Meetings

On August 28, 2022, a meeting of a street artist from Moscow, Danila Shozy, and residents of the building (Lenin St., 189), on which the artist painted the mural «Treasure box / Хәзинәләр тартмасы», was conducted in Almetyevsk. The theme of the final season of Tales of the Golden Apples was caring, and Shozy focused on caring for the inner child in his mural. The box contains many objects from the past that hold warm memories for the artist and can also remind the viewers of their own childhood.

Tea parties are now part of the tradition of the public art program: when a new artist arrives in Almetyevsk, he gets to know the residents of the building where he plans to paint, as well as their neighbors. Communicating with the residents, the artist is immersed in the culture of the region, learns about local traditions and customs. At the same time, people share their impressions and thoughts regarding the new work of art, which increases the emotional involvement in the creative process and the transformation of the urban environment. At the heart of each art object of the «Tales of the Golden Apples» is an idea that highlights the local cultural code, and Tatar hospitality and interaction with people help artists get acquainted with the local customs and way of life, which certainly has an impact on them and their works.

In anticipation of the creation of the mural, a volunteer group led by an experienced sociologist conducted a survey of the residents of the house about whether they had treasure boxes in their childhood and what items were stored in them. Some of the objects they mentioned turned out to be depicted on the Shozy mural: for example, the «Treasure Box» mural contains the memories of both the artist and the building inhabitants. At the tea party, Shozy actively communicated with local residents, told them about the history of each treasure from the box, and the participants of the meeting shared their associations and childhood memories.

On August 24, 2022, a meeting was held in Almetyevsk between a street artist from Kazan, Rustam Qbic, and residents of the building (23 Rinata Galeeva), on which the artist painted a diptych «In the house! / Өй эчендә!». This mural depicts a child with a country house on his head - he is flying a kite in the field. Here the artist turns to childhood in the context of care and security - the opportunity to be in a comfortable space, to freely fantasize and create. At work, you can also see the local flowers and plants of Tatarstan: Qbic drew them, remembering his own childhood, spent in a village in the southeast of Tatarstan.

Tea parties have become integrated in the tradition of the public art program: when a new artist arrives in Almetyevsk, he gets to know the residents of the house where he plans to paint and their neighbors. Communicating with residents, the artist becomes immersed in the culture of the region, learns about local traditions and customs. At the same time, citizens share their impressions and thoughts about a new work of art, which increases the emotional involvement in the ongoing creative process and the transformation of the urban environment. At the heart of each art object of the «Tales of the Golden Apples» is an idea that highlights the local cultural code, and i Tatar hospitality and communication with the locals allows artists to get acquainted with the traditions and way of life of this region, which undoubtedly influences them and their works.

At the evening tea party, organized by the public art project team, local residents discussed the concept of Rustam's work and shared their childhood memories, in particular, about the time they spent in the countryside. Rustam Qbic himself was born in the village of Kamskiye Polyany, in Tatarstan, so the locals greeted him especially with a special family warmth.

On August 16, 2022, a street artist from Penza, Nikita Erendaj met the local residents of Almetyevsk. The event took place in the courtyard of the building at 68 Stroiteley Ave., on which the artist painted the mural «Expectation / Көтү». It's a work about the alteration of life periods, about how each of us is waiting and hoping for something.

Such tea party meetings have already become part of the traditions of the public art program: when a new artist arrives in Almetyevsk, he gets to know the residents of the building where he plans to paint and their neighbors. Communicating with residents, the artist is immersed in the regional culture, learning about local traditions and customs. At the same time, citizens share their impressions and thoughts about the new work of art, which increases the emotional involvement in the ongoing creative process and the transformation of the urban environment. At the heart of each art object of the «Tales of the Golden Apples» is a concept that highlights the local cultural code, and it is through Tatar hospitality and communication with people that artists get acquainted with the traditions and way of life of the region, which undoubtedly influences them and their works.

The children who played in the nearby playgrounds also joined the tea party and asked the artist about his work. Nikita Erendaj told inquisitive interlocutors about the path of the artist, about why he paints on houses and how computer games inspired his work.

On August 14, 2022, a street artist from Prague Marat Morik met with the residents of the building at 39 Izail Zaripov Ave., on which he had painted his «Care / Кайгырту» mural. The name of the mural became the title for the entire final season of Tales of the Golden Apples. Its theme was caring, and the artist reflected on this concept in his work. For Marat, caring is a two-way process, when you take care of something and someone else takes care of you. Caring for the environment includes taking care of your surroundings, city, house, yard – it's a kind of joint effort, which then reciprocates. The mural depicts children planting apple trees, an important symbol of the urbanization of Almetyevsk. You can read more about what it means here.

Tea parties have become part of the tradition of our public art program: when a new artist arrives in Almetyevsk, he gets to know the residents of the building where he plans to paint and their neighbors. Communication with residents allows the artist to immerse themselves in the culture of the region and learn about local traditions and customs. At the same time, people share their impressions and thoughts on the subject of a new work of art, which increases the emotional involvement in the ongoing creative process and the transformation of the urban environment. At the heart of each art object of the «Tales of the Golden Apples» is an idea that highlights the local cultural code, and through Tatar hospitality and communication with the local people the artists get acquainted with the regional traditions and way of life, which undoubtedly influences them and their works.

At the tea party, the townspeople shared with the artist their memories of planting apple trees in the middle of the 20^thcentury, and Morik spoke in more detail about the mural's technical component: the type of paint he uses, how long it takes to create such a large-scale work, and even whether it's scary for an artist to paint at such a height.

On July 13 and 14, 2019, Almetyevsk hosted a 2-day program designed to reduce social tension around the problem of drug addiction. The program consisted of educational and art-therapeutic activities held at different sites in Almetyevsk district.

On July 13 in Nizhnyaya Maktama a creative meeting with musician Andrey Maloy (Mister Maloy) was held at the closed rehabilitation center of Almetyevsk district. Mister Maloy was invited as a guest not by chance: in his youth, being in a creative environment, he himself experienced drug addiction. At the meeting the musician shared his personal experience of overcoming addiction and talked to the participants about the prejudices concerning people in the creative professions. They discussed ways to overcome health crises caused by addiction, art as a way to cope with addiction and how life changes when people leave addiction.

In the second part of the workshop the participants were invited to take part in an art therapy fluid-art painting workshop «The Color of Mood. Map of feelings» from Julia Petrova. The practice of drawing in this technique helps to cope with stress and abstract from external stimuli, it is suitable for people with any level of education in art.

All the works made by the participants that day became part of the group panel, placed in the rehabilitation center of Lower Maktama.

On July 14, a similar event, but in an open format was held in Almetyevsk.

On August 13, 2019, a meeting between the Uruguayan artist Alfalfa and local residents was held in Almetyevsk. The event took place in an informal atmosphere: in the courtyard of houses near Herzen Street. It was in this place that the artist was going to create his large-scale mural «Mrs. Gusinya: tradition and freedom / Kazbikә: goref-gadәt hәm irek».

Active interaction between residents and artists is an important step in the public art program. This way citizens can feel their participation in the creative processes around them and take part in the transformation of the city.

For artists, it is important to understand how local people live: what inspires them and what contexts they find themselves in. The thing is that at the heart of each art object is one or another idea that comes from local cultural traditions and ways of life. It is through Tatar hospitality and communication that the artists of the public art program get acquainted with the local cultural code, which undoubtedly influences their future works.

Nicholas Sanchez is no exception. He happily interacted with residents right in the courtyard of the house where he created his work. Here's one participant's impression of the meeting.