Traditional Costume Research Articles

CULTURAL HERITAGE OF THE RYAZAN TRADITIONAL COSTUME AS A BASIS OF ARTISTIC CONCEPTION

The article considers the complexes of traditional costumes of the Ryazan province of the late XIX – early XX cen- tury of the Sergiev Posad Historical and Art Museum – Reserve as an artistic and creative source of the formation of the artistic culture of students. The material base was: the exhibition «Ryazan Madonnas» of the Sergiev Posad Historical and Art Museum – Reserve, a collection of student term papers and diploma practical works of the workshop of traditional Russian costume of the Department of the National Academy of Fine Arts of Moscow State University, creative works of the winners of regional competitions of decorative, applied and fine arts of the Moscow region within the framework of the regional festival of children’s and youth artistic and technical creativity «Young Talents of Muscovy».

An Exploration of the Differences between Chinese and Western Costumes in the Archaeological Archaeology of Clothing Culture in Different Periods of Agriculture.

Countries around the world have different historical development processes in different periods of agricultural economic environment, and have formed different costume culture characteristics. This study analyzes the differences in aesthetic standards in Chinese and Western clothing cultures, as well as the differences between Chinese and Western costumes in color design, structural design, and dress methods, and elaborates the main reasons for the differences between Chinese and Western clothing cultures. The study focuses on the characteristics and differences of traditional clothing art culture in various places, but because of the differences in historical conditions, lifestyles, psychological qualities, and traditional ideas and cultural concepts, there are great differences between the traditional costume art culture concepts in China and the West. Based on this, the study specifically explains the difference between the two through the comparison of the aesthetic characteristics of the traditional costume art culture concepts in the Middle East and the West, and the difference in the expression of the Middle East and Western clothing art.

Cultural Analyzation of Myanmar Ethnic Group by the Artificial intelligence technology

Artificial Intelligence technology was created to be capable of human intelligence. In accordance with Artificial intelligence technologies have been increasingly using and proved much of adequate accomplishments have been done beyond limitations. Nowadays, machine learning is getting used widely in culture fields such as image processing and audio processing for paintings and music. In accordance with these facts, AI has become a powerful technique to create more Art works with innovation and creativity. Based on these concepts, present research has materialized to be a system that could involve in cultural analysis and has been done by classifying and analyzing Myanmar ethnic majority cultures with AI technologies. Culture is a national characteristic and knowledge for nations and countries. Hence, Myanmar cultures have been analyzed with AI technologies called Convolutional Neural Network (CNN) and Self-Organizing Maps (SOM). Being CNN technology is a unique and widely used technology in imagery classification. In the purposed classification method, firstly Myanmar ethnic traditional costume data have been classified with CNN and then its output classes are being clustered again by Self-Organizing Map. In the end of classification, the result map is able to show which cultures are being same or different. Through the present new research, we are able to discover the relevance of culture and technology, the future AI’s contribution in cultural sector.

Лілія Іваневич. Традиційний одяг українців Поділля (друга половина ХІХ – початок ХХІ ст.): історія, класифікація, конструктивно-художні та регіонально-локальні особливості. Монографія. Хмельницький: ФОП Мельник А. А., 2022. 800 с.: іл.

У статті прорецензовано монографію Лілії Іваневич, в якій розглядається регіонально-локальна специфіка традиційного одягу українців Буковинської, Західної, Східної та Центральної зон Поділля другої половини ХІХ – початку ХХІ ст. Подано класифікацію народного одягу регіону за його конструктивно-художніми та функціонально-вжитковими характеристиками. Автор розкрила загальнонаціональні, особливі регіональні, специфічні субрегіональні ознаки формування щоденного, святкового й обрядового народних костюмів подолян

Research on Art Innovation of Flower Drum Lantern Costume under the Background of Rural Revitalization

In 2006, Flower drum lamp was listed in the first batch of China's intangible cultural heritage list, becoming the only Han dance species selected in the national intangible cultural heritage protection project pilot project. As an important component, dance costumes also contain rich values, and have unique costume styles and cultural attributes. Through the cultural attributes of Flower drum lamp costume, it shows its protection value, analyzes the design status of Flower drum lamp costume, inherits and innovates Flower drum lamp costume, refines, transforms and applies the classic elements in traditional costume patterns based on the regional cultural characteristics with modern aesthetic concepts and performance skills, and adds regional cultural elements such as Dayu culture and Huaihe River valley culture to make it full of the times.

