

"It is a way of escaping a little bit, the here and now," Shvabrin said.

Wooden spoons and other household items like dishware and vases adorned in the Khokhloma style are often found in Russian homes. 

At the flagship program's event on Wednesday, students also painted matryoshka dolls, or Russian dolls. 

Kat Goodpaster, the program’s assistant director, said she was pleasantly surprised to see the large turnout in attendance. 

“In fact, there was a line down the stairs, and then we had to move students to different classrooms because we had so many people very enthusiastic to paint the wooden spoons and eventually also matryoshka dolls — it was really, really great,” she said. 

Attendees watched a video about the symbolism of Russian folk art before painting their spoons or dolls. Part of the video explained the meanings behind some of Khokhloma's standard colors —  red is beauty, health and love, while black is eternity and sadness. 

Last year, the program hosted craft events where attendees could paint matryoshka dolls or mugs, but “Spoonfuls of Art” is the first to include spoons. These everyday objects are also meant to be festive and serve as a reminder that there is color to life, Shvabrin said.

“We often see these impeccable, geometrically sound designs that lack a symmetry that I think communicates to us, brings it down to our level, and reminds us that anyone can do this,” Shvabrin said. 

First-year Thalya Letterlough said she didn’t know about Khokhloma painting before attending “Spoonfuls of Art.” One of her favorite parts of the event was having the chance to be creative and add her own twist to the activity, she said. 

Letterlough said she hopes the program will host similar events in the future. 

“This is a great way to relax after a long busy day, just to be around people who want to just paint and talk, so it’s really good,” she said. 

Goodpaster said for students to thrive in Russian-speaking countries, they need to connect to the cultures of those places — which the flagship program aims to accomplish by hosting events like “Spoonfuls of Art.”

"I think that it's become increasingly clear that language is not existing in a vacuum, that it is a combination of art, music and science and all the different things, and so I think that it's incredibly important to also learn about the art and to create your own art as a way to express yourself and connect to the culture that is connected to the language for our students," Goodpaster said. 

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