The TikTok Tour: HSE University Students Popularise Finno-Ugric Culture
In early August, 30 students from all HSE University campuses set off on a journey as part of the Student Project Contest. Their project was called ‘T-T-T: A TikTok Tour of the Finno-Ugric Republics by Bus’. On their travels, the students learned about the local culture and made short educational and entertaining videos.
The students managed to do a lot during the four-day tour. The first two days were devoted to Udmurtia, where they visited the Ludorvay architectural and ethnographic museum reserve. They saw first-hand how ancient Udmurt people lived, learned Udmurt dances, visited a windmill, and shot their first videos popularising Finno-Ugric culture. The students also visited the National Library of the Udmurt Republic, learned about the preservation of cultural heritage, and were shown youth initiative projects. Finally, they enjoyed the sights of the Udmurt capital accompanied by Tatiana Yumina, President of the Cultural Capital of Izhevsk foundation.
In the two weeks before the tour, the students attended eight lectures on folk culture and video production and practiced filming test clips. During the trip, the participants were split up into five teams for filming video content. The teams were chosen based on activity during the educational programme and on a multi-campus basis. Every day, the participants presented the best video from each team for a vote. The top video was determined by an overall vote.
Yuri Grinkov
‘It was incredibly gratifying to see how the participants were eager to film, write scripts, edit clips of different formats, and get the most out of every minute!’ said Yuri Grinkov, student of the Bachelor’s in Business Informatics (HSE University-Nizhny Novgorod) and organiser of the project. ‘I am more than certain that the work done will truly help to achieve our main goal of popularising the culture of Finno-Ugric peoples!’
The delegation travelled from Izhevsk to the Mari El Republic, where their first stop was the village of Shorunzha, a world-famous cultural heritage site of the Mari people. There, they learned about the Mari lifestyle, traditions, and beliefs. The locals told them about the intricacies of Mari embroidery, explained the symbols depicted on folk clothing, and let the students try on the clothes to add a splash of colour to their videos. The group was also shown how to make wicker items and invited to dance to national songs.
In Yoshkar-Ola, the capital of the Mari El Republic, the TikTok tourists sampled national cuisine and viewed European-style buildings. They were also invited to the Eric Sapaev Mari State Opera and Ballet Theatre for a dress rehearsal of ‘Akpatyr’, the first Mari opera in the Mari language. They also learned about how the theatre preserves Mari cultural heritage.
Anna Atyakina
‘Six months ago, we couldn’t have imagined that this project would really happen and that we would teach 30 HSE University students about the cultures of our peoples,’ said Anna Atyakina, student of the Bachelor’s in Philosophy (HSE University-Moscow) and organiser of the project. ‘All those sleepless nights preparing and early starts on the tour weren’t in vain!’
The trip across the Mordovia Republic started with a visit to the ‘Kuldor-Kaldor’ interregional festival of Finno-Ugric humour, where the organisers and participants of the festival gave the HSE University delegation a warm welcome. The students partied to national songs with the Mordovian locals and got to know them better, played native folk games, and tried the local mutton soup. The group spent the evening in Saransk city centre, where they took photos and enjoyed the views of the capital.
The next morning, the HSE University students immersed themselves in culture at the Mordovskoye Podvorye ethnographic museum complex. They saw how the Mordvin people lived a couple of centuries ago, played national games, and even sang folk rhymes. The tour ended with some group reflection, giving every participant an opportunity to share their impressions. Without question, T-T-T was the highlight of the summer!
Ekaterina Pushkarenko
‘The team and I organised the project in a short space of time—only a month and a half passed between obtaining funding under the Student Project Contest and implementing the project,’ explained Ekaterina Pushkarenko, student of the Bachelor’s in Business Administration (HSE University-Moscow) and organiser of the project. ‘We worked intensively on the tour. There were a lot of tasks, from signing agreements with contractors to thinking through the mechanics of shooting films and setting KPIs for the teams. In my opinion, the project was a success! Even after the first day, the participants were asking if there would be a second session. And we hope there will be: this trip did not cover all of the Finno-Ugric republics and there is more we can do to popularise this culture.’
The participants and organisers are currently engaged in the complicated post-production process to ensure that the students’ videos see the light of day. Work is underway on editing, amendments, and studying social media algorithms.
Grigoriy Churakov
‘This intercampus event was my first extracurricular activity, and I believe it was a success. It was so cool to see everyone’s enthusiasm and to feel my contribution to creating the friendly, happy atmosphere in our big group,’ said Grigoriy Churakov, student of the Bachelor’s in Software Engineering (HSE University-Perm) and organiser of the project. ‘For almost two months, my morning started not with coffee, but with “TikTok Tour”, group chats, and phone calls. It was very difficult to work remotely, as the organising team was also an intercampus one. But we did it!’