Cast sculptures that creates Dashi Namdakov, made in the technique of artistic casting, forging and mixed media of bronze, silver, gold, copper, precious stones, as well as bone (mammoth tusk), horse hair and wood. Sculpture, jewelry, graphics and tapestries have a pronounced unique author's style, which is based on elements of national culture, traditions of Central Asia, and Buddhist motifs.

Works Dashi Namdakova kept in the collections of the State Hermitage, the Russian Museum of Ethnography in St. Petersburg, the Museum of Oriental Art, and in museums in many countries around the world. The sculptures are in private collections of V. Putin ("Elements"), President of Tatarstan M.Sh. Shaimiev ("Horseman"), Moscow Mayor Yu.M. Luzhkov, head of the Chukotka Autonomous Okrug R.A. Abramovich ("Evening", "Old Warrior"), other representatives of Russian politics and business, as well as in private collections in Germany, France, Belgium, Switzerland, Finland, Japan, USA, Taiwan. Dasha's works are possessed by such different famous people as Gerhard Schroeder, country music star Willie Nelson, actress Uma Thurman.

Dashi Namdakov has held more than 14 solo exhibitions in Russia and abroad, including in famous museums and galleries around the world.

Awarded with a silver medal of the Russian Academy of Arts. Since 2004 he has been living and working in Moscow.

In 2007, he carried out the artistic design of the film "Mongol".

His full name is Dashi Nima - "Lucky Sun". And the name in the ancient Buryat family contains the “code of fate”. Therefore, when naming a baby, the lamas took into account not only the day and hour of his birth, but also the location of the luminaries. Nothing in the world is random.

Dashi Namdakov is a Russian sculptor, graphic artist and jeweler, member of the Union of Artists of the Russian Federation. Born in 1967 in the Chita region, graduated from the Krasnoyarsk Art Institute. In 2003 he was awarded the Silver Medal of the Russian Academy of Arts.

In recent years, Dashi has held many solo exhibitions in the largest museums in the world: the State Tretyakov Gallery and the State Museum of Oriental Art in Moscow, the Center for Tibetan Culture (Tibetan House) in New York, the Beijing Museum of World Art, etc.

Dashi Namdakov became the production designer of the film "Mongol" (directed by Sergei Bodrov Sr.). The film was nominated for an Academy Award (2007) for Best Foreign Language Film and also won six National Nick Awards. Dashi Namdakov was recognized as the best costume designer.

The artist's works are in the funds of many museums in Russia and the world, as well as in the personal collections of the Prime Minister of the Government of the Russian Federation V.V. Putin, President of Tatarstan M.Sh. Shaimiev, Mayor of Moscow Yu.M. Luzhkov, in private collections in the USA, Germany, France, Great Britain, Belgium, Switzerland, Japan, China and Taiwan, Singapore.

Childhood of Dasha Namdakov

The family of Dashi Namdakov belongs to an ancient respected family - Darkhans. These families have always produced the best jewelers, craftsmen and artists. Only they were allowed to work with fire, the sacred symbol of the chosen. They possessed the highest knowledge, passed down from generation to generation. It was believed that people from the noble class were subject to a lot. But much was allowed - much was asked. All members of the upper class had a great responsibility for the world in which they lived.

Dashi Namdakov's father - Balzhan Namdakov - was a famous folk craftsman - blacksmith, artist, painted Buddhist thangkas (icons), was engaged in sculpture, woodcarving, weaving carpets. He did a lot for the collective farm where he worked - he designed and built a small power plant, created agricultural machines. A smart, bright, gifted and knowledgeable person. At the same time, he had only a few classes of education - in the post-war famine years in the village, he didn’t have to think about studying, he would have survived ... Belzhan taught his children a lot.

There were four sons and four daughters in the family. All of them draw well, each is creative in his own way. Dashi was born the sixth. Until the seventh grade, he lived with his parents in a Buryat village and felt like a part of the universe in which he grew up. The special way of life in the family, the subtle connection of generations, his Gift, which manifested itself even in early childhood ... The fantastic nature of Buryatia, the pristine rivers, the fantastic Sayan Mountains, the steppe, the unthinkable beauty of Baikal became for a child who subtly feels the beauty of the world, the whole cosmos - huge and beautiful . Until the seventh grade, life was good ...

