From cheery peasant girls in Tsarist times to Soviet-era cosmonauts to today’s Pussy Riots, the changing face of Russia’s matryoshka nesting dolls reflects the country’s tumultuous history.

For tourists, the dolls inside dolls that generally depict a buxom woman in a coloured headscarf are a must-buy souvenir believed to date back to a centuries-old tradition, but a new exhibition throws up some surprises.

“In Russia, there's a matryoshka practically in every home,” museum director Yelena Titova said. “You can say matryoshkas really reflect the Russian national character.”

Ms. Titova curated an exhibition on the dolls called “No simple toy” at Moscow's Decorative Art Museum that ends mid-September and which captures their diverse reincarnations.............Read more

Source web page:The Hindu