«This double work was created as part of the pilot phase of the project in 2017. At the very beginning, the oil industry showed us a very important picture for them by Haris Yakupov, «Gold of Tataria». It is about people, of course. The duo that make up «Hoodo» (Andrey Cherednichenko and Olya Druzhina) created a homage to this work, which is canonical for the region. To place a work in the "severe style" in the modern world is a task that few authors can pull off. «Hudo's» work is distinguished by a special velvet color scheme, a special technique of «library» painting with hundreds of shades of colors, a millimeter of surrealism and, of course, a subtle, truly wise look at reality. The heroes of Yakupov in Almetyevsk in 2017 look at each other, colored strands in their hair, and the digital era is slightly visible in abstract graphics. Apples appeared by chance (artist's instinct), but in the end there were seven of them, as in the fairy tale.
Accordingly, «Drop» was the first reference to the fairy tale that gave its name to the whole project. When we were looking for text for calligraffiti, I asked Rustam Kubik (QBic) for help. He found an audio recording somewhere of a tale of golden apples, and we decided to write it on the wall. It was edited by Ilshat Mingaraev from Almetyevsk. This tale is found among different peoples with different interpretations. The main meaning of the cyclical repetition of the plot is that children are true gold. Tatarstan is a place where calligraffiti looks very organic, as they have been writing here in Arabic script for 900 years. Karim Jabbari belongs to the first generation of calligraphers who began to write on the walls in the 2000's. He was fascinated by the way languages are mixed in Tatarstan, so he used Old Tatar and Cyrillic in different writing styles, superimposing them in layers and mixing. The circle in the center is connected with the image of circles on the water, just as a culture arises when dozens of waves diverge from a small stone. Karim's style fits well with modern urban landscapes; he uses techniques of contrasting matte and glossy textures and uneven surfaces. This is a graffiti experience that is not typical for classical calligraphy.
The work of different artists combines in space in a natural way: a building standing on a hill, surrounded by a fence. Above is the Earth, below is the Drop. If you look from a certain point, both works are connected in a circle on the water.»
Project lead, curator, founder of the Institute for Research on Street Art