Dashi Namdakov:

- I have already seen the decline of this civilization, which is very difficult, almost impossible to return. For this, a miracle must happen. Life is changing before our eyes, and although many changes are good, something important is irretrievably lost. Children can no longer explain how you can feel your connection with nature, be in harmony with it ... The nature of my Motherland is amazing - it is a whole cosmos, and you live in it, live it, you are a flower in this life, a blade of grass. Not a bolt rusting in a puddle. But it's impossible to go back...

boarding school

Everything has changed very drastically. There was no secondary school in the village, and Dasha had to go to boarding school. He now came home only for weekends and holidays. The familiar world has collapsed, all its riches have narrowed down to elementary rules - simple, but tough and the same for everyone. As if someone had decided for him: "You have to live this way and that way, guy - there is no other way." Very fragile things turned out to be distorted and destroyed, ties were broken. It was as if they had pumped foreign blood into the veins, a different ideology, different ideas about life, concepts about the world.

Dashi Namdakov:

- Only by the age of forty did a lot of things begin to emerge in my memory, the world of that teenager, what I once was, began to recover. The same upbringing for all kills something in the soul, replacing the True with one ideology for all. You begin to analyze life and understand the inequivalence of loss: what did you lose and what was imposed on you in return for what was lost. Villages are disappearing, people are losing touch with their roots - a cataclysm that has turned everything upside down ...

Dasha began to draw very early. No one doubted his talent. But at school they didn't really think about it. Everyone draws a carrot - and you draw. They draw an apple - and don't take it easy. It was unspeakably boring for a teenager who painted pictures with complex compositions. Out of a sense of protest, he did not agree to draw plain objects. And once I almost stayed for the second year due to poor performance in drawing.

There was everything in the boarding school. Dashi reacted very sharply to injustice, undeserved insults, yearned for everything that he had left at home. Probably, not all children perceive such changes as tragically, but for Dasha they provoked not only a breakdown in consciousness, but also a serious illness. He underwent four operations, the stomach simply refused to work. Every night Dasha, exhausted like a prisoner of a concentration camp, woke up from unbearable pain. For several years, various methods of treatment were tried, but there was no improvement. When the hope for medicine faded away, the parents turned to the shaman for help. This decision was not easy for them: mom and dad professed Buddhism all their lives, the philosophy of which denies tengerism (shamanism). But the son almost died ...

The ceremony was long and difficult. The next day, for the first time in many years, Dasha slept until noon. When he awoke, sunlight flooded the room. And he didn't have any pain!

This event left a mark on his whole life. No, he did not stop being a Buddhist, but the words of the shaman that illness is the price for breaking ties with nature fell on fertile ground. Since then, Dashi has thought a lot about paganism, its roots, and the forces of nature. Whatever doesn't kill makes us stronger. If it were not for this disease, a miraculous cure, we would probably know a completely different Dashi Namdakov. The impulse received from the shaman sounds in many of his works, his world is inhabited by strange creatures, beautiful images that came out of the depths of great-memory. All Dasha's works come from the world of ancient myths and legends. Seen in a dream at night, during the day under his hands becomes a reality. The spirit of his land lives in Dasha's creations, the forces of nature in which he grew up. They have a deep mystery that not everyone can unravel, but it is impossible not to feel their energy and beauty.

Dashi Namdakov:

“We must not break away from our roots, from the forces of nature. Earth, water, air - you can’t teach love for the elements, you have to feel them and draw strength from them. It seems to me that I have learned a lot, and this obliges me to take life seriously and responsibly.

Europe, Asia, and America are also interesting - each civilization has its own invaluable experience. I am especially interested in those countries where traces of ancient civilizations have been preserved. And yet there is nothing better in the world than my homeland. If I can at least somehow help in preserving the culture of my people, I am happy.

