alexander, what does your biggest dream look like in sculpture? i don’t have any one thought, well, that is, it is multifaceted, that is, it is rather some kind of series, but some kind of big message to humanity, yes, well, that is, some kind of big image. as a child, he dreamed of being like his father, wearing a beard and disappearing all day long in the studio, and his dream came true, today he is a famous sculptor, and his name has already become a brand in the world of artists, today my guest is the sculptor alexander shapo, hello

alexander, the chapeau family dynasty, very widely known in the artistic world, your father is an artist, you and your brothers also connected your lives with creativity, your sons are no exception, that’s how it happened, this is a special upbringing, parts of upbringing, but somehow according to fate, you know, with us all artists, it happened in the family, well , of course, our father is the main leader, vladimir, two brothers. pavel and anton, my sister also drew beautifully, but she chose a more poetic, linguistic , art historical path, and my wife is also an artist-sculptor, our dog is madellian madi, well, that is, as if all of us are artists , well, as i understand it, there is nothing surprising here, because from early childhood you were immersed in the atmosphere of creativity, the workshop, you probably disappeared there all day long?

well, not that i disappeared, as i tell my children, and people in general at lectures, that after ordinary school, in fourth grade, i started going to art school, well, that is, can you imagine, that is, the moment of art and contact with professional, essentially training, art history, drawing, painting, sculpture, decorative and applied arts, i started in the fourth grade, right there. it is clear that i always visited my father’s workshop in my free time, i worked with my father for a long period of time, i am the eldest son in the family and therefore i started working very early, helping my father, well, after art school, i went to enter the lyceum of arts, i understand that... you don’t

understand how i finished, it would seem that everything is fine, there is one artist in the family, but it so happened that the brothers had their own vision, my own interpretation of the world, even the little ones i remember them, we always played together, sculpted , there wasn’t a day when we didn’t sculpt together, a famous surname, it leads to comparison in any case, it never bothered you, well we are not each other’s competitors, rather, we are comrades, colleagues, friends, well, we don’t have , on the contrary, i believe that if the surname sounds, yes, then it sounds for me personally, well, well, when my father is exposed, or brothers exhibit, or participate in some projects, how critical is your father in assessment? my father is not, not a man who

dominates me and such a super-authority that came with a finger. points out to his friends, no, well, that is, we are friends with him, you know, we are colleagues, and he can, well, even i can make fun of him there and so on, well , that is, well, even some horseshoes, yes, and he can do it in the same way, and so, well, that is , he comes to me when i even show him works - especially because my father taught art history at the art school where i studied, which i was talking about earlier 25 years, can you imagine, that is, well, history... art composition and his knowledge is fundamental, he is a book lover’s father , he had 10,000 books in his library, but several thousand in fine arts, he read all of it, the degree of his education is off the charts, so to see him

to feel his opinion about this or that work, i can’t help but listen , but hearing another point of view is important for me, i know that you had to leave home early, at the age of 14 you entered... uh, school- boarding school named after akhremchik, from this time, in fact, your independent life began, you were homesick, well, you know the subtleties, so to speak, yes , but in fact, the fact is that, uh, it was like, you know, i was the older brother, well there and as an assistant to my mother, you know, to let my son go there, well, from the city of novopolsk at that moment we lived. let go, i was, well, a teenager, well, like my mother, i remember that i was very upset, but my father convinced me that i needed to continue my professional education, and what moments of life in your parents’ house did you exclude

most of all, well, my brothers, my dogs, my mother, of course, i’m an expert, well, we always had a cozy home and a big family, i rather missed my family, family means a lot to me, this experience of growing up quickly, what an imprint it left on your life? i will say that i became independent early, well, it just so happened, and the imprint is simple, that i began to live independently in a big city, in the capital, with all sorts of temptations and so on, well, that is, and... but i resisted, i found my uh, my so to speak, inside, i found my place, found my life line, and well, off i went, and how minsk minsk gathers us all, minsk

gathers all of belarus, in fact, minsk gathered my family back, because they continued their studies, they all continued in minsk, yeah. well, pavel’s brother came, he studied at maxim tank, anton came, his brother studied in glebovo, my sister came to study linguistics, but when the children arrived, the mother said, we have a large family and the mother said that i won’t be without children, and so on it turned out that well, because i came here as the eldest, and a whole part of my life, so to speak, was in minsk, i really love minsk, minsk is my fourth homeland, my main one, and what was the most difficult, in this test of independent life, well, my father always came, well, always, my family was always nearby and my father always came, he even came at some, that is, moments