Female Jewelry of the Mongolian People in the Collection of the V. A. Obruchev Kyakhta Local Museum

This article examines the Mongolian female jewelry collection of the Kyakhta Local Museum amounting to almost a hundred and fifty items. The collection started with expeditions of the Russian Geographical Society in the early twentieth century and continued throughout the Soviet period when it was significantly enlarged with items from various regions of Buryatia. According to the museum’s documents, and most of the items are still unidentified, the collection consists of scattered items or their individual elements which need proper research and technical expertise. During their examination of the said items, the authors solve several problems, i.e. they analyse and describe the art piece, the semantics of the ornamentation, identify the scrambled elements and pieces of jewelry used in the traditional costume of the Buryat regions. The authors use the iconographic, iconological, and comparative methods. The full set of female jewelry for the Mongolian people adorns the head, the neck, the chest, the shoulders, the waist and both arms. The article only focuses on headpieces and items worn hanging from the temples all the way down to the chest. It includes the description of silver decorations used for the top of male and female hats, and techniques for their differentiation. The study attempts to attribute the jewelry to define its affiliation with a specific Buryat ethnic group, as different areas of Buryatia and Mongolia have their own variations and artistic identities expressed in the traditional costume of their tribes and families. The article describes three items of Mongolian female jewelry. The authors aim to continue the research by focusing on each group of female jewelry attire with reference to comparable material from different museums.

Virtual simulation of Yue Opera costumes and fashion design based on Yue Opera elements

Yue Opera is known as the second most important national opera in China. The costume is an important part of the performance of Yue Opera, which carries the culture and history of Yue Opera. The purpose of this paper is to attempt a virtual simulation of Yue Opera costumes through an understanding and analysis of Yue Opera costumes, as well as to use the extracted elements related to Yue Opera costumes for modern fashion design based on Yue Opera costume style. The research method of this paper is to draw 12 sets of traditional costumes of Yue Opera by understanding and studying the costume culture of Yue Opera and transform them into a 3D digital virtual presentation of the costumes. The costume elements are then extracted for costume design so that the designed fashions can reflect the cultural characteristics of Yue Opera, and then virtual simulation technology is used for costume display to realize the dissemination of Yue Opera costume culture. The use of three-dimensional virtual simulation technology to digitize costumes contributes to the preservation and dissemination of Yue Opera costume culture. Secondly, the design of modern fashion using the concept of Yue Opera plays a role in the preservation and dissemination of Yue Opera costume culture.

Analysis of Artistic Modeling of Opera Stage Clothing Based on Big Data Clustering Algorithm

In order to deal with the problem that the traditional stage costume artistry analysis method cannot correct the results of big data clustering, which leads to deviations in the extraction of costume artistry features, this paper proposes a clothing artistic modeling method based on big data clustering algorithm. The proposed method provides a database for big data clustering by constructing the attribute set of the big data feature sequence training set and, at the same time, constructing a second-order cone programming model to correct the big data. Aiming at the problem that traditional stage costume art analysis methods cannot correct the clustering results of big data. On this basis, the costume elements of the opera stage are segmented, initialized, and transformed into a binary function. Finally, using the convolutional neural network, combining the element segmentation results and the large data clustering space state vector, a feature extraction model of stage costume art is constructed. Experimental results show that the model has good convergence, short time-consuming, high accuracy, and ideal feature recognition capabilities.

Varieties of sewn and stuff ed ornaments in the decor of traditional costumes of Ukrainians of Podillia in the second half of the XIX – early XX centuries

Th e purpose of the study: to analyze well-known and little-known works and mu- seum collections and explore the types of embroidered and printed jewellery as a common way of decorating Podolsk traditional clothing of the second half of the nineteenth – early twentieth century. Th e research methodology is based on the principles of historicism, comprehensiveness, systematicity and objectivity. Th e latter, in turn, are implemented through a combination of gene- ral scientifi c, historical and ethnological methods with other interdisciplinary methods, inclu ding statistical, descriptive, system-structural, as well as methods of museum source studies, visual an- thropology and technical research. Th e scientifi c novelty is that for the fi rst time an attempt is made to determine the regional and local features of sewn and printed ornaments in the form of applications or individual details for the decoration of folk clothing of Ukrainians in all subregions of Podillia. Conclusions. Th us, in order to decorate the components of the folk costume of Podolsk Ukrainians of the second half of the XIX – early XX centuries used such techniques and techniques of application and placement of decor as weaving, beating, embroidery, stripes and stuffi ng in the form of applications or individual parts. Stitched and printed ornaments as a way of decoration were widespread among underwear, waist, chest and outerwear, headdresses, belts, jewellery, shoes and clothin g accessories. Oft en sewn and printed ornaments played a central role in the overall composition, contributing to the balance and unifi cation clothing elements of the traditional com- plex of Podolian clothing. Moreover, the infl uences of neighbouring historical and ethnographic re- gions and districts, in particular, Bukovyna, Volyn, Opillia, Pokuttia, Naddniprianska and South- Steppe Ukraine, were seen in these types of methods of decorating the folk clothing of Ukrainians of Podillia. Th us, the varieties of Podolsk embroidered and printed ornaments can be considered as a valuable source of comparative information on the material and spiritual cultural heritage of Podillia in particular and Ukraine in general.

