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A frozen dance of a shaman and ancient deities: masterpieces of Ural stone cutters filled the chamber space of the Mining Museum in St. Petersburg
St. Petersburg, October 18, FederalPress. Unique exhibition "Stone-cutting art of the Urals. Different cultures". This exhibition is the third one held within the framework of the joint project of the Simotev Family Foundation for the Support of Culture and Art (Ekaterinburg) and the Mining Museum.
The exhibition presents the works of the masters of the stone-cutting art workshop "Svyatogor". Most of the works presented are shown to the public for the first time. Visitors to the exhibition will be able not only to admire the beauty of the stone as an artistic realization of the mason's idea, but also to see what the materials used look like in their natural form. This is an exclusive feature of the exhibition project.
After the opening of the exhibition, Associate Professor of the Ural Federal University Lyudmila Budrina, a candidate of art history, gave a tour of the assembled students and teachers of the Mining Faculty.
She noted that the process of a mason's work borders on metaphysics. Sometimes a master can leave a piece of work unfinished for a long time and then rework it. Masons admit that sometimes they have to overcome themselves and be able to abandon the idea and follow the stone, since the cutter itself begins to fall into invisible cracks and the pattern is revealed. As a result, it is not always possible to determine what stone was used in the finished product.
"We see only the surface of the stone. It is impossible to calculate deep patterns. Only with the help of intuition. Developed intuition leads the master to the properties of stones and gives him the opportunity to create his own creations. A mason becomes an artist when he can reveal artistic aspects through the materials provided by nature. This means not imposing your will on the stone, but to see what can be made from it and to enter into a conversation. At the same time, preserve the stones and do not destroy them. It is important to be able to reveal what is embedded in the stone naturally," explains Lyudmila Budrina.
In a small hall of the exhibition, those gathered were able to watch the shamanic dance of the Ouroboros owl (a coiled snake or lizard biting its own tail) made of agate, Kazakh moss made of agate, amethyst and quartz. The Hindu god Shiva in smoky quartz, the mystical god of North American Indians frozen in the lotus position in agate and manitou quartz. Visitors were also fascinated by the images of shamans. To create it, the masters used jasper, marble, obsidian, chrysoprase, caccolone, lapis lazuli, dolerite, chalcedony, tiger's eye, flint, agate and jade.
After viewing the exhibition, interested parties listened to a lecture on the topic “Centers of stone-cutting art outside Europe: traditions and heritage” by Lyudmila Budrina, candidate of art history, associate professor at the Ural Federal University.
The regular exhibition of works by Ural stone cutters from the Svyatogor studio in Gorny attracts about 13-15 thousand visitors. As the organizers note, the museum premises are small, but this does not reduce the interest of visitors. Previously, the Mining Museum presented ancient objects and Russian artistic culture.
Kwangsan University staff and students can view exhibitions without restrictions during the opening hours of the Gwangsan Museum.
Photo: FederalPress/Tatiana Butorina