On August 27, an art project called "Transformation" was launched in the village of Buguldeyka. The guests of the event were able to see the personal exhibition of the sculptor, which he specially brought for display in Buguldeika from the workshop of St. Petersburg. The art project was accompanied by a concert program. The performance of the composer, poet, singer of both pop and throat singing Leonid Budaev was bright. The famous rapper Everthe8 (Timur Bubeev) read a stylish rap in the spirit of Mac Miller in English, he acts in films and wants to combine Western hip-hop with his native Buryat culture. The songs of the ethno-rock band Shono fascinated from the first notes, throat singing and the sound of national instruments, combined with a rock drive and incendiary rhythm. The leader of the team Alexander Arkhincheev founded the group in 2014. The very first performances of the musicians attracted many fans in the Irkutsk region, Buryatia and beyond these regions. The main surprise of the art project was the display of costumes on the theme of the author's style in the sculpture of Zhigzhit Bayaskhalanov, which were created specifically for the Transformation art project. The ballet dancers who arrived from Ulan-Ude were in costumes - the idea is that they "revived" the sculptures of Zhigzhit Bayaskhalanov. We talked with Zhigzhit about how this project came about.
- Zhigzhit Bairovich, how did you get the idea to create a marble sculpture in Buguldeyka?
– I have been working with Italian marble for three years, I live in Italy. For me, marble is a new graph in my life, a new material. And about a year ago, I found out that we, on the ethnic Buryat land, have a deposit. I looked through the documents and found out that this is a sculptural marble, it is suitable for work. And I got excited about the idea of making something from the material in Buguldeyk. In general, I have known the mayor of the Olkhon district for a long time. There were ideas to make a workshop on Olkhon, we discussed different options with him. And then everything came together. I arrived, looked at the deposit, marble. And fell in love. First of all, what a place! Baikal, the village itself between the hills, the mountain where the marble quarry is located, the history of this place - everything is perfect. Together we decided to reflect in stone one of the main totems of the Buryats - Bukh Noyon (translated from Buryat - a white bull, the progenitor of the Bulagat and Ekhirit families). This is a tribute to my respect for the area, the people who live in the Olkhon region and their traditions. For me, the bull means a lot, because I was born in the year of the bull. When we started to prepare the project, I thought that I would have to saw the sculpture for more than a month. When we tell the population that I work here, people from afar will come, and I am sawing marble. They will walk through their careers, but what should they do next? That's how the idea was born to do an open-air exhibition right on the spot while I'm here. Just recently I finished making a collection of bronze sculptures. I think that my works will be with me and will represent me. Well, it will be important for me to show them - it turns out that this is such a reporting exhibition.
- Why is the project called "Transformation"?
I called the art project “Transformation” because I have been working with bronze for many years. And lately, I have also mastered marble. And this is my transformation – I discover something new. And the whole world is transforming, but we are all watching this very well. In the marble quarry, the field of my creativity is expanding. I transfer my author's style to the plastic of other materials, different in their structure and properties. The images of bronze statues are being transformed and will acquire new, unpredictable forms. The beginning of the transformation is the sculpture “Bukh Noyon”, which I will create for a month at the marble quarry.
Also, "Transformation" is the first event in the framework of the project to create a large art residence in the village of Buguldeyka, this is the beginning of a very large process of changing the area. The plans are for the village to become a center of attraction for marble art, where talented sculptors from all over the world can communicate and exchange experiences, and also leave a piece of themselves here in the form of marble sculptures. The main goal is to create an open-air exposition. So far, it has included my bronze sculptures in the animalistic genre. Buguldeyka for me is nature, Baikal, as I said, that's why I brought animals. In total, "in the arms of marble" will be presented six large sculptures - each more than two meters high.
– Have you already exhibited your works in Irkutsk?
– Yes, at the moment my works are presented in the Victor Bronstein Gallery. The gallery is my official representative in Irkutsk. In general, I have a long and good history of relations with your city. In 2015, I did a personal exhibition in the museum studio on Karl Marx and was very surprised that it caused such a resonance, so many people came to it! I was very pleased. It should be noted that in Irkutsk there is a culture of visiting art expositions, you don’t even need to delay anyone.
– Thank you for the great idea of creating an art residence and the past holiday! I hope that the exhibition "Transformation" will become a starting point for new events and will launch a personal transformation of the inhabitants of our region and visiting guests.
Newspaper "Baikalskiye zori"