, when he arrives there and says let’s go to moscow, look, they brought chagall, that is, we went on the train, well, that’s how we used to go, because we did big retrospectives. look at this, therefore, it may rather be such a moment that a person by himself is always alone, and if, well, that is, he still has to searching for one’s own way, so to speak, to search, then he still has this moment to find the inner core in himself, maybe this is the very thing... well, that is, the inner core, becoming, when around, after all, a multi-million-dollar city allows you not to sit in workshop, you know, but to leave, and i studied back in the nineties

at the academy of arts, so it was like that, well, times were difficult in fact, and well, all sorts of different things happened, but i’m grateful to fate that he found the strength for himself, just to sort of self-determinate , i started from the first year already exhibit, participate in exhibitions, and actively, actively participate in the creative life of the country. your formation in the profession took place in the nineties, a very difficult period, when all some foundations were destroyed, guidelines were knocked down, that’s how artists survived then, what did you have to do? in fact, it so happened that at the time of my studies, when i was studying , i didn’t think about anything at all, my parents gave me some kind of, well, i’m grateful to my parents that they gave

me some kind of small penny, some food, and that was enough for me to work purposefully, there was drawing and sculpture, well, i wasn’t distracted by anything , i was drawing nudes, i was doing sculpting, it was around the clock, i even had a record that i was drawing and so purposeful i was engaged in drawing and painted from 9. to 9:00 pm, such a kind of record , well, that is, it’s also personal and this and i didn’t get tired of this meeting with customers, where i did a lot of things, i did some fries, well, i mean in private interiors and frescoes, and stucco, capitals, and well, in general, a large volume of fireplaces, then it all went, well, this is what it is, this is practical income, well , this is not a question of pure creativity for the purchase of pure creativity, it’s more like

a client, a potential customer, he said that, well, he’s ready to order me, as a professional, something professionally made, rather , some kind of commercial guide appeared, that people could understand, that artists also understood that it was possible to even sell their work, well, that is, through the gallery, that is. through the place where you are exhibiting, that is, people could come, see the work right at the exhibition, say that , well, or call the gallery where you are exhibiting and say that we are ready to purchase this work, that is, the money will come on its own if you will find yourself as a creative person, if you don’t find yourself as a creative person , then there will be no question of money, well, there will be no question, you will be, well, a craftsman, well, anyone, but not so to speak, man, creator. alexander, how do you feel about the expression that

an artist must be hungry, so does the lack of money have a positive effect on creativity, do you agree with this? well , you see, i’m a sculptor and my profession is always associated with costs, buying plasticine costs money, and molding materials to remove it from this plasticine. a form is money , again, if you order a professional shaper who removes it, then it’s like money, but going to a foundry, asking the fox workers to cast your work in bronze, that’s too, well, money again, well, alas, we have to talk about money, so the question seems to be about hunger, about hunger, well, that is , you know, we understand that there it all appeals to artists, like vincent van gogh, who sat,

hungry, wrote there and so on, but vincent had a brother theo, no one remembers about this, who provided him with paints, canvases, well, were there moments in your life when you wanted to give up everything and do something less dependent from customers, from inspiration, let’s just say, well, it so happens that my whole life is connected with art, with creativity, and i haven’t found any other hobby, well, you see in front of your man, well, it’s like , if i have time, i’ll go to the workshop, you know, if i have a free minute, i’ll go to workshop, i’ll go to the workshop, not only that i’m standing there all the time sculpting, i ’ll even go there to think, in one of the interviews you said that the main pillars of your life are family, creativity and faith, here’s your

