Traditional Games Library

The Traditional Games and Ethnosport Federation of Russia together with \»Ethnosport\» journal created an online library on traditional games, with the support of the Commission of the Russian Federation for UNESCO.

Alexey Kylasov, a cultural specialist, President of the Traditional Games and Ethnosport Federation of Russia, set the project in motion. On his personal website he posted his book \»Ethnosport. The End of Decline\» for public access, and addressed the authors of major works on the problems of the traditional games with his proposal to follow the lead.

The first to respond were Boris Gorbunov and Anatoly Tedoradze, historians, Andrey Yarovoy, a philosopher, and Valery Krasilnikov, Vasily Bryzhinsky and Kherel-ool Oorzhak, ethnographers. By virtue of the responsive colleagues, the foundation of the library was formed. It consists of two sections — books and scientific articles that are posted on the Ethnosport website in the Library section.

The project is aimed at developing knowledge about the traditional games, as the results of research on them are not published in wide circulation, which creates the problem of access and reference. Meanwhile, the status of the traditional games has been established as an integral part of the intangible cultural heritage of humanity, and hence UNESCO calls for their study and conservation.

The Commission of the Russian Federation for UNESCO voiced support for the project. In the letter addressed to Alexey Kylasov, President of the Federation, Executive Secretary of the Commission for UNESCO Grigory Ordzhonikidze noted that the implementation of this initiative will fully contribute to further development of humanitarian cooperation, conservation of intangible cultural heritage of our country and the expansion of cultural and educational ties (read the full text of the letter here).