White she-wolf, the legendary ancestress of the Turks
Portrayal of the legend about first woman drillers
Dulk (Valencia, Spain)
27 the 8th of March Street
The White She-Wolf
Ак ана бүре
Context
Interpretation of the myth about she-wolf, a guardian of the forests and Turkic people.
The white wolf (tat. «ак бүре» – ak bure) is one of the key spirit animals of the Tatars' ancestors, as well as the snow leopard (tat. «ак барс» – ak bars). He was considered to be a guardian of the forests and was often praised in folk songs. The ancient fairytale called «Aк бүре» (from tat. «The White Wolf») narrates about the three-headed evil spirit Dyva, who stole Padishah Khan's wife. As the story unfolds, his two elder sons set out on a search for their mother. However, they completely forgot to ask for the owner of the forest Aк бүре's blessing, and he turned them into stones. The youngest Khan's son named Tengyn also attempted to fight Dyva. He gained the support of Aк бүре, who transformed himself into jigit (a skillful and brave equestrian or a brave person in general), as well as from maiden-birds and ifrits (powerful types of demon in Islamic mythology). Tengyn kills the evil spirit and rescues Khanbyke and other prisoners.
According to orientalist Vladimir Gordlevskiy's opinion, Turkic tribes did spread the tales about the sacred wolf throughout old Europe.
The Oghuz Khan family originated from the fair wolf (by some accounts white or light blue), who is the ancestor of Turkic people. The sacred animal is also mentioned in modern Tatar folk traditions. For example, about a person who greatly succeeded in his business people say «бүресе улый» (from tat. «a wolf howls on him»). The howl of a wolf can be considered as the harbinger of peaceful days.
According to orientalist Vladimir Gordlevskiy's opinion, Turkic tribes did spread the tales about the sacred wolf throughout old Europe.
The Oghuz Khan family originated from the fair wolf (by some accounts white or light blue), who is the ancestor of Turkic people. The sacred animal is also mentioned in modern Tatar folk traditions. For example, about a person who greatly succeeded in his business people say «бүресе улый» (from tat. «a wolf howls on him»). The howl of a wolf can be considered as the harbinger of peaceful days.
Almetyevsk residents also have a local legend about she-wolf. First oil workers there were women. They started to work in oil production in 1943, while their men fought for the country. The road which led to the oilfield went through a thick forest, where people were often attacked by packs of wolves. In order to recognize human remains, mothers of the women from Almetyevo weaved bright ribbons into their gumshoes. «We were going back home through the forest with torches in hands, when wolves surrounded us», says one of the woman drillers. «We stood our backs to each other. The torches were burning out. Suddenly a huge white she-wolf crawled slowly from the thicket. As the wolves saw her, they all at once became silent. Then they turned back and went away together with her deep into the forest.»
Painting «The Voice of the Ancestors» by Khamza Sharipov, 2001.
Almetyevsk residents also have a local legend about she-wolf. First oil workers there were women. They started to work in oil production in 1943, while their men fought for the country. The road which led to the oilfield went through a thick forest, where people were often attacked by packs of wolves. In order to recognize human remains, mothers of the women from Almetyevo weaved bright ribbons into their gumshoes. «We were going back home through the forest with torches in hands, when wolves surrounded us», says one of the woman drillers. «We stood our backs to each other. The torches were burning out. Suddenly a huge white she-wolf crawled slowly from the thicket. As the wolves saw her, they all at once became silent. Then they turned back and went away together with her deep into the forest.»
Painting «The Voice of the Ancestors» by Khamza Sharipov, 2001.
The white wolf from the fairy story
Exists on our territory
May he bring real happiness
When we may feel necessities.
The souls in our areas
Are pure and sacramental.
We beg and plead the white wolf
To make us providential.
We have a singing forest here,
Where everything is singing.
You may the songs of Apus hear
And everything is ringing.
The beauty of these places
Is better than in tales.
No one even imagines
How to live without this grace.
Right in the middle of the village
There is a holy water stream.
As only once you have tried it
It will fulfill your dream.
The souls in our areas
Are pure and sacramental.
We beg and plead the white wolf
To make us providential.
Tatar folk song «The White Wolf»
Exists on our territory
May he bring real happiness
When we may feel necessities.
The souls in our areas
Are pure and sacramental.
We beg and plead the white wolf
To make us providential.
We have a singing forest here,
Where everything is singing.
You may the songs of Apus hear
And everything is ringing.
The beauty of these places
Is better than in tales.
No one even imagines
How to live without this grace.
Right in the middle of the village
There is a holy water stream.
As only once you have tried it
It will fulfill your dream.
The souls in our areas
Are pure and sacramental.
We beg and plead the white wolf
To make us providential.
Tatar folk song «The White Wolf»
The white wolf from the fairy story
Exists on our territory
May he bring real happiness
When we may feel necessities.
The souls in our areas
Are pure and sacramental.
We beg and plead the white wolf
To make us providential.
