Home!

In 2018, Rustam Qbic presented Almetyevsk with the Akiyat (Fairy Tale) mural. Then he portrayed a character with a child in his arms and flowers flying out of his head, referring to the miraculous transformations that happen to a person after the birth of children.

The 2022 work Home! continues the idea of Akiyat. The mural depicts a child with a cottage on his head – he is flying a kite in the field. Four years later, the artist once again turns to the childish motif, but in the context of care and safety it stands for the opportunity to be in a comfortable space, fantasize and create freely.

The diptych depicts local flowers and plants of Tatarstan. One of them is hairy feather grass, commonly known as gray hair. Qbic painted flowers and plants, remembering his own childhood spent in a village in Southeast Tatarstan. Through the pastoral landscape, the artist fantasizes about simple childhood joys – walks, fresh air and lightness.

The Akiyat or Fairy Tale mural created by the artist in Almetyevsk in 2018. The image speaks of the miraculous transformations that occur to a person after the birth of children.

Local wildflowers and plants of the South-East Tatarstan.

Home! is a diptych that continues the approach of the Cezanne school. Swapping a brush for a roller and realism for impressionism, Rustam delved into the «stroke» technique and focused on the form, color and contrast criteria. To see the composition as a whole, you need to move away from the object to a distance, from which the eye can perceive both facades, both parts of the work.

The local community was integrated into the process. The project team organized a big tea party for the artist and the people of Almetyevsk to get to know each other, bringing together all the residents of the building that was to house the future mural. Together they discussed work ideas, shared childhood memories and stories of village fun. Rustam was born in the village of Kamskiye Polyany, in Tatarstan, so the locals warmly welcomed the guest, and both Russian and Tatar were spoken at the tea party.

Fragments of the diptych Home!, created in the impressionistic style with broad roller strokes.

Building residents and the artist Rustam Qbic at the tea party. The local residents warmly welcomed the guest, and both Russian and Tatar were spoken.

Rustam Qbic is a street artist, illustrator and graphic artist. Rustam was born in Kamskiye Polyany, and lives and works in Kazan. His murals are located in Moscow, St. Petersburg, Almetyevsk, Vyksa, Derbent, Nizhny Novgorod, Magnitogorsk, Perm, Istanbul, as well as in Norway, the USA and Europe. In his works, Rustam creates his own poetic world that is full of philosophical images.

Works by Rustam Qbic in the cities throughout the world.