The annual art exhibition "Spring Colours", featuring works by students of the school of arts, has opened in Lepel. Parents, teachers, established artists, and the children themselves can admire the paintings.
Sixty-three works, and this is only a small fraction, as each student has one piece on display, with the exception of some who have 2-3 paintings.
Maria Budrevich, head of the art department at the Children's Art School, expressed her wish to create solo exhibitions for the students. Currently, there are 55 students, and each has accumulated a significant body of work over the academic year.
The paintings are diverse, with numerous storylines and good technique. A deep sense of patriotism is evident: "On the Bench" depicts leisure in a national style, "Haymaking Couple" shows mowers in Belarusian costumes waist-deep in grass, "On the Eve of Kupala Night", "Kolyada", "Calling the Spring". The meaningful painting "At the Bus Stop" attracts attention, subtly conveying the essence of everyday life. Four paintings dedicated to the Patriotic War of 1812 are displayed separately.
Although the exhibition is traditional, there are some changes. This year, works by graduates are not presented. The reason is the new regulations, according to which training at the art department is now five years instead of four. Consequently, there are simply no graduates in 2012 – the training period has been extended by a year. Moreover, an experimental group has been formed, comprising children aged six and seven, whereas previously admission was from the age of nine. The works of these young children stand out; it is evident they are at the beginning of their creative journey, and this has its advantages – they are captivating in their spontaneity.
Cheerful characters from Japanese anime cartoons look out from the paintings. Anime is characterised by a distinctive style of drawing characters and backgrounds. It is difficult to pass by a colourful butterfly made of scraps of paper, and pictures made of ordinary threads.
These paintings look lifelike and require a lot of time to create. For instance, Alina Golubeva worked on "Swans" for half a year.
A selection of similar works was successfully chosen and sent to an international exhibition in Hungary; the results will be known in the autumn.
Irina Anilevich examined the patriotic work "My Belarus", also made of threads. She proudly noted that it was the work of her daughter Anya.