While we awaited his arrival, I managed to interview some of the participants of the youth Forum. Shamil Sadykov: “The activities here are very interesting. Every two days we celebrate a Day of one of the Caucasian republics. The most impressive thing is that we meet here everyday personalities, whom we are used to on TV only, we can even talk to them and ask them questions.
Sabir Izriev: “We live in tents here, but it’s no inconvenience. The main goal of the Forum is to develop tolerant relations between people from different regions of the Caucasus, and I think it works: I made a lot of new friends here”. Today Dagestani folk music, national dresses and traditional dances were presented on the main stage of the Forum. Products of traditional Dagestani crafts, the famous Untsukulsky wood handicraft technology, invented 200 years ago, were also presented to the guests of the Forum. A widely-known symbol of Dagestan, the burka (a dress made of felt or karakul), was also presented by craftsmen from the Botlikhsky Region of Dagestan.
Burkas are sewn with high, squared-off shoulders, and the wearers will have a distinctive high-shouldered silhouette. This dress was part of the customary male garb of various peoples inhabiting the Caucasus region and was vital in many traditional Caucasian rituals. Burkas were adopted by the Russian cavalry, and worn as part of the Russian military uniform from the mid-18th century until the 1850s, during the Caucasian Wars.
Nowadays, burkas are produced as souvenirs and sold for 2.5 – 3 thousand rubles.
After the concert, the Dagestani President answered questions from the young guests of the ‘Mashuk-2010’ Forum. He reminded his listeners that the next Forum of Caucasian Youth will be held in Dagestan and suggested finding a place for the camp near the sea.
Lada Ledeneva, Pyatigorsk, exclusively to VK.
