An exhibition by the creative Art Wing studio opened in Tobolsk

4 december 2023

Tobolsk hosted an exhibition of the Art Wing arts studio held on the premises of the exhibition hall of the A.A. Alyabiev Children's School of Arts' Department of Design and Architecture. The display features works of art by the studio's disabled students. The project that has been created specifically to cater for children with disabilities is being implemented with the support of SIBUR's social investment program The Formula for Good Deeds, whose range of focus areas includes development of inclusivity-centered programs.
This year, Art Wing's initiative drew 36 children and teenagers aged 6 to 16. From August to November, they attended arts and crafts classes with a focus on pottery, textiles, and stamping, and were also taught how to play various musical instruments (including the petal drum and the Djembe drum).

Alexey Vakulik, leading government relations and socio-economic projects expert at ZapSibNeftekhim:
“Having the opportunity to dedicate oneself to creative activities is an important prerequisite for any young individual's harmonious development, socialization, unlocking their personal potential, and gaining the experience of achieving success through their diligence and talent. What makes the Art Wing studio particularly valuable is that it helps children prove themselves regardless of their state of health while doing the groundwork for creating a city of equal opportunities.”

The exhibition that represents the final act of the studio's work for this year features children's artwork in two categories - ceramics and artistic textiles. The Ceramics artwork showcases hand-painted and glazed decorative panels, ceramic plaquettes, and miniature molded items. The Textiles category includes small napkins, decorative panels, bandana headscarves decorated using the hand-stamping technique, T-shirts decorated by using the knotted batik technique, and shopping bags decorated in a variety of different techniques. It has been noted by visitors and the kids' instructors that the artwork is remarkable for its creative diversity, both in terms of techniques employed and the imagery behind them.

Elena Chegodayeva, Director of the A.A. Alyabyev Children's School of Arts:
“The project turned out to be very colorful, creative, and talented. This exhibition demonstrates how much interest there is in pursuing different techniques of arts and crafts and the limitless possibilities for creative self-expression it presents.”

Natalia Koklyagina, a ceramics instructor:
“Our classes stirred up genuine interest on the part of the students and, despite some challenges associated with handling such a difficult material as clay, the project's participants were able to make a great variety of items including plaquettes, panels, and miniature molded items. They learned to operate stamps and figurative rolling pins to create the texture they needed, as well as to use the engobe technique to paint their products. Each piece of artwork has a unique character, and all of them are original”.

Elena Lobakova, a textile instructor:
“At the class, the students practiced the stamping technique and made by hand several textile products that can be used not only for decorating a building’s interior - such as a decorative napkin or a panel - but also in one's every-day life. I am referring to such items as shopping bags, bandanas, and T-shirts”.

Tatiana Krasnikova, a mother of a project participant:
“It’s a very exciting project. The kids learn to make things with their hands. Their instructors help them use their imagination and then express their vision of the world in their artwork. We see so many pieces of artwork, and they are very different. When a child can say, "I did this by myself!" this is worth a lot. Thank you for the opportunity to be involved in this project”.