We have a singing forest here,
Where everything is singing.
You may the songs of Apus hear
And everything is ringing.
The beauty of these places
Is better than in tales.
No one even imagines
How to live without this grace.
Right in the middle of the village
There is a holy water stream.
As only once you have tried it
It will fulfill your dream.
The souls in our areas
Are pure and sacramental.
We beg and plead the white wolf
To make us providential.
Tatar folk song «The White Wolf»
Exists on our territory
May he bring real happiness
When we may feel necessities.
The souls in our areas
Are pure and sacramental.
We beg and plead the white wolf
To make us providential.
We have a singing forest here,
Where everything is singing.
You may the songs of Apus hear
And everything is ringing.
The beauty of these places
Is better than in tales.
No one even imagines
How to live without this grace.
Right in the middle of the village
There is a holy water stream.
As only once you have tried it
It will fulfill your dream.
The souls in our areas
Are pure and sacramental.
We beg and plead the white wolf
To make us providential.
Tatar folk song «The White Wolf»
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.
The work of the Spanish artist is based on the Almetyevsk legend about a white she-wolf who saved a group of woman drillers. Dulk's style is built on animalism, so this time he depicted the characters of the story as birds. «When I was a child, my father was engaged in breeding birds, and we looked after them together,» says the artist. Character birdization is a recurring theme in the work of the Catalan.
While preparing for the work, a team of curators sent Dulk photographs of birds living in Almetyevsk. The author of these photographs is Shamil Sibagatullin, a retired oil worker who is keen on bird watching. Sibagatullin took most of the pictures near the Zai River, where, according to his words, up to 150 winged species can be found.
The artist depicted three birds, which flew out of the birdhouses and now are sitting on the trees with red leaves. The she-wolf is cuddling the nest boxes like a progenitor and guardian. Dulk always paints large animals with a brand mark that looks like a point on the map. «The White She-Wolf» has it on the mane.
Dulk came up with an idea to include birdhouses after he saw them in the pictures of Almetyevo village. There were wooden houses with colourful roofs and traditional Tatar patterns under the roofing. Red clouds, merging with the crowns of trees, symbolize the torches which the woman drillers used to go through the forest. On the left side of the painting there is a white smoke rising from the ground. It symbolizes the oil and gas fields on which the city stands, which curiously rhymes with the gas pipe crossing the bottom side of the mural.
While preparing for the work, a team of curators sent Dulk photographs of birds living in Almetyevsk. The author of these photographs is Shamil Sibagatullin, a retired oil worker who is keen on bird watching. Sibagatullin took most of the pictures near the Zai River, where, according to his words, up to 150 winged species can be found.
The artist depicted three birds, which flew out of the birdhouses and now are sitting on the trees with red leaves. The she-wolf is cuddling the nest boxes like a progenitor and guardian. Dulk always paints large animals with a brand mark that looks like a point on the map. «The White She-Wolf» has it on the mane.
Dulk came up with an idea to include birdhouses after he saw them in the pictures of Almetyevo village. There were wooden houses with colourful roofs and traditional Tatar patterns under the roofing. Red clouds, merging with the crowns of trees, symbolize the torches which the woman drillers used to go through the forest. On the left side of the painting there is a white smoke rising from the ground. It symbolizes the oil and gas fields on which the city stands, which curiously rhymes with the gas pipe crossing the bottom side of the mural.
Work on the mural, 2019.
A Bohemian waxwing in the lens of Shamil Sibagatullin.
One of the streets of Almetyevo village.
The work of the Spanish artist is based on the Almetyevsk legend about a white she-wolf who saved a group of woman drillers. Dulk's style is built on animalism, so this time he depicted the characters of the story as birds. «When I was a child, my father was engaged in breeding birds, and we looked after them together,» says the artist. Character birdization is a recurring theme in the work of the Catalan.
Work on the mural, 2019.
While preparing for the work, a team of curators sent Dulk photographs of birds living in Almetyevsk. The author of these photographs is Shamil Sibagatullin, a retired oil worker who is keen on bird watching. Sibagatullin took most of the pictures near the Zai River, where, according to his words, up to 150 winged species can be found.
The artist depicted three birds, which flew out of the birdhouses and now are sitting on the trees with red leaves. The she-wolf is cuddling the nest boxes like a progenitor and guardian. Dulk always paints large animals with a brand mark that looks like a point on the map. «The White She-Wolf» has it on the mane.
The artist depicted three birds, which flew out of the birdhouses and now are sitting on the trees with red leaves. The she-wolf is cuddling the nest boxes like a progenitor and guardian. Dulk always paints large animals with a brand mark that looks like a point on the map. «The White She-Wolf» has it on the mane.
A Bohemian waxwing in the lens of Shamil Sibagatullin.