wife, she’s also a sculptor , and a hereditary sculptor, how did you meet? we met at the academy arts, she studied sculpture, so you understand, well, because only a human sculptor can understand a human sculptor, what? well, that is, it could be some kind of primitive world, you know, sculptors in belarus, so that you know only 100 people , how did you meet, you went into the workshop, no, no, i saw her, as she walked down the street, ksyusha she teaches at bntto, she is an associate professor, she teaches drawing and sculpture as an architect , and at the same time she is engaged in the creativity of the workshop, like a small world, and now we,

you know, are, as it were, participating together with her, and there are going... this festival of architecture is going on in minsk, our works are presented there, mine, at this moment her exhibition from the sculpture section of the belarusian union of artists in vitebsk in the art museum is taking place, my works and her works are presented, well, therefore, somehow this is how it goes and moves, and how ksenia’s artistic family accepted it when you first came to meet your future relatives, it so happened that after the academy of arts i had to transport all my belongings somewhere, because for now i studied at the academy of art for 6 years, a huge amount of work and materials accumulated, i said uh to ksyusha and i said, well, she says, i need to go to my father, my father, yuri polikov, is a sculptor - he worked at the plant for nekrasov and uh, well, me i came to him, i said, well, it

’s like, but we weren’t even scheduled at that moment. well, that is, and i say that i would like some kind of corner to drag everything there, he was a very good-natured, sweet person, uh, and uh, there weren’t even any questions, he says, well, no problem, bring it, that's it, well everything, when a large family gathers at the table, which is what you most often say, we are glad that we have gathered, rather , well, every meeting, well, the fact that a large family can, has the opportunity to get together, not so often, probably , yes, it’s a joy to clink glasses there, uh, drink to everyone’s health, well, i think so, well, that is, that we are happy to meet, that we were able to get

everyone together again, our mother raised us in such a way that we are drawn to each other, and we we gather when we rejoice at this meeting and, well, rather laugh, let’s remember some jokes, is there creative competition between you and your wife? no, of course, that well, on the contrary, i help completely, that is, that’s all, that this is a resource, if i have some kind of financial resource, then i just do, but creative support, in creative support yes, well, that is, i will definitely say kind words, well, ksyusha can... say, but she is always so critical , well, that’s good, i, well, i like criticism professionally, you know, rarely professional criticism, as it were, well, as a rule, i like it, i don’t like it, it’s not conversation, well, professionally adjust somewhere on the topic, what to say, look there in the sketch it was better or , well, that is, well, some professional things,

you have three sons and the two eldest also connected their lives with art, when did they choose or did they consult with you? i didn’t consult with them, well, the thing is that as a father , i wanted to give something, something that i can, uh, uh, do well, i know how to sculpt, and i gave the eldest, ivan, to sculpt a wigmaker, molding, also for the sculpture department. if he hadn't sculpted, if he didn’t have it in his hands, i didn’t see how he, you know, it’s obvious , when, well, a person has, well, how he touches plasticine with his hands, it’s clear that he has a gut, you know, plastic , if he didn’t have this, i probably wouldn’t have done this, but well, he had this gut, he went to study and studied sculpting well, but this does not

mean that he, that is, after graduation, was just a sculptor - this is a multifaceted profession, he can move on with his plastic knowledge , he can study there and design there, and be a director and do whatever you want, but then i went, i already entered the academy, i said i want to go to directing, well, well , he graduated from documentary film director, well, like my middle son, without thinking twice, i also gave a sculpture , you know, well, it’s like he’s continuing there now - looking for himself, well, that is, but nevertheless, he still has it, but the younger matvey will continue, matvey - strongly - he’s somehow into it, you know, we also have livshi in our family, yes, ah, this is my father,

my brother and matvey, they have a completely different hemisphere working, imagine, matvey has been given a lot, i hope that he will figure it out, dancing, music, creativity, that is, everything, and he sculpted well and drew. that is, it was not a problem for him. alexander, probably your most famous work for minsk residents is the tree of life, at the minsk metro station, vokzalnaya. why exactly this decision, how did you come up with this idea? subway, tree of life? tree of roads, there, yes, yes, roads, tree of roads. i took part in a competition for. on the idea, the first sketch was made, and then the work went on, there was one proposal, one sketch, one album, one project,

