Shamans and People of the North in the Art Grattage

Abstract

The article presents original artistic works that connect the spheres of art and anthropology. The author of these works, made using the grattage technique, talks about how he combines the identities of artist and researcher. This essay deals primarily with works inspired by traditional notions. The author is particularly interested in the topic of shamanism. Until recently, many scientists considered shamanism to be a primitive form of religion, but in recent years this view has changed. Shamanism (animism) is one of the earliest forms of beliefs that reveals a complex ontology based on the relative structure of existence and leads to a rethinking of life itself. Understanding life through the prism of animism, characterized by merging with nature and belief in spirits, poses a serious theoretical and philosophical challenge to modern science. The works of the author of the article, who is both an artist and a researcher, and even a bearer of tradition, differ from the works of other artists: he tries to convey shamanism not as a primitive system of religion, but as one of the spiritual components of the northern peoples. Artistic perception, childhood impressions of the bearer of the tradition, anthropological knowledge of the researcher, obtained during expeditions to Yakutia and the regions of the Far East and Eastern Siberia - all this puts a special imprint on the works of Yury Sleptsov. In addition to the theme of shamanism, the artist also enthusiastically works on portraits of the inhabitants of the North. Many of the master's works are kept in the museums of Yakutia and in private collectors.