Historical evidence of the legendary Almetyevsk fair
Digital conception of folk traditions
Alexander Dyomkin (Ryazan, Russia)
18 Neftyanikov Street
Without Contact
Элемтәсез
Context
Once famous Almetyevsk fair, a place of meetings and social contacts, was eventually replaced by supermarkets. What will be left afterwards when they disappear?
Before oil facilities were actively developed in Almetyevsk, the town played a significant role in the region's economy. An important cross-regional road called «Orenburgsky trakt», which connected Kazan and Orenburg, passed through Almetyevo village in the 18th century. Its construction gave impetus to the rapid development of the region. There was also a post office building; crafts flourished and a local market place was full of cattle, grains, meat, honey, eggs, and furs. Starting from 1836 the village hosted an annual trade fair, where merchants and traders from all over the Russian Empire gathered. People there exchanged goods, information and other resources.
Residents of Old Almetyevsk mainly managed to preserve a rural lifestyle of the town, as evidenced by the prevailing private buildings in the area. Nevertheless, some elements of urbanisation «invaded» the square, or «maidan», where the trade fair used to be held. Nowadays the office of «TransTechService» company and the building of cultural centre «Old Almetyevsk» (tat. «Иске Əлмəт») are located on these squares along Sovetskaya street.
Residents of Old Almetyevsk mainly managed to preserve a rural lifestyle of the town, as evidenced by the prevailing private buildings in the area. Nevertheless, some elements of urbanisation «invaded» the square, or «maidan», where the trade fair used to be held. Nowadays the office of «TransTechService» company and the building of cultural centre «Old Almetyevsk» (tat. «Иске Əлмəт») are located on these squares along Sovetskaya street.
The central market of Almetyevsk, 2019.
A piece of mural «Without Contact», 2019.
Before oil facilities were actively developed in Almetyevsk, the town played a significant role in the region's economy. An important cross-regional road called «Orenburgsky trakt», which connected Kazan and Orenburg, passed through Almetyevo village in the 18th century. Its construction gave impetus to the rapid development of the region. There was also a post office building; crafts flourished and a local market place was full of cattle, grains, meat, honey, eggs, and furs. Starting from 1836 the village hosted an annual trade fair, where merchants and traders from all over the Russian Empire gathered. People there exchanged goods, information and other resources.
Residents of Old Almetyevsk mainly managed to preserve a rural lifestyle of the town, as evidenced by the prevailing private buildings in the area. Nevertheless, some elements of urbanisation «invaded» the square, or «maidan», where the trade fair used to be held. Nowadays the office of «TransTechService» company and the building of cultural centre «Old Almetyevsk» (tat. «Иске Əлмəт») are located on these squares along Sovetskaya street.
Residents of Old Almetyevsk mainly managed to preserve a rural lifestyle of the town, as evidenced by the prevailing private buildings in the area. Nevertheless, some elements of urbanisation «invaded» the square, or «maidan», where the trade fair used to be held. Nowadays the office of «TransTechService» company and the building of cultural centre «Old Almetyevsk» (tat. «Иске Əлмəт») are located on these squares along Sovetskaya street.
The central market of Almetyevsk, 2019.
A piece of mural «Without Contact», 2019.
«Craftsmen from Mametyevo village supplied sleighs and sleds, residents of Verkhnyaya Maktama traded wheels, people from Nizhnyaya Maktama offered sieves, and Taisuganovo village dwellers made handicrafts from vine. Traders from Nadyrovo village offered traditional winter footwear valenki and wool blankets named «koshma» (rus. «кошма»). Craftsmen from Novokashirovo traded bast shoes and carrying poles, whereas Tikhonovka people supplied canvas and slivers made of hemp fibre. Bygashevo residents were famous for their bast shoes; they also repaired traditional metal containers for boiling water called samovars and traded meat. People of Kaleykino made four-wheeled vehicles called tarantasses and also were engaged in sheepskin tanning for fur coats and sheepskin coats. Kylsharipovo craftsmen traded tinware and accordions. Ursala people vended traditional treats from local cuisine, such as kvass, rolls, pirozhki and bretzels. Potteries were brought on Almetyevo trade fair from Staryy Surkin and Kichui, and firewood was from Bysakaz. People from Elkhov also traded bows, whereas traders from Sheremetyevo offered carts.»
An extract from Alfia Yarmieva's book «The young of the Almetyevsk Land», 2013.