Institute

After school, Dashi Namdakov tried to enter the Moscow Art School. I did not dare to take the documents to the institute - it seemed that almost celestials were studying there. And he miscalculated. In the school for non-residents, only four places were allocated, the competition for these places was absolutely incredible, incomparable with the university. But there was no one to advise. It was embarrassing to return home with nothing - and Dashi entered the architectural faculty of the Novosibirsk Civil Engineering Institute. Somehow I collected my wooden sculptures, approached the sculptor teacher: "Take it as a student." He looked: “Boy, you didn’t come to study there. You need a sculpture." Dashi himself understood: well, this is not his business - architecture, the future was seen in a completely different way. And although he knew what grief his decision would bring to his parents and siblings (there were no special capitals, the younger ones were raised by the whole family), he dropped out of school. Two years later he became a student at the Krasnoyarsk Art Institute. Only five or six people a year were recruited for academic specialties. Dashi started sculpting.

Teacher

In Dasha's life, at turning points, people met more than once - "signs of fate", who singled him out from many others and tried to help, teach. Even at school, he had a literature teacher - thanks to him, Dashi fell in love with literature, poetry.

Dasha's institute was also very lucky with the teacher - Lev Nikolaevich Golovnitsky, academician, secretary of the Siberian-Far Eastern branch of the USSR Academy of Arts, professor of the institute's sculpture department, noticed him. A talented sculptor, he immediately saw that the young man from Buryatia had a Dar. For Dasha, the teacher's opinion, his assessment were very significant. They had a warm relationship, they talked for a long time, Dashi often accompanied the Teacher home, knowing how difficult it was for him to go up to the third floor with chronic asthma. Lev Nikolaevich's wife, Enrika Emilyevna Eckert (also a sculptor), always tried to prepare something light, dietary for Dasha's arrival - the Golovnitsky family also knew about his stomach problems.

In the fourth year, returning from the holidays, Dashi began to think - should he quit his studies? It seemed that he had already learned everything he could. I wanted to create and work on my own. He was already considered a master, they started talking about him. People came running to his exhibitions to see what new Dasha had made there? So is it worth spending another three years of your life on lectures (the course was designed for six years)? And how do you tell the teacher about it?

Fellow students told Dasha that Lev Nikolaevich was admitted to the hospital, and the Master asked the student to come to him. Of course he came.

Lev Nikolaevich himself started the conversation:

“I guess what you are thinking, Dashi, and I understand everything. Well, let's do the diploma.

- As a diploma, I have to study for almost three more years ?!

- You will be graduating externally.

Lev Nikolayevich took over the entire bureaucratic part - he agreed with the educational part, with the teachers. The authority of the Master was such that he managed to convince even the most dissatisfied. He did the same with Dasha - he closed it in the workshop so that nothing would distract him from his studies. He came to him every day, brought books, told everything he knew about the history of art. The immersion method worked - Dashi went headlong into the creations of the masters of Assyria, Babylon, Phoenicia, Egypt, India, China, Byzantium ... It seemed to him that he himself had moved into the world of bygone civilizations. Golovnitsky praised the student for his zeal and promised that all the knowledge that Dasha “swallowed” at such a pace would still be useful to him in a few years, when the time comes. And so it happened...

Teachers came to the workshop to take exams. All items were successfully submitted. After defending his diploma, Dasha left for his homeland. When, a few months later, he found out about the death of the teacher and understood why Lev Nikolayevich was in such a hurry to convey everything he knew to him ... He did not have time to say goodbye to Dasha's Teacher - the message arrived late. And it tormented him for many years.

First collection

He arrived in Ulan-Ude in the early 90s. Times were not too calm. By that time, Dashi was already married, the son of Genghis was growing up in the family - he had to feed his family, earn money. He opened a tiny, several square meters, jewelry workshop - his products, stylized as finds from ancient burial mounds, were in good demand. My wife worked as an economist in a bank, some money appeared in the family, everyday problems receded. It was time to get creative. Dashi says that he is lucky because he was lucky with his wife. This is what she said at that moment: “Mind your own business. Every dog ​​has his day". Then he had such a schedule: two weeks - work on jewelry, the next two - "for the soul." Sculpture is an expensive pleasure, almost all earned on the "jewellery" went to pay for casting, chasing. A whole collection has accumulated over the years. It was time to show it to the world.

Success

The first personal Dasha Namdakov took place in the Irkutsk Art Museum on February 16, 2000. On this day, Dasha turned 33 years old.