then the light changed, the story was inside the content, the second project, but the theme of tree roads flowed from project to project, from project to project, but somehow it has been changing all this time, you see, the metro is very complex, it’s not an urban environment at the top - it’s an underground environment, there are flows of people, there’s even a wind rose, yes, because when the trains pass, there’s a filling so that you they knew it was when they put the tree of roads over there that citizens wrote that it sways, but they don’t know that it sways , because the foundation group, it is rubberized, because it should have a slight play, it should not stand rigidly, because then it will rock the environment underneath it , do you understand?

excursions, i say that the most inexpensive excursion where you can see modern architecture, modern sculpture, the synthesis of this, the combination of these two beautiful directions in the subway, and not in vain, so to speak, in the twenty-first year, in new york. our station got like you you know, the best public architectural space in the world, in new york, received, that is, an independent jury, puts on the minsk station, because they saw this environment, because to imagine that in new york they will load a sculpture into the subway, well, you have to be super-millionaires . in the twenty-second year, under the auspices of unesco, an architectural competition was held in moscow... the metro station wins again, the station in minsk , another work of mine was installed, i love it very much, it’s on a military theme, i have a grieving mother standing on derzhinsky avenue, this

another work of a realistic plan, dedicated to the tragic theme that connected us all with my family, so to speak, including the war, and so, well, that is , whenever i drive in the brest direction or back, i always see her and think, well i was lucky to meet the architect levin, who invited me to lenid mendelich, who invited me to participate with him in this project, in the improvement of the mass grave on derzhinsky avenue, where there was an opportunity to display my own vision of this big topic. alexander, what are you working on now? i still sculpt all kinds of creative things. things, right now

the exhibition is taking place in the arctic circle, in salekhard, can you imagine, in solikhard, in the arctic circle they offered me to exhibit, and i am exhibiting sculpture and graphics there, i saw the tundra, thanks to this, i saw northern lights, at the same time i’m just participating, as i already said, i’m participating in an exhibition in yamal, in vitek, in minsk, in minsk in the union of architects and together with my brothers and father we have a personal exhibition going on right now, well, at the same time i’m also sculpting some projects that have also been playing for a long time, every project that is done is monumental, it’s not momentary, it ’s been done for years, but is there some kind of creative idea, mm, that you dream of realizing, but until things work out, the time is not ripe. when i was the chairman of the sculpture section, i spoke about creating some kind of modern sculpture park in minsk, well, that is, but not a park, i mean that chelyuski park

and gorkov park should be filled with sculpture. that it could be an environment, well, that is, some kind of, well, embankment from a modern microdistrict, it was thought that in this direction, well, it would be possible to make such a large, detailed topic, where you could participate yourself and invite your colleagues to participate and at the same time to create something new, a new environment, a greater environment in a greater sense for minsk residents, guests of the capital, our program is called the meaning of life. for you, what is the meaning of life? well, probably in finding oneself, in finding creativity, in finding unity with those people whom, whom i love, and who love me, probably so, thank you, this was the meaning of life alexander shapo.

we are ready for an exciting adventure through the cities of belarus on the banks of one of the cleanest rivers in europe and in the second venerable city of belarus, gomelechiv, the borders of the three lands of the lands of drygovichi and razimic and krivichai, and then the principalities of smolensk, chernigov and turovpin principalities, closed.

it was made using the contact method in 1903 and there are only four such photographs known in the world. see the program of the city of belarus at tv channel belarus 24. traveling through sineokaya through the eyes of a foreigner. kalilyaska, kalilyaska. they just jumped on me, they said that people weren’t afraid, that’s who i am, but everyone was cool, they were very beautiful, really. a graduate student from ecuador on about already felt something closer to getting to know the local folklore and your clothes in general, i have never seen anything so beautiful and it’s like the green foliage of a birch tree. see

the travel project white dew on belarus 24.