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The Junior 8 Delegation Views Genuine Russian Art

During their last full day of pre-summit training, May 12, the Russian delegation members spent several hours at the elegant mansion which houses the Higher Education School of Russian Folk Art. (HSRA)

All of the teens were quite impressed after their tour of the classrooms, storage rooms, and exhibition halls of this facility. They saw how the students designed and then created their art projects, which were quite different from the awful copies of art that are sold at expensive prices at the Church of the Savior on the Spilled Blood, located close to this school.

Students from all corners of the Russian Federation study a variety of art forms at the HSRA which include: drawing, painting, art work on fabric and metal, wood and bone carving, sculpture, jeweller’s art, embroidery, tatting, and even icon painting.

The members of the Russian delegation were quite lucky on this particular Saturday. They were able to not only view genuine Russian artistic handwork, experience the odor of each art form (each classroom had its own distinct scent), but also try their hand at different types of art. Margarita Potekhina experimented with painting on fabric, Maxim Usinin tried out jeweller’s art, and Valeria Ledkova even created a paint to use on icons.

The youngsters received a dose of inspiration and spirituality in the exhibition hall where students were waiting to ask them questions. The main issue discussed was how to protect oneself from forged artwork which fills the markets and often happens with Russian art. The students said that more attention was paid to protecting disks than genuine art work. The delegation members answered that they now had a deeper feeling for culture and would certainly raise this issue at the summit. They suggested that the students offer regular tours to both adults and children. “A person who has truly experienced genuine art would not buy a cheap copy,” asserted Margarita Potekhina.

Pictured:
An unexpected meeting: Maxim Usinin and a HSRA student who graduated from the school
Maxim attends.
HSRA Student, artistic embroidery
Valeria Ledkova. Learning how to create paint for icons.
Anna Filippova, Maxim Usinin in the exhibition hall.
Ksenia Nikiforova, Gleb Nikitin, Tatiana Ushakova, Margarita Potekhina. Meeting with HSRA
students.