The common expression "the next day he woke up rich and famous" is quite appropriate here. There was no end to those wishing to see Dasha's collection, the exhibition went off with a bang, the entire collection was sold out. The Irkutsk Union of Artists invited me to move to Irkutsk, offered the best workshop in the city…

After some time, Dasha was invited to an exhibition in Moscow. The exhibition was held at the Central House of Artists, and other young Russian sculptors took part in it. In the capital, they started talking about his work.

In 2003, Dashi Namdakov was invited to arrange an exhibition in Yekaterinburg, during the summit, which was attended by Russian President Vladimir Putin and German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder. Dashi knew that Golovnitsky's widow had moved to Yekaterinburg after her husband's death. He found Enrika Emilyevna, came to visit, invited to the exhibition. But she refused: “You know, Dasha, when Lev Nikolaevich died, I stopped going to exhibitions. For me, she died with her husband.” We sat, drank tea, Dashi left. And after some time I received a letter. Enrika Emilyevna wrote that she still went to the exhibition: “Lev Nikolaevich would be proud of you. You gave me back my love for sculpture.” The guilt that had tormented Dasha for so long finally let go ...

river of life

In 2004, Dashi moved to Moscow with his family, but he did not lose contact with his homeland. He often visits Buryatia, where his parents still live today. True, children are already growing up in a different world - and this is his constant pain. Dasha has three children: the eldest son and two daughters, one is twelve years old, the other is only six months old. Chingis, a student at the Higher School of Economics, recently had his own child. In the male line, this is already the 23rd generation of the Namdakovs over the past 600 years, whose names have remained in the memory of the family.

Parents taught Dasha: “You can’t want something too much in this life. If you start setting some super-tasks, everything collapses. Live calmly, surrender to the flow of the river of life, have fun. And he lives by this rule.

And the gods help him. No wonder they called him that - the Lucky Sun.

I think the gods would be offended by me if I said that I was not a happy person. I always felt that I was being "led" through life. I've been lucky with people. I do what I can and love. Sculpture is my poetry, poetry in volume. It happens that people look for their handwriting, their style for years. I never looked for it. I wrote and created as I breathed - what I live. This is my world that exists inside of me.

But creativity is not the whole life. I love my family, I like to travel, I traveled a lot around the world, eagerly discovered the world. I am interested in everything in this life, it is interesting to live.

No discount store will sell you such sculptures. Author's works of Dasha are valued as real works of art.

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Dashi was born in 1967 in a small village in the Chita region in a large family of a craftsman.
Dasha's father was known in the village as a man who knew how to make literally everything with his own hands - furniture, metal door handles, and carpets. His wooden sculptures of Buddhist deities and tangkas - Buddhist icons - were installed in monasteries. Therefore, from childhood, helping their father, the children learned different crafts, knew how to make things using different materials.

Dashi grew up in this atmosphere from early childhood, and therefore, by the time he grew up, he already knew how to do a lot with his own hands. But circumstances so developed that at the age of 15 Dasha suddenly became very ill, and for a long 7 years all visits to doctors did not bring any result. The young man was on the verge of death.

In the end, the parents ended up with a shaman, who explained the cause of illnesses and ailments by saying that people forgot their roots, stopped remembering their ancestors, remembering their names. The shaman performed her ritual. Incredibly, the pain subsided immediately. And after 7 days, Dasha was in another city and was looking for a job. That shaman predicted success for him, because Dasha had the ability to see the beauty of the surrounding things and embody it in her works.

Dashi starts working in the workshop of the Buryat sculptor G.G.Vasiliev in Ulan-Ude, where he hones his skills in working with different materials. Then in 1988 he entered the Krasnoyarsk Art Institute. Famous artists - L.N. Golovnitsky, Yu.P. Ishkhanov, A.Kh. Boyarlin, E.I. Pakhomov became his mentors.

After graduating from the institute in 1992, Dashi returns to Ulan-Ude, where he continues to work. In 2000, after the first solo exhibition in Irkutsk, it became clear that a new name had appeared in the art world - Dashi Namdakova. The exhibition made a splash in the art establishment. This was followed by successful exhibitions in other cities of Russia, successful shows abroad.

