[Art_beyond_sight_learning_tools] Tactile images from Russia

[Lisa Yayla]

Sending link to Heritage Studio in Russia which produces wooden reliefs 
and information from their "about us" page
*http://www.heritage.sleeplion.org/en/news.html*
**
Queen Elizabeth II of Great Britain thanked craftsmen of our Studio for 
the present to Her Majesty on the occasion of her birthday.

The letter in which Elizabeth II warmly thanked the Russian masters for 
the gift and expressed high appreciation of their concern and care for 
her charitable work came yesterday to the Heritage Studio.

Earlier last April, the studio craftsmen conveyed to the Buckingham 
Palace through the British General Consul George Edgar 26 Orthodox icons 
depicting St. George the Conqueror and 54 portraits of Her Majesty so 
that during her birthday celebrations the blind children of UK could see 
their Queen and her patron saint.

http://www.heritage.sleeplion.org/en/about.html

HERITAGE studio is a non-profit organization, collective of adherents, 
successful creative commonwealth of scientists, engineers and artists, 
each of which is the professional in the area. Due to the mutual 
understanding, we more than once solved various tasks, which are 
considered not soluble before .

Touch as one of kinds of sensual perception, frequently gives to the 
person much more information, rather than sight. In particular it 
concerns works of art. Knowingly Japanese whenever possible try to 
perceive a surface of picturesque works as tips of fingers. Actually 
they feel the energy allocated by the author.

In the end of 80th years we have aimed to learn to create works of arts 
which the person could perceive not only by eyes. Subsequently we have 
learned that this tradition already existed since ancient time in 
Russian art of icon painting .

In Russia, since the 14-th century (since times of famous Russian Saint 
Sergij Radonezhskij and in many respects owing to his efforts), 
traditions to create low-relief orthodox icons for pilgrims were 
developed. During centuries in Sergiev Posad the sizes and plastic of 
relief images were fulfilled that they would be convenient both for 
visual, and for tactile perception. Therefore it is possible to tell 
safely, that there was one of the first experiences in Russia, to 
equalize in the rights sighted people and blind people in relation to 
works of art.

Moreover, in many temples and monasteries of Russia there was a 
tradition to place under a picturesque icon its reduced relief copy. 
This tradition till now is alive at the Holy Mount Athos.

At the end of XIX century the carved icon has received wide popularity 
in many countries of the Western Europe. Icons created in Russia many 
times received awards at the world fairs in Paris and Berlin.

However, after the revolution, traditions of relief icons have been 
forgotten and in many respects have been lost. In the Russian museums 
the very small amount of carved icons are kept. So, in the museum of the 
Moscow Kremlin there are kept no more than 80 masterpieces of Russian 
masters .

In 1990, with the God's help, we were able to re-open a secret of the 
Babylon carving, which engineering was known five thousand years ago. 
Then, as many other ancient knowledge, this experience was lost …

The Babylon carving on solid wood, by its clearness of lines and quality 
of surface processing, is the best adapted for tactile touch. Thus the 
products executed in such a way are very durable.

It is possible to compare in something the style of Babylon wood carving 
with the creation of medieval engravings The relief image, created by 
the artist, due to the Babylon wood carving, can be embodied in 100 - 
200 unique handmade replicas. And each of the replicas, from the moment 
of occurrence, becomes a rare art work.

Probably because of it about the icons which were made by hands of our 
artists, their present owners write, for example, that "the icon has 
very powerful positive energy and it's impossible not to hold the icon 
in my hands…"

Heritage Studio in their work considers five-century Russian historical 
experience of carved icons creation and uses the same plastic and sizes 
which were inherent in the best samples of Russian icons for pilgrims in 
XIX century.

Now our studio, *exclusively in the world*, has an opportunity to create 
high-quality tactile relief icons of traditional pilgrim size and other 
relief miniatures from solid wood.

We are proud, that our works are present in many orthodox churches and 
monasteries as well as in museums not only in Russia - at the Holy Land, 
at the Holy Mount Athos, in Finland, Norway, Germany, USA, France, 
United Kingdom (at the Royal Collection of Buckingham Palace, 
including). They are present in private collections worldwide too.

Realizing, that there are people for whom relief images are the unique 
way of knowledge of the fine arts, our studio gives essential attention 
in the activity to the program "Icons for blind children" <charity.html> 
which was blessed by Vladimir, the Metropolitan of St.-Petersburg and 
Ladoga .

We create also relief images of known historical characters and copies 
of world masterpieces of the fine arts that allows blind children to 
expand borders of their perception of the world.

According to our opportunities and owing to the help of patrons of art 
and philanthropists, we give some our works to the centers for blind and 
visually impaired children in St.-Petersburg, to other children's 
centers in Russia and abroad.