“The artisans come together, holding work meetings as they discuss how to weave. They don't treat weaving as a line production; they care about their activity creating value. To them, their mats aren't just striped, colored, red or green; they talk about them differently: “Here we have a sunset, here a field, this is a swamp, and this here is a berry.” That is, they clearly have a very palpable aesthetic perception of their work. Each doormat is special, original. Because it is made of rags, the pattern never repeats,” Irina Mezhinskaya explains.

Village residents are increasingly asking the author of the project: “What can we do, what can we sell, what can we make to earn some money?” It's a story about believing in yourself, Mezhinskaya believes.

“I had another woman approach me; she makes teterkas — local traditional decorated oven-baked rye bread. She said: “I can make teterkas, but I have to come up with the packaging.” Our designer made the logo, and we called the product “Bolshukha's Treat.” Bolshukha is the eldest woman in the family. We also made postcards for her with a description and recipe. Now, when tourists come to this woman's house for lunch, they can buy a box of teterkas to take home. I think this is also a good social effect,” Irina Mezhinskaya says.

FINANCIAL SUSTAINABILITY MODEL

Proceeds from the sales of mats in Moscow at the Northern Heritage Foundation's events and online, as well as at the Foundation's websites.