19-meter scarf knitted for babr sculpture donated to Irkutsk museum
A 19-meter scarf, knitted for Irkutsk«s symbolic babr statue, finds a permanent home in the city»s history museum.
The «Time for Cats» cat shelter has donated a 19-meter scarf to the Irkutsk Museum of History. The scarf was knitted for the city«s iconic babr sculpture at the end of 2025. Shelter owner Valentina Dubovtseva reported this to an IrCity journalist.
The shelter owner notes the scarf«s significance as a new piece of the city»s historical collection.
«We have long been friends with the museum. I have repeatedly donated exhibits and am an honorary donor. And the scarf—it»s already part of the city«s history. It»s logical that its place is precisely in this museum,« Valentina shared.
A formal ceremony marked the handover of the lengthy knitted item to museum authorities.
The volunteers met with the museum director, and he instructed them to organize an official acceptance of the scarf as a donation. The solemn ceremony of transfer took place today, January 23. Valentina emphasized that everything was done officially, with all necessary documents prepared.
The shelter owner clarified that the scarf will now become part of the museum«s exhibition and »will live there.« In turn, museum specialists prepared commemorative postcards that every visitor to the institution will be able to purchase.
The ceremony was attended not only by Valentina herself but also by several craftswomen who participated in the campaign and knitted the scarf.
Let us recall, the story of the scarf for the babr began on Sunday, December 21. Volunteers from the «Time for Cats» shelter came up with the campaign to draw attention to the problem of homeless animals and bring a little kindness into the world. Furthermore, the scarf is one of the steps in promoting the brand «Irkutsk — the Middle of Catland,» which the «Time for Cats» volunteers also champion.
In just 20 days, 15 craftswomen knitted pieces of the scarf, then gathered in a cafe and joined them into one piece. The scarf turned out to be almost 19 meters long and entered the «Book of Records of the Irkutsk Region» as the longest knitted item. It took 5 kilograms of yarn.
On the afternoon of December 21, volunteers wrapped the babr sculpture in the scarf and hung a card with the names of all participants in the campaign. This, by the way, was officially agreed upon with the mayor«s office. The authorities permitted the scarf to hang on the babr at least until the end of December.
However, after 1.5 days the fashionable multicolored accessory disappeared. Moreover, it happened right in the middle of a workday. At first, volunteers could not find footage from surveillance cameras near the location, but by Tuesday evening the portal Weacom posted a video of the theft moment on its social networks. It shows two men «undressing» the sculpture, one wearing a dark blue jacket. They crumpled the scarf into a heap and carried it off somewhere into the depths of the 130th Quarter.
According to the organization«s employees, regulations provide for cleaning monuments of extraneous items, which is what the workers did, police clarified. The 18-meter scarf was returned to the babr on the morning of December 24.
