With thoughts about mothers
The new building of the Central Children’s Library opened exactly 40 years ago – on January 4, 1984; before that, the book collection was huddled in an old merchant’s house with a small reading room. The idea of construction belonged to the famous writer and fellow countryman Savva Dangulov in Soviet times: he not only transferred the entire fee for his acclaimed historical novel “Diplomats”, but also offered a plot of his parents’ land (at that time, instead of a dilapidated tourist hut, he and his brother built a two-story house). Of course, over the years, significant events fade under the layer of time, but the memory of a man who did a lot for his native city and is its honorary citizen still lives on, passed along an invisible thread from one generation to another.
“The library was built on five floors, and one day I was surprised to learn that one of them was planned to be used as an art gallery,” recalls former director of the Centralized Library System of Armavir Nina Kartoshkina. – I admit, at that moment it seemed to me some kind of wastefulness. Of course, such an area (almost two thousand square meters) needed an expanded staff, and with this I went to Moscow. And there I decided to go to the editorial office of the magazine “Soviet Literature”, which was headed by Savva Artemyevich. The secretary, apparently recognizing me as yet another author hoping to get his “tooth-crushing” manuscript done, briefly answers: “He’s on a business trip, abroad.” I turn to the door and say: “Tell me that you came from Armavir.” After these words, her face changed. The next morning I was at his house. This is how our acquaintance happened, which grew into friendship. After tea, he showed the paintings that he decided to give to Armavir…
Dangulov wanted the children’s library in his hometown to be different from all others in the country. Being closely acquainted with artists, he began to collect a collection of paintings on the theme of motherhood. That is why, having climbed to the second floor, any guest grows to the floor in surprise. The contradiction is too strong: on one side there are shelves with a card index of books, and on the other there is an exhibition of works from a variety of schools and directions. For forty years now it has been called “With Mothers in Mind…”.
On the walls, half-forgotten watercolors by Orest Vereisky come to life, becoming illustrations for the Soviet large-circulation editions of the works “Anna Karenina” and “Quiet Don”. There is an expressive portrait “Mother” here, painted by People’s Artist of the RSFSR Vitaly Goryaev. It was through his eyes that in childhood we saw the heroes on the pages of the collections of poems by Agnia Barto and Samuil Marshak, the works of Mark Twain and Yuri Olesha.
It is impossible to ignore the female images of Japanese artist Toshi Maruki (even if you have not heard her name before), who went to Hiroshima three days after the nuclear explosion. She spent a month there, working with others to clear the rubble, rescuing the wounded, and burying the dead. Frescoes and hundreds of drawings echoed the tragedy that was experienced, capturing what adults often try to forget. But just one of her watercolors, which depicts a mother shielding her baby from an atomic cloud with her body, sends shivers down your spine. “…Let the reader understand that everything in life begins with the mother, with the alphabet of her soul,” Dangulov believed with conviction.
From the Circassian family
The writer’s house is hidden from the street behind the facade of the library. There are rows of wide windows along the perimeter of two floors; long-term dust, warmed by the sun and watered by rain, has eaten into the “wrinkles” of the boards of the veranda: Olga Vasilinich has been in charge here for thirty years. Those who were offered to take this position in 1994 refused – no one understood what the specifics of the work of the Dangulov House would be. Her candidacy was recommended by the widow of Savva Artemyevich Isabella Zorina, with whom they were already familiar. The fact is that the former director of the Armavir Centralized Library System, Nina Kartoshkina, is Olga’s mother.
The house of the writer Dangulov is completely invisible from the street – some local residents have difficulty finding it, and it is generally difficult for guests to find it. Photo: Vladimir Anosov/RG
“Savva Dangulov planned to donate his house to the library during his lifetime, but with an agreement: “Don’t make a memorial out of it,” says Olga Vasilinich. – On his visits to Armavir, he stayed on the first floor (there is a table there, ordered from a local furniture factory, and in the case of a large number of guests, it was laid out the entire length of the room). Dangulov was a hospitable host, but with a sick heart he did not allow excesses, he could sip a little wine, but he was welcome to feed everyone. And he wanted life to continue in the house, for the city’s creative intelligentsia to gather, for concerts and literary lounges to be held, and not just for everything to be frozen in an exhibition format.
His personal belongings – a mirror, a German typewriter, a desk (he always wrote standing up), a gray cloth suit – were collected in a small room, which was jokingly nicknamed “the window to the past.” And each of the objects is like a starting point for an interesting story. For example, a carved box using the Abramtsevo-Kudrin technique that belonged to his mother. It contained a bunch of letters from Savva Artemyevich, carefully tied with a ribbon.
