Bookvica

[EXEMPLARY PIONEER CAMP] Artek

Taits, Ia.

Moscow: Detizdat, 1938. Item #1031

104 pp.: ill. 27x20 cm. In original illustrated cardboards; illustrated endpapers. Covers rubbed and bumped, small tear of the spine, but very good internally. On verso of front flyleaf an official inscription to schoolboy, dated 1938 and stamped.

Very rare. Cover design was produced by book illustrator Nikolai Shishlovsky (1907-1984). Photographs were taken by Georgy Grachev. Little is known about him. Another book, entirely illustrated with his photographs, was ‘Parade on the Red Square’ (1937), banned and removed from libraries. Some pictures from this ‘Artek’ were included into the 1940 publication celebrating the camp’s 15th anniversary.
This photo book is dedicated to the most elite children’s camp in the USSR. Founded in Crimea in 1925 as a small health resort for pioneers, Artek was gradually turned into the best of its kind. It became a cult destination for many generations - only excellent school children received vouchers to “an imaginary country of happiness”. Being a medium of socialist propaganda, it constantly hosted pioneer delegations from other countries and was a film set for movies about a life of joy and plenty.
Sepia photographs were taken in the style of photo reports varying angle of photography and number of children, involving a reader into each action. The endpapers show a group of pioneers hiking along the picturesque seacoast. The pictures inside feature the everyday life of children in the camp: they hiked, went swimming, were involved in sports competitions and different activities like modelling of airplanes and karting.

No copies located in Worldcat.

Price: $1,400.00