"Images often visit me at night," says Dashi, "when consciousness is in a borderline state between the real world and the world inhabited by illusions and spirits." Dasha scrupulously puts these visions on paper so as not to forget, and then skillfully transfers what she saw to another material - bronze, silver.

Dasha's sculptures come from distant worlds. From there, where there is no boundary between man and the universe, everything is there - particles of the universe, occupying a niche prepared for everyone in an endless stream of universal transformations. This is how the East perceives this world - finding beauty in its integrity and fragile harmony, fearing to destroy the order established by the Almighty with an awkward movement.

From here, shamans appear in Dasha's works, who still play an important role in the life of modern Buryats. The wisdom of things seen by Dasha pierces all his works. His warriors, tired of the war, do not seem like inhuman barbarians, but are filled with wisdom and greatness. Dasha's women are seductive and sensual in an earthly way, but at the same time she bashfully turns away from the artist deprived of modesty. If you look closely at a resting fallow deer, is it possible not to see a sleeping girl in it? Beauty surrounds us, wherever we are, but not everyone can see it.

"Perceive the world as it is, for its creator is wiser than you," Dasha's sculptures say, "then true beauty will be revealed to you."

The works of Dashi Namdakov, thanks to an amazing combination of innovation and ancient traditions of Buryatia, unusual plasticity and exceptional craftsmanship, were acquired for the personal collections of the first persons of Russia, including the President of the Russian Federation V. Putin.

Dashi Namdakov is a sculptor who needs no introduction. His works are made in the technique of artistic casting, forging and mixed media. The master's favorite materials are silver, gold, bronze, copper, wood, horsehair, mammoth tusk. Sculptures, jewelry miniatures, graphics - in all this one can see his original style, unlike any other, which is based on elements of national culture, traditions of Central Asia, Buddhist motifs. And at the same time, his work is clear to everyone, as if there is something in his work that touches the most delicate strings of the soul of a person of any nationality.

Legend (bracelet)

Excitement (pendant)

Africa (ring)

Africa (pendant)

Africa (earrings)

Lamb (pendant)

Gemini (neck decoration)

Nocturne (ring)

Babylon (ring)

Eternity (pendant)

Eternity (earrings)

Horse head (pectoral)

Rhinoceros beetle

Snake (pendant)

Truth (bracelet)

Capricorn (ring)

Mosquito (statue)

Lemur (ring)

Larvae (earrings)

Frog (ring)

Little Buddha (miniature)

Manta (pendant)

Manta (ring)

Mask (print)

Nautilus (pendant)

Rhinoceros

Aries (ring)

Octopus (ring)

Huntress

Panther (pendant)

Panther (earrings)

Spider (pendant)

Flight (pendant)

Princess

Enlightened

Birth

Cricket

Scythia (pendant)

An exhibition of sculptor and artist Dashi Namdakov has opened at the State Historical Museum as part of the major museum project "Nomad Between Heaven and Earth". Top model, actress and TV presenter Polina Askeri talked to Dashi Namdakov for the love2beauty portal.

I have been familiar with the work of Dashi Namdakov since about 2002. It was then that his first exhibition took place in Moscow at the Herzen Gallery. I remember the burning eyes of my sister, Angelina Askeri, when she just returned from the exhibition. Angelina told me about an extraordinarily talented sculptor whose work, in time, in her opinion, would be worth millions.

I recently visited the State Historical Museum, where, as part of a major museum project “Nomad. Between Heaven and Earth” opened an exhibition of one of my favorite sculptors, an artist with a unique style, Dashi Namdakov. The winner of many awards in the field of art, Dashi was awarded not only the state prize of the Government of the Russian Federation, but also the attention of the British royal family, with the assistance of which his monumental sculpture "Genghis Khan" was installed in London in 2012.

Polina Askeri: Let's talk about your family and childhood. Your father, I know, was also an artist. How did your family and the environment in which you grew up influence you? After all, what was invested in us in childhood affects what we are now.

Dashi Namdakov: There was a huge path between me as a child and who I am now. My parents, of course, influenced my development, although in childhood it always seemed to me, due to the large number of children in the family, that no one really brought us up. As I grew older and became a father, I realized what my parents had done for me.

