Sergey Gumilevski — one of the exhibition’s authors
Lev and Sergey Gumilevski, father and son, have been working together since the early 1990s, sharing views on many issues yet retaining their own individualism and artistic individuality. Although they definitely differ, both are romantics who love their native land and their family.
Recently, our newspaper published an article on the exhibition of monumental and easel works, created jointly by the two artists, glorifying figures of culture and art from Belarus and beyond. Lev and Sergey created an avenue of busts in Nesvizh, of the Radziwills and of other cultural figures. They have a sculpture of Maxim Bogdanovich in Yalta, of enlightener Kirill Turovsky in Gomel, of Belarusian literary great Yanka Kupala in Moscow, of Wincenty Dunin-Marcinkiewicz in Bobruisk, of Frantishek Bogushevich in Smorgon, and of Vatslav Lastovsky in Glubokoe. They’ve also created the Ballet composition near the National Academic Bolshoi Opera and Ballet Theatre (Minsk) and the Nesvizh Tale (2006-2012) triptych. Their easel works are devoted to Adam Mickiewicz, Yevfrosiniya Polotskaya, Duke Radziwill Sierotka (2015), writer Vladimir Korotkevich (2016), and poet Maxim Tank (2016), among others.
Many people attended the artistic meeting with the famous sculptors, hoping to have a chance to chat. Happily, their expectations were met. The participants of the meeting visited the Gumilevskis’ studio, seeing how sculptures begin and hearing firsthand from the masters.
Meeting with Lev Gumilevski
Lev tells us, “A sculpture has different forms: large and small. They are more than merely decorations of a city, for example. They rather aim to capture the spirit of city life. Moreover, sculpture can unite architectural, social and historical spaces.”
The exhibition and dialogue with the artists, including a tour of the studio, allowed visitors to see works in progress. Some exist only as sculptural sketches at present. Sometime later, these will be unveiled for wide public as real sculptures — in city streets and squares.
Participants of the meetings discussed how sculptures enhance the capital’s attractiveness, helping draw tourists. A goal was set long ago: to make Minsk a tourist centre. Lev and Sergey are convinced that sculptures play a vital role in this respect and would love to see Minsk gain a sculpture park which could become a site of attraction for numerous tourists.
Actually, the meeting of audiences and the sculptors transformed into a unique space for idea sharing. The father and the son eagerly disclosed the secrets of their ‘sculptural kitchen’ at their joint exposition, also describing and demonstrating the process of monumental and chamber sculpture creation (using their own artworks as an example). Professional artists hoped to enjoy an interested dialogue and ‘a feedback’. It was a unique artistic event.
By Victor Mikhailov