“Dangulov’s parents are the indigenous inhabitants of Armavir – the Circassians (an ethnic group of Armenians who settled in the North-West Caucasus since the 15th century. – Ed.), – continues Olga Vasilinich. – His mother, Ekaterina Nikolaevna, came from a wealthy Baitekov family, graduated from a women’s gymnasium, which at that time was considered a very good education. There was no end to rich and noble suitors in the house, so it was a blow for the parents when young Katya fell in love with the clerk Artem Andreevich Dangulov (Dangulyants). To have a wedding, according to Circassian custom, the bride was “kidnapped” and transported to a new home. So Katya’s mother saw her daughter only a year later at the christening of her grandson Savva. And she even gave her the dowry. Here, by the way, behind the glass is a standard deed document, certified by a notary on February 16, 1912.
The exhibition at the Armavir library includes watercolors by Japanese artist Toshi Maruki. Here she depicted a mother shielding her baby from an atomic cloud with her body. Photo: Anna Yurkova/RG
Ekaterina Nikolaevna perfectly knew two languages: Adyghe, which both her children spoke, and Russian, skillfully retold fairy tales, sprinkled her speech with Circassian and Cossack proverbs and sayings. The love for words, apparently, was passed on to Savva from her.
“Dangulov is a genius, because, with only a school certificate behind him, at the age of 19 he began working as a reporter for the Armavir newspaper Trudovoy Put and in two years grew into the head of the industrial department,” says Olga. – He served in the army as a military journalist, and in 1940, 28-year-old Savva was sent to the People’s Commissariat for Foreign Affairs in Moscow as a responsible assistant in the press department. Knowledge of English was important here. Surprisingly, he also spoke German and French, that is, he was constantly studying and was enormously able to work.
Excursions to a room with objects that have gone out of use are especially interesting for schoolchildren, because many of the objects are unfamiliar to them. What font does the typewriter have? But open the yellowed manuscript next to it, “Confession” – this is the novel “Diplomats” turned into a play, which was staged more than once on the stage of the Maly Theater.
– What do you think this thing is? – the manager points to the intricate shape of the composition from a spherical bottle “welded” to the base (a small indentation is visible on the stand). – Children believe that this is an ashtray, but in fact it is a stamped inkwell, and the “groove” is for a pen.
The cultural heart of Armavir
Dangulov’s house is really not a repository of relics, but rather a unique cultural and aesthetic center, as Savva Artemyevich wanted. On the occasion of the writer’s birthday in January, a creative project “The Cultural Heart of Armavir” was launched within its walls, implemented jointly with the head of the regional socio-patriotic public organization “Intellectual Games Club” Irina Gerlach with funds from a grant from the governor of Kuban.
In the exhibition “With Mothers in Mind…” you can see works from a variety of art schools and movements. Photo: Vladimir Anosov/RG
“The idea of the project was simple – to attract young Armavir residents to Dangulov’s work, after all, he left his legacy for them,” notes Olga Vasilinich. – We held a competition of design projects for the presentation banner of the Writer’s House. Since the building is invisible from the street (some locals have difficulty finding it, and it is generally difficult for guests to find it), they thought that bright graffiti was needed, and they found a suitable place – on a wall that is clearly visible from the road, separating the territory. Pupils of the city’s art schools and students of specialized faculties took part in the competition. Two entries made it to the finals, both of which are featured on the presentation banner.
Over the course of several months, a whole series of events was organized for the children. For example, master classes on making soft toys from fleece and felt appliqués. Member of the Union of Russian Writers Igor Kunshenko conducted thematic lessons – from inventing a plot to writing a story. Listeners tried their hand at each stage. And of course, all this was interspersed with excursions, exhibitions, and literary evenings. According to Olga Vasilinich, the project brought enormous benefits to the space itself. Finally, we managed to update the furniture and purchase track lamps so that the paintings would receive favorable lighting. But come and see everything for yourself!
By the way
Before the opening of the children’s library in Armavir in 1984, the collection of paintings “With the Thought of Mothers…” was temporarily exhibited at the House of Peoples’ Friendship in Moscow. According to the recollections of contemporaries, the then Minister of Culture of the USSR Pyotr Demichev, who saw the exhibition, asked Savva Artemyevich to leave it in the capital, and the foreigners to completely buy it. But Dangulov refused the offers, arguing that the little Armavir resident should also have access to real works of art.
Source: rg.ru
