The Komi people call their traditional dolls akany. Since ancient times, the doll has accompanied a person from birth to old age. Children were given toys, and they grew up discovering the world alongside them.

When it was time to learn household chores and life skills, the doll also played an important role. For example, Komi parents created special dolls that helped children learn to cook porridge: they filled it with grains up to the waist, poured water up to the neck, and the porridge was supposed to rise to the very top.

The "Akan" museum in Usinsk has a rich collection: here you can see ritual, play, traditional dolls, as well as herb dolls. Among them are dolls the size of a person and very small ones, smaller than a palm. Both Russian dolls and dolls of the Komi people are represented.

Museum visitors can compare and find similarities and differences in the traditions of the peoples, see the world and people through the eyes of the masters, and understand what qualities they endowed their amulets and handmade miracle workers with. Everyone, regardless of age and interests, can find their doll with a special purpose.

Tatiana Aksent'yevna was inspired by the idea of opening a museum in her native Yaroslavl when she accidentally stumbled upon a small museum of cloth dolls. Being a long-time admirer of rural culture, she decided to create a similar fairy-tale place in Usinsk that reflects the village color and all shades of the culture of Russia and Komi.