Polina Askeri: What influenced your creativity?

Dashi Namdakov: If there are miracles in the world, then they certainly happened to me. In my youth I had health problems, it was a big overcoming in my life. For seven years I was seriously ill, and I think that this influenced who I became. There is a lot of work behind all my work, I am a perfectionist and I believe that everything should always be done in the best possible way.

Polina Askeri:What did you dream about as a child?

Dashi Namdakov: I wanted to become an assistant train driver (laughs). Everyone dreamed of being astronauts, but I, as always, about something else. In fact, I dreamed of being a sculptor, although I did not even know that such a term existed. Until the age of 7 I spoke Buryat and did not know Russian. Since childhood, I have always been drawn to volume and form. You know, once I came with my dog ​​Laika to the village, and she immediately rushed to the hunt, where she showed all her hunting insides, it is in her blood. I also have sculpture in my blood. The talent given by nature helps me, and when there is a result, I thank the Higher Forces, who, through my parents, rewarded me with this.

Polina Askeri:It is always said that creators have an ancient soul. Do you believe in reincarnation of the soul?

Dashi Namdakov: Of course, this is my religion. I have a grandson, and he is the 23rd representative of a series of ancestors whose names we remember in our family. I am proud that I have such an ancient family. When I did one of the first exhibitions in Moscow, many guests from the members of the Academy of Arts came to it, and many of them said that they thought that sculpture was dead in Russia, but when they saw my works, they were glad that this was not so. After the opening of the exhibition, I just flew with happiness. I went to my spiritual teacher, and he told me: “You know, Dashi, all your talent is the merit of your ancestors, in whom all generations accumulated the strength that shot at you.” Then I really liked these words, and I realized that I was just a tool. Since then, I have never been arrogant, and I have not been dizzy from success.

Polina Askeri:That is, you have knowledge and skills inside, but you still studied at an art institute. Did you enjoy studying?

Dashi Namdakov: I had problems with the humanities, I was more successful in the exact sciences. In addition, my teacher considered that the institute could suppress my individuality, and advised me to complete my studies as an external student.

Polina Askeri: What are the most important features that characterize your own "I"?

Dashi Namdakov: I am very critical of myself, first of all as an artist, then as a person. And every year I become more demanding. This does not always please me, because self-digging, although it helps to develop in art, is a difficult aspect for a person. I pride myself on being a workaholic, in a good way, and totally dedicated to my work.

Polina Askeri:You are a world famous sculptor, artist, jeweler. Do you have a desire to try yourself in something else?

Dashi Namdakov: In fact, I have been thinking about the fashion industry for a long time. I am quite an adventurous person, I have always been intrigued by the idea of ​​trying myself in this area. My parents, being jacks of all trades, sewed national shoes from leather and fur, and we children helped them. As a rule, what I did in my youth, I do now, only, of course, on a different level. At one time I had a jewelry workshop, thanks to which I earned money for sculpture. Then, when I started making money with sculpture, after some time I opened the jewelry business again. Now in London and New York, my jewelry collection is of great interest.

Previously, there was no division in art: any of the famous artists, for example, Leonardo Da Vinci or Michelangelo, could do everything in the field of art.

I also decided to try myself in many ways. I am engaged in architecture, jewelry business, I start working with porcelain. And gradually it pushes me into the world of fashion. Because clothes are the same sculpture and the same volumes. This is what I want to do and why not try myself in this area. I like painting on fabrics, and I would start with this. On the other hand, I think that this project can take a lot of my time. Therefore, I would like to consult with you, do I need this?

Polina Askeri: I think you know the answer within yourself. This is interesting, this is an expansion of the field of activity, and this can lead to even more global things. Fabrics can be both for a suit and for creating an interior - these are two different directions. You can try to make fabrics in cooperation with a well-known manufacturer. In my opinion, it will be interesting.

Dashi Namdakov: Certainly, it is interesting. I now have a lot of projects, and if you take on the fashion environment, then this, I repeat, will take half of my time. Since I am new to this, I must learn everything thoroughly. But on the other hand, this is a good opportunity for development. I'm interested in creativity itself. All the charm is in the process in which you need to achieve a result.