Pentru o poetica a imaginarului: xilogeneza în basmul fantastic românesc

Configuring a certain form of life and a (different) image of the body-taken, the reason for the birth of a fairytale hero from a wood (xylogenesis), anchors the subject under discussion in an area of the mythical. The interpretive auspices given to wood/tree by archaic cultures, have positioned it almost invariably in the orderly symbolism of the centre (to the World). From the well -known cosmic tree of Old Testament mythology (the „tree of life”) to the famous Yggdrasil of Scandinavian mythology, not to mention the tree of enlightenment Bodhi Gaya, the symbolism of the centre-tree of the World (cosmic tree) is broadly the same. In the imaginary-memory cultural relationship aiming at researching the symbol- ism given to the tree/wood over time, the Romanian cultural space was no exception. We have archaeological references that convey the symbol of the sacred tree (fir tree) present on Dacian pottery; we have studies dedicated to the evolution of the symbolism of the cosmic tree on the traditional costume or to the „taking care” of a funerary tree, to the presence of the tree of life in the portals of some Saxon churches, to the motif of the tree of life in Romanian folk architecture etc. The documentation for this study revealed me, by consulting the anthologies of Romanian fairy tales, some interesting aspects taken for this reason at the level of the fantastic epic. None working mechanically, all reflecting the process of the archaic system of symbolic thinking: without immutable patterns, without refractory visions, but always with a symbolic nucleus in the deep layer of the epic. Considering the structural particularities, the coherence and the specificity of the motif approached in the present study, it must be said that at the level of the Romanian fantastic fairy tale we detected, besides the delimits and at the same time „revolves” around xylogenesis, with ontogenetically- different nuances: wearing wooden clothes or living in a tree to avoid incest, with the opening of the tree only through a magical invocation; heroes and/or animals with „name of a tree” but without having to deal with a proper xylogenesis; the passing away of fairytale characters as a result of some existential-human tragedies, in symbolic forms (metamorphosis in trees); varies. Keywords: imaginary, phenomenology, hermeneutics, Romanian fairytale, xylogenesis.

Symbolism of Colour of the Vietnamese National Garment Áo Dài: Historical Foundations, Development and Interpretations

This paper is an attempt to analyze the color symbolism of traditional Vietnamese o di costume, as well as to identify and characterize the main reasons and peculiarities of transformations in this sphere. The symbolic model of color is considered in the context of language, socio-historical and cultural processes.
 The focus is on women's traditional costume, as it has undergone far more extensive changes than mens and has a much broader scope of use today.

Analysis of the Identity Peculiarities of the Traditional Romanian Shirts from the Republic of Moldova

The traditional shirt/blouse, submitted in the traditional costume patrimony, is one of the most important elements that is valued by artistic and symbolic valences attributed to the creators that told, and still tell, with the help of a single needle and thread, their life stories, aspirations, explaining the connection between people and nature, the divine.

Eriline Eesti ikat: Lõuna-Läänemaa lapilised rahvarõivaseelikud / Woollen double ikat skirts of western Estonian traditional costume