An extract from Alfia Yarmieva's book «The young of the Almetyevsk Land», 2013.
«Craftsmen from Mametyevo village supplied sleighs and sleds, residents of Verkhnyaya Maktama traded wheels, people from Nizhnyaya Maktama offered sieves, and Taisuganovo village dwellers made handicrafts from vine. Traders from Nadyrovo village offered traditional winter footwear valenki and wool blankets named «koshma» (rus. «кошма»). Craftsmen from Novokashirovo traded bast shoes and carrying poles, whereas Tikhonovka people supplied canvas and slivers made of hemp fibre. Bygashevo residents were famous for their bast shoes; they also repaired traditional metal containers for boiling water called samovars and traded meat. People of Kaleykino made four-wheeled vehicles called tarantasses and also were engaged in sheepskin tanning for fur coats and sheepskin coats. Kylsharipovo craftsmen traded tinware and accordions. Ursala people vended traditional treats from local cuisine, such as kvass, rolls, pirozhki and bretzels. Potteries were brought on Almetyevo trade fair from Staryy Surkin and Kichui, and firewood was from Bysakaz. People from Elkhov also traded bows, whereas traders from Sheremetyevo offered carts.»
An extract from Alfia Yarmieva's book «The young of the Almetyevsk Land», 2013.
An extract from Alfia Yarmieva's book «The young of the Almetyevsk Land», 2013.
Process
Ital. Mural — wall
Monumental wall painting created on a faсade or a blank wall of a building or any other urban architectural objects.
Monumental wall painting created on a faсade or a blank wall of a building or any other urban architectural objects.
To make the mural blend seamlessly into the local environment, the artist Alexander Dyomkin placed greater focus on symbols. Each scene from all the three of them that make up «Without Contact» refers to the folk life of Almetyevsk residents. The old lady portrayed on the left part of the mural is a real person, which was photographed by curators on the local market place. Working on the image of a girl choosing fruits, the author used a national Tatar pattern taken from Fuad Valeev's book «Tatar folk ornament». The plant pattern reflects the ancient agricultural tradition of these places. A character of the third part of the mural is a young man, in whom can be recognised Alexander Dyomkin himself. He is dressed in a Tatar national costume: tubeteika (a traditional Tatar cap) and a worn-open black Casaquin with long sleeves and a standing collar. It is not by chance that the author chose such size and design of Casaquin: in Kayum Nasyri's ethnographic sketch stories it is said that Casaquin's length could vary depending on the age and social status of its owner. People used to wear long-length Casaquins in the city, whereas short-length ones were common for villages, as they were comfortable for work.
National Tatar pattern taken from Fuad Valeev's book «Tatar folk ornament», 2002.
Traditional male Casaquin in the paint of K.F. Gune «Mullah with His Wife», 1862.
To make the mural blend seamlessly into the local environment, the artist Alexander Dyomkin placed greater focus on symbols. Each scene from all the three of them that make up «Without Contact» refers to the folk life of Almetyevsk residents. The old lady portrayed on the left part of the mural is a real person, which was photographed by curators on the local market place. Working on the image of a girl choosing fruits, the author used a national Tatar pattern taken from Fuad Valeev's book «Tatar folk ornament». The plant pattern reflects the ancient agricultural tradition of these places. A character of the third part of the mural is a young man, in whom can be recognised Alexander Dyomkin himself. He is dressed in a Tatar national costume: tubeteika (a traditional Tatar cap) and a worn-open black Casaquin with long sleeves and a standing collar. It is not by chance that the author chose such size and design of Casaquin: in Kayum Nasyri's ethnographic sketch stories it is said that Casaquin's length could vary depending on the age and social status of its owner. People used to wear long-length Casaquins in the city, whereas short-length ones were common for villages, as they were comfortable for work.
National Tatar pattern taken from Fuad Valeev's book «Tatar folk ornament», 2002.
Traditional male Casaquin in the paint of K.F. Gune «Mullah with His Wife», 1862.
Depicting characters, Alexander Dyomkin uses his favourite method of glitch: these are digital or analog errors which are used for aesthetic purposes in art. Thanks to this technique, characters from the mural turn into holograms. They split and are lost in space with such frequency that it makes spectators wonder: does the reality actually exist? «Digitalization takes away from us so many opportunities for real communication», explains the artist. «This is what I tried to illustrate». The manager of «Magnit» hypermarket on Neftyanikov street, Elvira Mukhametzyanova says that residents of Almetyevsk managed to make sense of the mural. Nowadays the work «Without Contact» is one of the new centers of town's social life. «I noticed that a greater number of people started to gather at the ponds near the store. I think it is no coincidence that people come there, because a beautiful view on the mural is commanded from that place», she points out.
