"I put the craft at the foot of the art ..." A.S. Pushkin. "Mozart and Salieri"

Dear friends! In Herzliya, the Arena Canyon Exhibition Hall is hosting an amazing and unique puppet exhibition entitled 'Art and Craft'.

How is it remarkable?

The one that opened right now, despite the rockets and sirens. The people have come, a lot of people! And they enjoy, and smile, and enjoy, and thank!

Written by Elena Kunina

What else is unique about the exhibition?

For example, this is the second major (73 masters, of which 22 are Israeli) exhibition in six months. Anyone who has ever organized an event of this level in today's conditions, when dolls come by mail, since the masters themselves cannot come, will appreciate the scale of the work and the level of skill of the curators.

In addition, and this is also unique, despite the tight deadlines, there is not a single work at the exhibition that would have been exhibited in these walls earlier! ALL WORKS ARE NEW!

Written by Elena Shepeleva

The most important thing is the highest level of work.

This is especially true in Israel, the country of the victorious hand-made (hand-made is a good thing, but we are not talking about it now, but about the fact that people often confuse homemade homemade products with works of art).

Written by Ludmila Bezusko

And here we come to the main point: the 'tactical' and 'strategic' aims of the exhibition.

Tactical goals are common: to let the public enjoy the magnificent exhibits, and to communicate with puppeteers and get a new impetus to their creative flight.

But for strategic purposes, there is a zest.

This exhibition is a kind of manifesto-affirmation of the inseparable unity of craftsmanship (craftsmanship in this case) and real art.

Written by Maria and Svetlana Zabrotsky

What is mastery?

I have a simple definition: this is when there is no gap between the idea and the hands.

What you have in mind is what you have done. You want the doll to float in the air, it floats. You want it to bring tears, or laughter, or to be thought-provoking, it does.

Written by Natalia Zaikovskaya

Your world, your laws!

You know what material to take, how to achieve the right feeling, how to make contact with the viewer... You don't go with the flow. You create a flow of thoughts, feelings and images.

The main thing is not to play too much while enjoying your confident skills. This is where the line is drawn between craftsmanship and art. The result will depend not only on the technique, but also on the depth of the artist's intention and idea.

A masterfully embodied, deep idea will result in a work of art that can touch the feelings and thoughts of the viewer.

Written by Nelly Popova

Written by Nelly Popova

Such dolls are curated Elena Kunina selected for the exhibition. That is why I will not write about each of them in these preliminary notes. Each work deserves, if not a separate article, then at least a separate paragraph. I promise to write about as many excellent works as possible.

Just look at the photo, we will analyze it later.

Written by Oksana and Andriy Panchenko

Written by Olga Norviliene

Written by Tatiana Gurina

Written by Victoria Kornietskaya

At the slightest opportunity, dear lovers of designer dolls, visit this exhibition. It is worth coming to see the work of puppeteers from Israel, Russia, Ukraine, Austria, Spain, England, Lithuania.

The exhibition runs from 13 to 22 May, at the Arena Gallery, HaShunit 2, Herzliya, Israel.

It should be noted that in addition to art dolls (there are most of them here), the exhibition also presents traditional crafts (ceramics, felting, embroidery, jewelry).

The level of skill and originality of these works allows us to speak of them as works of art.

Watch and enjoy! Waiting for you!

In the title photo: Vyacheslav Samsonov, dolls of Valeria Bondarenko.  

Olga Bystrova