Liubov Petrushkina from the town of Şӗnӗ Tutarkassi, Shupashkar Chuvashia creates traditional Chuvash accessories: hushpu, tuhja, masmak… She's the head of local women's council and director of a singing club.

Liubov has had passion for handcrafts for her entire life. The first traditional headgear she made was her friends. After a few years she started working at the town's culture center. The vocal ensemble of the village needed costumes to perform in, and that's when Lubov's talent met real demand.

Other ensembles also want the beautiful creation's of Lubov. But she doesn't hurry to turn her very pleasurable hobby into a profitable business. Of course, handcrafted accessories are expensive, but she only makes them for her ensemble. And she never creates a hushpu for sale. It's just only when Chuvash pop artists come and see and fall in love with her work she lets them have the accessories for a reward.

Women of the town gather in the handicraft club Kil Ӑšši (Warmth of Home), where they can learn from Liubov.

Hushpu is a cylindrical hat, decorated with silver coins and beads, traditionally warn by married women over surpan, a scarf or a turban that had to cover their hair, masmak is a decorated headband worn instead of hushpu over or under the turban. Tuhja is a version of hushpu for unmarried women, unlike hushpu it's top is pointed and while it covered ears and forehead the hair of the maiden didn't have to be covered with turban.

#tradition, #headgear, #turban, #costume, #folk, #Chuvash