Genuine interest in the technologies of the ancients

Within the framework of the XIII EEYF, USUE hosted not only conferences, forums and public lectures. They held master classes, which allowed the forum participants to touch, in the truest sense of the word, the beautiful and try on completely unexpected roles.

“You have both a sword and an ax, and I only have a shield, but if I move close, you can’t do anything to me,” Anton Zherdev, a member of the North Wind historical reenactment club, shows to Violetta Smagina, a participant in the master class.

At the master class, participants and guests of the XIII EEYF immerse themselves in the atmosphere of the past centuries of Rus, in particular Novgorod and Smolensk, as well as Finland, Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Iceland, Hungary, and Ireland.

Club members show vintage samples of clothes and decorations, teach how to assemble armor of metal plates and leather laces, show how to properly hold a shield and different weapons.

“The swords are beautiful, but very heavy. I can’t imagine how people handled them before! I fenced only in a computer game and didn’t think it was so hard, and when I tried it in reality, I even developed respect for my character,” Violetta Smagina shares her impressions.

“I was struck to find out that a chain mail-armor was needed by soldiers not so much to protect against wounds, but to prevent a lot of blood loss,” Veronika Buldakova supports her friend.

The girls even argued whether they use such a believable weapon in the movies  - Do try to swing it in front of the camera for hours, and even in armor! As a result, they are inclined to the fact that professional actors, like members of the North Wind club, get used to the role and use the same heavy weapons as our ancestors.

Even at the master class, you could play the prototype of noughts and crosses, try on the role of a spinner, and even work at a real weaver’s loom, watching how a pattern is created with the help of seemingly simple actions.

As a memento of the journey into the depths of history and the Eurasian Economic Youth Forum, one could pick up a self-made souvenir. For example, to mint a medallion-amulet and weave a woolen lace for it.

“Participants could weave multi-colored laces just in 10 minutes, it’s not difficult,” says Olga Skvortsova, a member of the North Wind club. “We are with them and weave threads for laces on a spindle, and choose from ready-made multi-colored ones, and I talk about each color, how the dye was made for it before.”

“I am so delighted with my amulet!”  Alexander Chinarev says. “The master looked so picturesque! I like the theme of antiquity and I decided to try metalsmithing. Let the amulet help me continue to trust my spiritual impulses!”

Besides, for the participants of the XIII EEYF, a master class on drawing in the Ebru technique was organized: this is an ancient art of painting on water with its further transfer of the image to paper. Ebru master, Elena Khabitdinova, conducts MC together with an aroma consultant Olga Bitner. Experts are convinced that combining pleasant colors with smells of fragrant oils, maintains tone and uplifts the mood while creating a beautiful pattern

“The drawing is wonderfully relaxing, it’s especially nice after defending the project at the competition!” a forum participant from Moscow Eva Ptashnaya said.

“Painting a picture is so interesting, the paint spreads beautifully on the water. My friend and I tried to paint an abbreviation for our college - we will bring a souvenir from EEYF. The second time it turned out to be correctly transferred to paper and we are happy!”  Alexander Makhnutin from Kopeysk said about the master class.