This article investigates woollen skirts with double ikat motifs that were made in the late 19th and early 20th centuries by women in the western Estonian parishes of Hanila, Karuse, Lihula, Kirbla and Martna. The skirts were worn as part of traditional costume. After the wearing of traditional costumes came to an end in the 1920s, these skirts ceased being made. As this craft has been not been practiced for almost 100 years, the skirts were largely forgotten.
 The aim of this article is to give an overview of the materials, tools and methods used in the production of western Estonian double ikat skirt fabrics, to describe the principles used in sewing the skirts, and to describe the colours and patterns used in such skirts.
 The material sources for this research comprise 30 double ikat skirts and skirt fabric pieces, as well as an ethnographic drawing of a traditional double ikat skirt. Of these 20 skirts and fabrics (as well as the drawing), ten were held in museums and ten were from private collections. The most important archival sources were Estonian National Museum manuscripts (from both the ethnographic and the correspondents’ archives), as well as dialect texts held by the Institute of the Estonian Language.
 For western Estonian double ikat skirt fabrics, single woollen yarns were used (both for warp and weft). Fabrics were woven in plain weave with 14,4 ends per centimetre for the warp and 12 ends per centimetre for the weft, on average. Tow and flax in the form of both fibres and yarns were used as binding materials for tying the ikat yarns. No information was found about tools developed specifically for use with ikat, so it seems likely that general weaving tools were used. According to archival sources, warp yarn groups for ikat patterning were stretched to the same length as the rest of the warp on the warping mill, and then tied, taken down, and dyed. The ikat patterened warp yarns were added to the rest of the warp during warping in the same form, i.e. as warped groups.
 There is no information as to how the tying pattern was applied to the yarns, but there is mentioned of the pattern for tying weft yarn being copied from the warp when the warp was already on the loom. Only synthetic dyes were used for dyeing. Both white and yellow yarns were used for ikat. Ikat motifs were re-tied and re-dyed to achieve a multicoloured effect. After weaving, the skirt fabrics were cut into panels, and then sewn together. Pattern matching was usually not a priority. Although about half of the double ikat skirts have pleats, analysis shows that double ikat skirts were without pleats traditionally.
 The most common background colour for western Estonian double ikat skirts was red, although blue and purple fabrics have also survived. The view expressed in earlier works that blue skirts were mourning skirts is not supported here. The most populaar ikat motifs were yellow and white, but green, blue, pink and purple motifs were also used. Only two types of double ikat motifs were used, and both are simple and cross-shaped.
 Two-thirds of the patterns are on a checkered ground and one-third are on a solid coloured ground. Based on the composition, the double ikat patterns of western Estonian skirts can be divided into four groups. The patterns are typically unique: there are only two instances were two skirts have exactly the same combination of pattern and colours. This supports the view that making traditional costumes that were exactly the same (as though they were uniforms) is not in line with traditional practice.
 Keywords: traditional clothing, skirts, double ikat, western Estonia, weaving, dyeing

The Color Expressions in the Traditional Costumes of Taiwanese Indigenous Peoples

With respect to both fiber and color the clothing material of Taiwan’s indigenous people came predominantly from nature. Atayal woven materials are a distinct example of how ethnic symbolism can be expressed through the combining of color and fabric patterns in weaving and dying. In order to understand Atayal fabric color use and distribution, this research first utilizes PANTONE FASHION + HOME cotton planner to contrast fabric color, and after comparison, color specimens are input one at a time into Color Schemer Studio’s color wheel statistics system. In order to analyze Atayal fabric colors, this study particularly performs color scope analysis on sub-groups for which research specimens are relatively abundant, such as the Tayal’s Beishi group and Nanao Group; and the Sediq’s Wushe Group, Wanda Group, and Taroko Group. Beishi group fabrics use a comparatively wide range of color and a more diverse number of combinations. The main colors they use include white, red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and other colors. The colors used by the Wushe Group and Wanda Group in their fabrics include white, red, blue and others. While the number of specimens collected for this study is limited, it is possible to understand, what the color preferences of sub-tribes are through their color schemes. The most predominant color schemes involve similar colors, contrasting colors, and complimentary colors.

Research on Embroidery Feature Recognition Algorithm of Traditional National Costumes Based on Double-Layer Model

In order to improve the visual communication ability of traditional national costume patterns, it is necessary to carry out image texture intelligent matching processing. A traditional national costume embroidery feature recognition algorithm based on a double-layer model is proposed. The traditional national costume pattern texture intelligent information acquisition model under the double-layer model is constructed to carry out texture imaging and feature segmentation of traditional national costume patterns, extract the texture histogram of traditional national clothing pattern and national design language, carry out texture segmentation and automatic matching under the two-layer model according to the histogram distribution, enhance and optimize the texture information of traditional national clothing pattern, extract the edge contour feature points of traditional national clothing pattern, and complete the embroidery feature recognition of traditional national clothing. The experimental results show that the designed recognition algorithm has high integrity and accuracy.

