#ARCTIC. #SIBERIA. THIS IS TAIMYR. At the thematic round table of the first handicraft forum in Dudinka, the problems and prospects for the development of folk arts and crafts in the north of the Krasnoyarsk region were discussed.
Guests from Severo-Yeniseisk, Turuhansk, Tura (Evenkia), Norilsk, Moscow, Krasnoyarsk and Kemerovo arrived in Dudinka to talk about this. All guests are original masters or cultural workers who are closely involved in this topic.
In the first report, the chairman of the Taimyr Ethnocultural Traditions Keepers Union Vasily Batagai, formulated the main idea of the discussion. The problem, in his opinion, is that there have always been enough craftsmen and artists in the Taimyr settlements, they also have material for work, however, almost no one knows what to do with it and how to organize their activities.
“There are masters in Taimyr, and unique talents are born in our area. But, unfortunately, they cannot properly apply their talent, use the accumulated material and their works, because they do not know how to do it. The House of Folk Art conducts regular expeditions to the villages, participates in exhibitions and master classes. Sponsors, the main one being Norilsk Nickel, do their best to promote the of original crafts development. However, established masters, as a rule, do not stay in Taimyr and, in the interests of their own development, leave to create not only on the mainland, but also abroad. Therefore, special attention should be paid to those who are just starting their activities”, said Vasily Batagay.
An authoritative opinion on the conditions for the folk craftsmen development was voiced by a married couple of artist-designers, members of the Union of Artists of Russia, Yulia and Evgeny Porotovs.
The Dolgan artists who started their career in Hatanga remembered that at the very beginning of their journey, 20 years ago, there were no conditions for work either. But there was also no time to wait, according to Yulia Porotova: they had to move to a big city in order to preserve their creativity. This trend can be traced even now – the masters leave to save their talent.
According to the Porotovs, most beginner masters in Taimyr do not have enough support. In such a situation, there is a need to create unions to support and protect their interests. This will allow them to participate more actively in exhibitions, to present their work to the viewer.
“Before the forum, my wife and I came to the conclusion that it is necessary to create a Taimyr handicraft business incubator to support and cultivate people’s original talents”, Evgeny Porotov summed up.
Earlier, we reported that the products of indigenous craftsmen would be sold on a special website, and Rosstandart registered the Made in the Arctic brand.
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Text: Denis Kozhevnikov, Photo: author
