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[ART OF THE PEOPLE] Iskusstvo narodov SSSR: Sbornik statei i materialov / GAKhN [i.e. Art of People of the USSR: Collection of Articles and Materials / State Academy of Art Science]

Moscow: Gosudarstvennoe izdatel’stvo, 1930. Item #1014

160 pp.: ill. 22,5x15,5 cm. In original constructivist wrappers. Minor losses and tear of the spine, signature on t.p. otherwise very good.
First and only edition. One of 3000 copies. Very rare.
This is a collection of articles dedicated to the renaissance of national arts of the Soviet Republics in general and folk arts of numerous ethnic groups in particular. Following an idea of art as a tool of worldview construction, the state needed to bring under control any provincial art. Since an AKhRR exhibition ‘Life and Byt of Peoples of the USSR’ held in 1926, the Siberian, Far East, Central Asian, Caucasian, etc. art regularly came to the light and underwent socialist criticism.
As the best evidence of national art revival, an article on how Kote Marjanishvili transformed Georgian theater was included. It was written by theater and film director Sergo Amaglobeli who admired the entire system originated by Marjanishvili and his approaches. A sketch on history of Tatar theater was written by sci-fi writer and futurist poet Gadel Qutuy (1903-1945), known as a founder of Tatar LEF - SULF. As he mentioned, Tatar theatrical school was established during the revolutions and was intensively developing. Staging national performances was tightly connected with research and use of folk music. The article by scholar Sergei Bugoslavskii overviews changes and impact of Yakut, Chechen, Jewish, Romani, Azerbaijani, Kyrgyz, etc. melodies.
The folklore based on ornaments was more conservative. This craft for a long time belonged to women occupied with householding and hardly affected by external factors. The book features Chuvash, Mordovian, Khanty and Mansi fancyworks marking the special way of life of these ethnic groups. The socialist changes were brought to handicrafts, influencing objects produced, motifs and production process itself. The book contains a picture of Red Army soldiers made of a mammoth bone by representatives of indigenous people and a machine-made rug depicting hammer and sickle. All the workshops were required to serve the socialist way of everyday life.

Worldcat shows copies located in LoC, Yale, Harvard, California, Minnesota, Stanford Universities and NYPL.

Status: On Hold