Virtual tour of Circassian costume exhibition created by Madina Hatsukova

This article explores the works of the famous Kabardian fashion designer Madina Alisagovna Hatsukova, whose costumes are worn by the guards of the King of Jordan, artists of Kabardino-Balkaria and Karachay-Cherkessia, prominent statesmen of the Chechen Republic, popular singers and musicians, and numerous ladies for their wedding ceremonies. The article represents a panoramic overview of the works of Madina Hatsukova, taking into account all aspects of interest of the designer. Description is given to various types of activity of the fashion designer – from hand embroidery and lace weaving to creating sewing patterns and scientific research on decoding of the ornaments in the museum samples of ancient costumes. This publication is inspired by the Madina Hatsukova’s personal exhibition “Princess of the Sun”, held in the North Caucasus branch of the State Museum of Oriental Art in Maykop in September-October 2021. The novelty of this article consists in comprehensive analysis of the works of Madina Hatsukova, which are widely known in North Caucasus and not so much to the Russians audience interested in modern ethnic costume. Although Madina’s works are intentionally limited to the traditional patterns and configuration, she experiments with different types of fabrics, their combinations and color solutions. National costume for a symbol of cultural revival, rather than a symbol of the past; it is the symbol of ethnic identification. Madina Hatsukova contributes to high symbolic load of the traditional costume, forms empathy of not only Circassians, but the entire multicultural population of the Russian Federation.

유럽과 중남미 카니발 복식 연구

My research investigates global carnival costumes to see how they appear similar or different across countries, paying particular attention to Europe and Latin America, dominant regions in the world of carnival. I explore costumes from 24 European and Latin American carnivals which are designated by the UNESCO and/or nominated by the USA Today along with corresponding literature review. The results obtained may be summarized as follows. There is a strong correlation between the purpose of a carnival and the styles of costumes worn at it. Carnivals of religious relevance in Europe prefer conservative traditional costumes in their rituals. While carnivals for pleasure in Latin America feature innovative or sensual costumes. Femininity has been strengthened in Latin America, while gender status varies across carnivals and carnival costumes. Latin American carnival costumes, which have become popular and commercialized, feature materials and forms which are substantially diversified. They combine cloth with plastic beads, feathers, sequins, colorful ribbons, glass mirrors, horns and shells to create a dazzling spectacle. Even grass, leaves, raffia, flowers, beads, fur, animal hides, feathers, and cotton are used in carnival costumes, while materials are replaced with synthetic substitutes for reasons of cost and mass production. As the number of local carnivals increases in Korea, research into carnival costumes should be expanded to develop industry, promote social cohesion, and advance education.

Одежда крымских татар в первые годы Советской власти

The article examines the process of Sovietization of the traditional costume of the Crimean Tatars in the 1920s. Researches made by scientists and ethnographers of the studied period confirms the fact of gradual loss of the national identity of the Crimean Tatar traditional costume and transition to the general Soviet type. The factors that influenced this process were: the influence of Russian and European fashion, military conditions, and the general decline of the economy in the country and the famine of the 1920 in the Crimea, the loss of traditional sewing and weaving techniques, the replacement of handmade fabrics with factory fabrics, the use of artificial dyes for dyeing threads. The well-to-do strata of the population and the elderly, in particular, those living in some parts of the foothill and southern coastal parts of the Crimea, were the least susceptible to modern fashion. The national attributes that managed to survive the longest period in the clothes of the Crimean Tatars were headdresses – fes and kalpak. The main features of Soviet clothing were simplicity, efficiency and functionality.

Fabric semantics as a basis of Mordovian embroidery

Introduction. The semantics of the fabric of the traditional costume is one of the underdeveloped topics in modern humanitarian studies. Meanwhile, the fabric can be interpreted as a chronicle of the history of culture. Being a man-made and material on which embroidery arose and developed, it was used in the customs and rituals of many peoples, including the Mordovians. The article deals with the semantics of the fabric of traditional Mordovian clothing, decorated with embroidery. Materials and Methods. The work investigates the museum collections of the Republic of Mordovia, the data from written sources of the Russian Geographical Society, archaeological research of Mordovian artefacts. The methodological basis is the comparative-historical, structural-semiotic and phenomenological approaches to the material. Results and Discussion. The analysis of the semantics of the fabric, decorated with the embroidery, and the conditions in which it was formed, makes it possible to reveal the intention of the master, the creator of the ethnoculture. It defined the various utilitarian, magical functions performed by canvas (hemp) and linen fabrics of traditional Mordovian clothing in the culture of the people, the economic, moral meanings of the fabric used in oral folk art. The Mordovians had woolen fabric as the most important material that replaced leather and fur in the manufacture of clothing and changed the appearance of the person wearing the costume. Its importance was recorded in many concepts of the Mordovian language, in folk ideas about wool as a source of magical properties. Conclusion. The semantics of the fabric of a traditional Mordovian costume reflects a person’s ideas about harsh natural conditions, the real world and the need to master it through creative activity in accordance with the laws of the traditional worldview. Fabric is also capable of transferring updated and relevant symbolic information about diligence, accuracy, moral qualities of a person, which could also be a means of regulating norms of behavior in society.

