The Legacy of the Urazmetovs

In the XVIII century the whole region was called Nadyrovskaya, after Nadyr Urazmetov. The reason for this was that, first, his father, Urazmet Tuteshev, and then Nadyr himself claimed rights to formally unassigned («empty») lands where there were previously discovered reserves of oil and copper ore. Nadyr Urazmetov was known for the development of oil fields on the Sok River, where he founded the village of Nadyrovo. Urazmetov became one of the pioneers in the entrepreneurial development of natural reserves, which became possible after Peter I declared «mining freedom» in 1719. In accordance with this decree, searching for and extracting minerals was allowed «for everyone and each person individually,» «in all places,» both on one's own and on the land of others, In the case of their successful discovery, the state allocated to the discoverer land for the development of deposits and the construction of processing plants.

Nadyr Urazmetov's success in finding oil reserves allowed him to start the construction of the first oil refinery in the region. And all subsequent years after his death, scientific expeditions of the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences went through the oil fields discovered by him. These expeditions proved the area promising for oil production.

Request for the construction of a plant in the region of Mount Sart-Ata, 18th century.

Portrait of Nadyr Urazmetov. A 20th century artistic reconstruction.

For many years, Basil LST, a formerly-trained painter, has painted walls, from chamber interiors to large-scale murals on the walls of multi-story buildings and industrial facilities. In his works, lyric stories are told using collage techniques, complex color schemes and the effect of layering and image vibration.

The work Urban Legend at the Dorenberg Art Factory. Irkutsk, 2018.