The World as Seen from a Different Perspective may now be explored by Tobolsk's residents thanks to a volunteering initiative of a SIBUR employee

3 october 2023

An unorthodox piece of street art is now gracing the wall of a transformer substation located in the city's Microdistrict 7a. This is more than just any drawing; this is a mural made by a talented young artist who had won the first prize of the children's drawing competition held as part of The World as Seen from a Different Perspective, a volunteering project supported by SIBUR's social investment program, The Formula for Good Deeds.

The project's origins are quite remarkable: it was initiated by a ZapSibNeftekhim employee and the winner of a grant awarded under a volunteering contest held for SIBUR's employees in Tobolsk. The project's goal is to help unleash the creative potential of children with disabilities by means of a series of workshops, including classes on graffiti-style drawings.

Upon completing the master classes on drawing, it dawned on me to organize a contest among the classes' attendees, so that the best drawing could be then transferred from paper to a building's wall. In a way, the idea was to see the whole thing through to the end and come up with a real piece of graffiti, lldar Isakov, a pump operator at ZapSibNeftekhim and the mastermind of the volunteering project, explained.

After completing their master classes, the attendees were given a homework assignment to come up with an idea for a graffiti drawing of their own and put it on paper. The drawings' themes had to be eponymous with the project's title, The World as Seen from a Different Perspective. The students were asked to express their innermost feelings about the world around them, and to show that it is as special as they are.

My drawing is of me, it is about my love. My Mom taught me to love not only my own family, but also my environment, the animals, the flowers, and my city of Tobolsk. Every day, I am surrounded by my favorite things and my favorite people, and that's what I tried to express in my drawing. This is my world, the world as seen through MY eyes, Aisha Mirzoyeva, a participant of the project and the creator of the winning drawing, explained.

Afterwards, artist Yuri Rudenko transferred the drawing from paper to a wall. It took him 14 days to complete the job. The key was not only to produce a beautiful piece of graffiti, but also to preserve the young artist's original style.

I am both very excited and privileged to be a part of such an undertaking. I did my best to grasp and convey the message and the idea behind Aisha's sketch. To do that, I had had to meet with her and her mother, to update them on my progress and double-check whether my understanding of her idea was right. After all, it is she who is the principal artist, Yuri Rudenko, a street artist and performer, comments.

The unveiling of the art piece in Microdistrict 7a took place on October 1, with all the contestants receiving letters of recognition and gifts. The event was attended by the neighborhood's residents, who had been watching the painting being drawn over a period of several weeks. They were cheering both for the participants and for themselves as the once-gray "world" of their neighborhood had gotten more colorful and vibrant.

This lovely drawing now shines through my window like sunlight, making me and my neighbors very happy. I wish we had more of such creative people so that our city could keep on flourishing! Ravya Nazarova, a resident of Building No. 39, shared her feelings.