Polina Askeri:But what about the result? Tell us how you feel when you open exhibitions?

Dashi Namdakov: I open exhibitions, but I never go to them. I always feel uncomfortable about it. I understand that this is an integral part of the work, exhibitions are needed, they popularize your name. Although it is the exhibitions that confuse me. My team and I did a lot of exhibitions in Siberia, which was extremely important for me. We purposefully traveled to Omsk, Buryatia, Chita and many other cities.

Polina Askeri:It's wonderful! You give a chance to people who do not have the opportunity to come to your exhibitions in Moscow or St. Petersburg.

Dashi Namdakov: Yes, absolutely right. I wanted to "pay tribute" to my region and show my creativity, first of all, there.

Polina Askeri:Do you travel a lot. What is your favorite place?

Dashi Namdakov: Lately I've fallen in love with Moscow more.

Although my favorite place is still the village where I grew up. Seeing many countries, constantly being on planes, I became much more patriotic.

Polina Askeri:You are married and have three children. Where does your family live?

Dashi Namdakov: My family lives in London. The youngest daughter, 5 years old, went to school. Once, I came to school for her, and she runs out to me, so happy, and shouts: “Dad, I fell in love today!” I thought, thank God, it finally happened! (Laughs)

Polina Askeri:It's so wonderful. And what is more pleasant, to receive high marks from professionals or the public?

Dashi Namdakov: I think professionals, because they are the engine of the process.

Polina Askeri:What was the nicest reward?

Dashi Namdakov: When in Italy I was awarded as the sculptor of the year. There is a city of Pietrasanta, where many sculptors and artisans from all over the world live and work. And once a year, among the loudest names in the field of contemporary sculpture, the international award "Pietrasanta and Versilia in the world" is awarded.

Polina Askeri: I have heard a lot about this place. Do you have a studio there?

Dashi Namdakov: Yes, I have been working in Italy for 5 years. Since it is difficult for me to stand in one place, the blood of nomads is evidently making itself felt, I think that my five-year Italian history will be transformed. The world is changing so fast that it is impossible to stay in one place. But you should always try to live life to the fullest.

Polina Askeri:I heard that your exhibition is planned for autumn in London, at the legendary Harrods. And that this was preceded by a unique case. Tell me please, how was it?

Dashi Namdakov: As many people know, I love working with bronze and this material is the predominant material in my work. But I also work a lot with gold and precious stones. And once, for the first time, I made a sculpture from Afghan lapis lazuli, which is extremely unusual for me. And this work was put up for sale in Harrods. After some time, my partner calls me and informs me that Harrods had the most expensive purchase in the history of the store, and an unknown client bought my sculpture for 1.5 million pounds. And now they want to do an exhibition of my work. It is, of course, very pleasant.

Polina Askeri: And what about Asia?

Dashi Namdakov: Soon, very soon, but it's still a big secret...

The modern Russian sculptor Dashinima Namdakov from an ancient family of Buryat blacksmiths-Darkhans is a fairly famous artist, even for those who have never heard his name - for example, you have probably come across photographs of the new wedding palace in Kazan. His creations are incredible. Namdakov's work can even frighten or anger narrow-minded people, as they are frightened or angered by everything that breaks the boundaries of the familiar, even if it is unusual, unusual, non-ordinary perfection.

Dashi is very fond of shamanism, communicates with shamans. and says that, being immersed in this environment, he fills his works with a certain energy.

"one shaman who came to my exhibition just flew out of the hall like a bullet: it became impossible for him to be near my sculptures. These are very delicate things."

Siberian shaman

Memory

Master

"Some things and images come to me in a dream, and you need to be able to concentrate on them and remember, otherwise they go nowhere."

nobleman

Eternity

“I had a full-fledged rich world, just a gigantic one, which was saturated with all kinds of spirits, animals, creatures. And when I went to school, they told me: “The whole world fits on this sheet, throw everything else out of your head. This is your sick imagination” And the world shrank into this leaf. I am 44 years old and all my life I have been struggling to get rid of this leaf that limits me. "

spider skull

"I had problems with the humanities, I was more successful in the exact sciences."