Dulk came up with an idea to include birdhouses after he saw them in the pictures of Almetyevo village. There were wooden houses with colourful roofs and traditional Tatar patterns under the roofing. Red clouds, merging with the crowns of trees, symbolize the torches which the woman drillers used to go through the forest. On the left side of the painting there is a white smoke rising from the ground. It symbolizes the oil and gas fields on which the city stands, which curiously rhymes with the gas pipe crossing the bottom side of the mural.
One of the streets of Almetyevo village.
Author
Antonio Segura Donat (Dulk) was born in Valencia in 1983. He started to draw in early childhood, copying the illustrations from an old encyclopedia, kept at home. «When I was 19, I entered The University of Valencia to study economics there, but all my copybooks were full of sketches,» says the artist. «Once a friend of mine asked me whether I wanted to try my hand at street art». The friend also suggested Antonio using the pseudonym Dulk, because it was the name of their mutual acquaintance, a Catalan artist who passed away. «It seemed to be a nice gesture, this is how we can honor his memory,» he says. After a while he quit the university and entered the High School of Art and Design in Valencia, where he studied the basics of illustration and graphic design.
«Since that time I have been working as an independent artist,» says Dulk. «I am engaged in both studio and street art. Street art has an incredible potential. These works can be observed by lots of different people, whereas pieces of art stored in museums are often available only to a certain social class».
Portrayal of animals in conditions of natural disasters is one of the key concepts in the art methods of the Spanish artist. The mural called «Migration», made during the Art Basel fair in Miami, 2016, depicts flamingos flying away to Florida due to the onset of a cold front.
Other Dulk's artworks can be seen in museums, as well as on his personal exhibitions and on the streets. He worked in different places of the world, including Krakow («The rematch of the Wawel's Dragon», 2016), Los Angeles («Beat Bear», 2018), Shanghai («Troubadours», 2018), Wailuku («Legacy», 2019), Almetyevsk and others.
«Since that time I have been working as an independent artist,» says Dulk. «I am engaged in both studio and street art. Street art has an incredible potential. These works can be observed by lots of different people, whereas pieces of art stored in museums are often available only to a certain social class».
Portrayal of animals in conditions of natural disasters is one of the key concepts in the art methods of the Spanish artist. The mural called «Migration», made during the Art Basel fair in Miami, 2016, depicts flamingos flying away to Florida due to the onset of a cold front.
Other Dulk's artworks can be seen in museums, as well as on his personal exhibitions and on the streets. He worked in different places of the world, including Krakow («The rematch of the Wawel's Dragon», 2016), Los Angeles («Beat Bear», 2018), Shanghai («Troubadours», 2018), Wailuku («Legacy», 2019), Almetyevsk and others.
Dulk and the team are working on the mural, 2019.
The work «Migration» on the Art Basel fair Miami exhibition, 2016.
Antonio Segura Donat (Dulk) was born in Valencia in 1983. He started to draw in early childhood, copying the illustrations from an old encyclopedia, kept at home. «When I was 19, I entered The University of Valencia to study economics there, but all my copybooks were full of sketches,» says the artist. «Once a friend of mine asked me whether I wanted to try my hand at street art». The friend also suggested Antonio using the pseudonym Dulk, because it was the name of their mutual acquaintance, a Catalan artist who passed away. «It seemed to be a nice gesture, this is how we can honor his memory,» he says. After a while he quit the university and entered the High School of Art and Design in Valencia, where he studied the basics of illustration and graphic design.
«Since that time I have been working as an independent artist,» says Dulk. «I am engaged in both studio and street art. Street art has an incredible potential. These works can be observed by lots of different people, whereas pieces of art stored in museums are often available only to a certain social class».
Portrayal of animals in conditions of natural disasters is one of the key concepts in the art methods of the Spanish artist. The mural called «Migration», made during the Art Basel fair in Miami, 2016, depicts flamingos flying away to Florida due to the onset of a cold front.
Other Dulk's artworks can be seen in museums, as well as on his personal exhibitions and on the streets. He worked in different places of the world, including Krakow («The rematch of the Wawel's Dragon», 2016), Los Angeles («Beat Bear», 2018), Shanghai («Troubadours», 2018), Wailuku («Legacy», 2019), Almetyevsk and others.
«Since that time I have been working as an independent artist,» says Dulk. «I am engaged in both studio and street art. Street art has an incredible potential. These works can be observed by lots of different people, whereas pieces of art stored in museums are often available only to a certain social class».
Portrayal of animals in conditions of natural disasters is one of the key concepts in the art methods of the Spanish artist. The mural called «Migration», made during the Art Basel fair in Miami, 2016, depicts flamingos flying away to Florida due to the onset of a cold front.
Other Dulk's artworks can be seen in museums, as well as on his personal exhibitions and on the streets. He worked in different places of the world, including Krakow («The rematch of the Wawel's Dragon», 2016), Los Angeles («Beat Bear», 2018), Shanghai («Troubadours», 2018), Wailuku («Legacy», 2019), Almetyevsk and others.
Dulk and the team are working on the mural, 2019.
The work «Migration» on the Art Basel fair Miami exhibition, 2016.
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