It’s hard to find anyone in Moscow who hasn’t been to the Izmailovo outdoor market. But it’s even harder to find someone who knows more about the best bargains and great finds at Izmailovo than Alexandra Sankova, the director of the Moscow Design Museum. This Saturday she is taking a group from The Moscow Times Clubs on a tour of the market.
The market began 25 years ago as something of a big flea market where artists, designers, craftspeople, artisans, unions, cooperatives, and other folk crafts manufacturers could sell their wares. Today its walls, turrets, and decorated wooden halls maintain, develop and preserve Russian culture, crafts, and traditions.
Artists’ Alley displays works by more than 100 artists, and Crafts Street has stands by artisans from Zhostovo, Palekh, Gzhel, Sergiyev Posad, Dymkovo and other towns of Golden Ring.
Alexandra Sankhova will guide you through the wooden trade rows to help you pick some unique items for your home — or as presents for family and friends. She will also describe items that have been purchased here for the collection of the Moscow Design Museum.
The 3-hour tour, which includes lunch at the Shkatulka Rezidentsia, begins at noon and costs 1200 rubles.
For more information, see The Moscow Times Clubs site.
To sign up, click here.