Interesting facts about the working process:
33 days is the time spent to create the mural.
1000 cans is the amount of spray paint spent on the work.
1500 m² is the area of the painted surface.
Interesting facts about the working process:
33 days is the time spent to create the mural.
1000 cans is the amount of spray paint spent on the work.
1500 m² is the area of the painted surface.
Author
Alexander Dyomkin, also well-known under the pseudonym dyoma21, was born on June 21, 1994 in the Shilovo village, Ryazan region, Russia. He has been interested in street art since 2007, while in school, after he saw some photos of Moscow street art. His early artworks were made in graffiti technique. After school the artist graduated from a technical school with a degree in agricultural mechanization, and then he moved to Ryazan, where he began to study graphic design. Since that time Alexander prefers surreal murals with pronounced optical effects to simple graffiti.
«In art college I studied academic drawing, painting; I worked with nature (people and landscapes), made sense of shadows, penumbras, shapes, and volumes. Soon afterwards I applied this knowledge to my works». Main characters in Alexander Dyomkin's murals are people; that is why the media gave him the nickname of a figurative painter.
Today projects of dyoma21 can be found at Street Art Museum («Monolog», 20190, and on the wall of «Sevkabel Port» («Immersion», 2018) in Saint Petersburg, Nizhny Novgorod («Excitement», 2019), Ekaterinburg («Redhead», 2019) and Ryazan («Meeting», 2020). However, his most extensive work is located in Almetyevsk.
«In art college I studied academic drawing, painting; I worked with nature (people and landscapes), made sense of shadows, penumbras, shapes, and volumes. Soon afterwards I applied this knowledge to my works». Main characters in Alexander Dyomkin's murals are people; that is why the media gave him the nickname of a figurative painter.
Today projects of dyoma21 can be found at Street Art Museum («Monolog», 20190, and on the wall of «Sevkabel Port» («Immersion», 2018) in Saint Petersburg, Nizhny Novgorod («Excitement», 2019), Ekaterinburg («Redhead», 2019) and Ryazan («Meeting», 2020). However, his most extensive work is located in Almetyevsk.
Alexander Dyomkin himself can be recognised in one of the characters of the mural, 2019.
The mural «Immersion» was made during the Present Perfect festival, Saint Petersburg, 2018.
Alexander Dyomkin, also well-known under the pseudonym dyoma21, was born on June 21, 1994 in the Shilovo village, Ryazan region, Russia. He has been interested in street art since 2007, while in school, after he saw some photos of Moscow street art. His early artworks were made in graffiti technique. After school the artist graduated from a technical school with a degree in agricultural mechanization, and then he moved to Ryazan, where he began to study graphic design. Since that time Alexander prefers surreal murals with pronounced optical effects to simple graffiti.
«In art college I studied academic drawing, painting; I worked with nature (people and landscapes), made sense of shadows, penumbras, shapes, and volumes. Soon afterwards I applied this knowledge to my works». Main characters in Alexander Dyomkin's murals are people; that is why the media gave him the nickname of a figurative painter.
Today projects of dyoma21 can be found at Street Art Museum («Monolog», 20190, and on the wall of «Sevkabel Port» («Immersion», 2018) in Saint Petersburg, Nizhny Novgorod («Excitement», 2019), Ekaterinburg («Redhead», 2019) and Ryazan («Meeting», 2020). However, his most extensive work is located in Almetyevsk.
«In art college I studied academic drawing, painting; I worked with nature (people and landscapes), made sense of shadows, penumbras, shapes, and volumes. Soon afterwards I applied this knowledge to my works». Main characters in Alexander Dyomkin's murals are people; that is why the media gave him the nickname of a figurative painter.
Today projects of dyoma21 can be found at Street Art Museum («Monolog», 20190, and on the wall of «Sevkabel Port» («Immersion», 2018) in Saint Petersburg, Nizhny Novgorod («Excitement», 2019), Ekaterinburg («Redhead», 2019) and Ryazan («Meeting», 2020). However, his most extensive work is located in Almetyevsk.
Alexander Dyomkin himself can be recognised in one of the characters of the mural, 2019.
The mural «Immersion» was made during the Present Perfect festival, Saint Petersburg, 2018.
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