Buha-Noyon. According to legend, on the eastern spurs of the Sayans, located at the southern tip of Lake Baikal, lived a giant gray bull Bukha-Noyon, the totem progenitor of one of the Mongolian peoples. Once he entered into battle with another, no less powerful totemic bull named Buhe-Shulun. The battle went on for many days. None of them could win. Then one of them went to the Tunkinskaya valley, where it turned into a white rock Bukhe-Noyon, the second - to the Barguzinskaya valley, and also became a stone with the corresponding name. Both of them became famous, people worship both. The Earth is great, there is a place for everyone on it, and everyone can be famous and famous, - such a moral is derived by the Buryats from this legend ... and besides, this sculpture has practically disappeared from

spider beetle

Spider beetle-2

Love

Transformation "Gerel" (Mong. "Light")

Transformation "Erdani" (Mong. "Jewel")

tropical fly

Snail

"It's nicer to get high marks from professionals, because they are the engine of the process."

Dashi Namdakov lives and works in Eastern Siberia, not far from the natural wonder - the beautiful Lake Baikal.

Dashi was born in 1967 in a small village in the Chita region in a large family of a craftsman. Dasha's father was known in the village as a man who knew how to make literally everything with his own hands - furniture, metal door handles, and carpets. His wooden sculptures of Buddhist deities and tangkas - Buddhist icons - were installed in monasteries. Therefore, from childhood, helping their father, the children learned different crafts, knew how to make things using different materials.

Dashi grew up in this atmosphere from early childhood, and therefore, by the time he grew up, he already knew how to do a lot with his own hands. But circumstances so developed that at the age of 15 Dasha suddenly became very ill, and for a long 7 years all visits to doctors did not bring any result. The young man was on the verge of death.

In the end, the parents ended up with a shaman, who explained the cause of illnesses and ailments by saying that people forgot their roots, stopped remembering their ancestors, remembering their names. The shaman performed her ritual. Incredibly, the pain subsided immediately. And after 7 days, Dasha was in another city and was looking for a job. That shaman predicted success for him, because Dasha had the ability to see the beauty of the surrounding things and embody it in her works.

Dashi starts working in the workshop of the Buryat sculptor G.G.Vasiliev in Ulan-Ude, where he hones his skills in working with different materials. Then in 1988 he entered the Krasnoyarsk Art Institute. Famous artists - L.N. Golovnitsky, Yu.P. Ishkhanov, A.Kh. Boyarlin, E.I. Pakhomov became his mentors.

After graduating from the institute in 1992, Dashi returns to Ulan-Ude, where he continues to work. In 2000, after the first solo exhibition in Irkutsk, it became clear that a new name had appeared in the art world - Dashi Namdakova. The exhibition made a splash in the art establishment. This was followed by successful exhibitions in other cities of Russia, successful shows abroad.

"Images often visit me at night," says Dashi, "when consciousness is in a borderline state between the real world and the world inhabited by illusions and spirits." Dasha scrupulously puts these visions on paper so as not to forget, and then skillfully transfers what she saw to another material - bronze, silver.

Dasha's sculptures come from distant worlds. From there, where there is no boundary between man and the universe, everything is there - particles of the universe, occupying a niche prepared for everyone in an endless stream of universal transformations. This is how the East perceives this world - finding beauty in its integrity and fragile harmony, fearing to destroy the order established by the Almighty with an awkward movement.

From here, shamans appear in Dasha's works, who still play an important role in the life of modern Buryats. The wisdom of things seen by Dasha pierces all his works. His warriors, tired of the war, do not seem like inhuman barbarians, but are filled with wisdom and greatness. Dasha's women are seductive and sensual in an earthly way, but at the same time she bashfully turns away from the artist deprived of modesty. If you look closely at a resting fallow deer, is it possible not to see a sleeping girl in it? Beauty surrounds us, wherever we are, but not everyone can see it.

"Perceive the world as it is, for its creator is wiser than you," Dasha's sculptures say, "then true beauty will be revealed to you."

The works of Dashi Namdakov, thanks to an amazing combination of innovation and ancient traditions of Buryatia, unusual plasticity and exceptional craftsmanship, were acquired for the personal collections of the first persons of Russia, including the President of the Russian Federation V. Putin.