By Tatiana Pastushenko
Belarusian entrants to the Junior Eurovision have tried on images from canvases by the outstanding master Andrey Smolyak as part of the Revived Paintings project.
The idea of the project, launched at Gomel’s Rumyantsev-Paskevich Palace, is to unite talented and honoured people of Belarus via pictorial art. The project involves politicians, musicians, businessmen, directors and athletes, who transform into the characters of the artist’s pictures, with each personality bringing their own individuality to the painting.
“We try to keep up with the times. Last month, when Minsk was hosting the Yuri Bashmet Festival, we were working with famous pianist Rostislav Krimer. In November, the Belarusian capital is hosting the finals of the Junior Eurovision-2010 and we’ve invited participants in the contest from previous years,” explains the author of the project and artist’s wife, Olga Smolyak.
Junior Eurovision-2005 winner, Ksenia Sitnik, transformed for a while into a ballet dancer from Smolyak’s After Ball painting while Andrey Kunets and Yura Demidovich — also competitors in the musical event — transformed into the founder of the Rolling Stones and one of the characters from the Reflection triptych. Belarus’ entrant at this year’s event, Daniil Kozlov, was captured as a young flute player from the Quartet picture. Mrs. Smolyak particularly emphasised Ksenia Sitnik’s courage, since she attended shootings despite having a broken leg.
winner, Ksenia Sitnik, transformed for a while into a ballet dancer from Smolyak’s painting while Andrey Kunets and Yura Demidovich — also competitors in the musical event — transformed into the founder of the and one of the characters from the triptych. Belarus’ entrant at this year’s event, Daniil Kozlov, was captured as a young flute player from the picture. Mrs. Smolyak particularly emphasised Ksenia Sitnik’s courage, since she attended shootings despite having a broken leg.According to Mrs. Smolyak, both the children and organisers of the project are extremely pleased with the results. “When we saw children with corresponding clothes and character make-up we felt that they had just walked out of the pictures. It’s barely possible to distinguish Ksenia Sitnik from her character,” notes the author of the project.
According to her, the Junior Eurovision entrants have managed to fulfil the task perfectly, since they are the best actors, and are impossible to outplay. “Children had plenty of topics for conversation. Yura Demidovich and Andrey Kunets performed under number 12 and Daniil Kozlov is to perform under the same number this year. The young artistes supported Daniil and gave him advice,” continued Mrs. Smolyak.
Of particular interest were the flutes, which helped three boys fit into the images of musicians, and were borrowed by the organisers from the Presidential Orchestra of Belarus. There was even a flute, worth over 20,000 euros, amongst five borrowed musical instruments. “The results have surpassed all our expectations,” noted Mrs. Smolyak.