Eesti Kunstiakadeemia 40 soome-ugri ekspeditsiooni (1978–2017): sisemine järjepidevus ja paradigmamuutused

From 1978 to 2017, the legendary Estonian Academy of Arts (EKA) expeditions to Finno Ugric territories were carried out every summer, which gave art students an opportunity to do fieldwork among tribal peoples and Estonian communities living in Russia. The tradition of the expeditions was established by the artist and educator Kaljo Põllu (1934–2010). By the beginning of the 1970s, Finno-Ugristics had birthed an entire cultural movement in Estonia, with facets of Finno-Ugric heritage and identity being absorbed by literature, music, art, film, theatre and applied arts. Põllu also became immersed in the cultural heritage of tribal peoples in his creative quest and, and influenced as he was by Paul Ariste's belief that true Finno-Ugristics consisted of the study of fieldwork data, he began to look for opportunities to organize folk art research trips for students. Immediately after his first expedition (1978), Põllu introduced a one-year study cycle. This interdisciplinary study module was a challenge for the supervisors - Kaljo Põllu (1978–1988, 1992–1993), Andri Ksenofontov (1989–1991), Kadri Viires (1994–2012), Marika Alver (2013–2017) - as well as for the students participating in the research trips. The labour-intensive study module started in the spring with preparations for the fieldwork, a three-week expedition took place in the summer, and work continued in the autumn semester as the material collected on the research trip was worked through. Exhibitions, presentations and articles were produced on the basis of the work. From 1978 to 2012, the expeditions sought to visit all of the tribal peoples in order to draw, measure and photograph their traditional costumes, utensils and buildings in the actual places, and in their actual ethnic environments. Kaljo Põllu and Kadri Viires approached ethnographic drawing as an object study, which, in addition to an in-depth study of an object or building, allowed a glimpse into the mind of its maker and user. In 2013, however, Marika Alver transformed the expeditions into anthropological fieldwork by using participant observation, interviews and artistic interventions as research methods. This paradigm shift reflected an ethnographic turn in the art world, with a growing interest among artists in ethnographic methods, questions of identity and representation, and a broadening of the context of artworks to include social and cultural theory alongside art history. The last expedition took place in 2017. A point had been reached when the workload and responsibilities of the study module’s tutor were not commensurate with the contractual requirements and remuneration of an hourly lecturer. As a result, the substantive development of the research program and the promotion of cooperation, both within the EKA and with other institutions, was severely hampered. Unfortunately, the EKA was unable to find the funding for the changes or the personnel who would be willing to continue the work under these conditions. The transformations that took place over these 40 years – changes in governments and economies, cultural upheavals, new generations coming of age, and changes in expedition leaders – influenced the organization and focus of the expeditions, yet still developed into a tradition characterized by internal continuity: • the students who took part in the expeditions form a conceptual chain from the first expedition to the last. All of the subsequent supervisors after Põllu were students who had taken part in earlier expeditions, and the expeditions were always accompanied by a student or alumnus who had taken part in a prior expedition, and knew the routine of fieldwork and were thus able to help the newcomers settle in. • the expeditions became a meeting and collaboration place for students from different disciplines, as students with different specialities (painting, architecture, textiles, art studies, etc.), who were at different stages of their curriculum, took part in the expeditions. The expeditions offered a chance to get to know each other, make friends and begin collaborative projects. • a (life) university within a university. Many participants in the expeditions pointed out that the fieldwork experience was like an extra education. • two art groups were set up by the students who participated in the expeditions: in 1998, under the leadership of Kaljo Põllu, the Ydi group was formed, which could be joined by all the students participating in the expeditions. In 2018, the SLED group was formed, which was motivated by the continuation of the creative research that was started in 2017 but could not work within the framework of the EKA curricular system.