Yesterday , after church, I went on an adventure with my colleague/neighbours the Blantons and the Sherwood/Davises (we’re threatening to take over Partick Hill in the name of biblical studies). We ended up having a quite delectable Indian lunch, but the real excitement came before that. (Well, the giant curled crispy pancakes were pretty amazing, I have to admit, but the gallery was even better.)
The primary destination was the Sharmanka Kinetic Theatre, a brilliant art installation woefully under-served by their website. (Underserved by Google, too, which still thinks the gallery is located at 64 Osborne St., where I walked back and forth several times trying to find anything that resembled a gallery — I finally noticed a single sheet of A4 paper taped to a door among various other posters and leaflets, saying that they had moved to 103 Trongate. Look at the “Street View” on Google Maps, turn to see the red doors with white trim, and then imagine what they’d look like if no one had been keeping them up for months.) If you go through Sharmanka’s site and look at the photos you will get only a foggy sense of the intricate constructions made with the sort of underground Russian satiric bite that you might suppose to have died out years ago. Several YouTube videos show the sculptures in motion; again, there’s no substitute for seeing them in situ. Read the bio page for a fuller sense of the backstory of these wonderful works.
The kinetic art was terrific; the children were spellbound (Adam Davis had been there before, but he couldn’t have been more enthusiastic at this repeat visit); the wit and imagination scintillate; the craftsmanship astonishes. I can’t wait to take Margaret and Pippa (successively, not simultaneously), and if any of you want to go with me, I’ll be glad to go with you, too.
Thanks for promoting Sharmanka
Sorry about website – I am lazy, busy with a paperwork – and prefer to communicate in images (side effect of 20 years with Eduard). New website will be available in few months, but for now please send your readers to our page on Flickr http://www.flickr.com/photos/sharmanka/collections/72157617549375828/
Personally you might be interested in this collection reflecting Eduard’s inspiration – http://www.flickr.com/photos/sharmanka/collections/72157603767101722/ – although he never seen any of this before leaving Russia
Anyway, next time at Sharmanka, you are welcome to stay for cup of tea and interfaith chat
Shalom
Tatyana