Folklore Workshop – Ded Moroz

Each Tuesday afternoon workshop will centre around the myth or folklore topic of that week. The aim will be to discuss ideas surrounding that belief or narrative and to come up with a finished piece using any of the methods and materials that are available. You will have access to paper/card, printing materials (linocut, block, mono or collagraph), paints, drawing materials, 3D resources (clay, paper mache, wire, wool), paints and other bits and pieces. You will have an experienced artist to help you develop your ideas and produce your artwork.

Ded Moroz (literally translated as “Grandfather Frost” or “Father Frost”) is the Slavic equivalent of Santa Claus, prominently featured in Russian and East Slavic cultures. Instead of Christmas, he delivers gifts on New Year’s Eve, typically traveling in a sleigh pulled by a troika of white horses. Unlike Santa Claus, Ded Moroz travels with his granddaughter and helper, the Snow Maiden (Snegurochka), who wears an ice-blue robe. He dresses in a heel-length fur coat (in shades of red, blue, or white), carries a magical staff, and is known to deliver presents directly at the door rather than sliding down chimneys. While his roots are in Slavic mythology as a personification of frost, his current, cheerful gift-bringer persona was heavily promoted in the Soviet Union during the 1930s as a secular holiday icon. His official legendary residence is located in the town of Veliky Ustyug, Russia