February 6 the Novosibirsk State Art Museum hosts an exhibition “Country of Shurale” dedicated to a well-known character of Tatar folklore.

Fairy devil Shurale was composed by Tatar poet Gabdulla Tukai. According to works by Tukay, Shurale constantly wants to commit a crime, but each time he is deceived by savvy people.

For this exhibition artists from Blagoveshchensk, Yelabuga, Kazan, Naberezhnye Chelny, Moscow, Omsk, St. Petersburg and Ufa presented more than 100 interpretations of the image of the hero of Tatar folklore.

“The era of computers and mobile phones, space exploration and implementation of nanotechnology could not but influence how is perceived in the XXI century this familiar from childhood a fairy-tale creature,” – is said in the info by the art museum.

Artists will present works from paper, felt, wood, birch, fabric and metal, in the technique of painting, drawing by pen, pastels, linocuts, photo collage, installations and “staging.”

Interregional art project “Country Shurale” is organized by the Museum of Contemporary Art of the Republic of Bashkortostan n.a. N. Latfullin in Ufa and the Foundation for support and development of scientific and cultural programs n.a. S.Mardzhani in Moscow. In Novosibirsk, the project was supported by the regional Tatar cultural center.

Tatars – the second largest ethnic group in the Novosibirsk region after Russians. According to Novosibirskstat, about 24 thousand Tatars live in the oblast, that is an average of 0.9% of the total population.

In the Novosibirsk region, there is a village-Yurt Akbalyk populated by descendants of the Volga Tatars.