The revival of shamanism, shamans and contemporary art: the case of the Sakha Republic (Yakutia)

• Main Author: ZOLA, Lia Emilia
• Other Authors: Zola, Lia
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: 2012
• Subjects: Sakha Republic; Yakutia; Yakutsk
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/2318/1636505

n 1926, in the Sakha Republic (Yakutia), previously known as Yakut Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic, the first painting portraying a shaman during a séance was realised by Ivan Popov. Despite a strong repression in soviet years, the interest for shamanism and shamans from an artistic point of view did not fade, as shown by the production of sakha artists working in the 1950s, 1960s, 1970s and 1980s like A. Osipov, V. Vasil'ev, Ju. Votjakov and S. Parnikov. Several years later, after the fall of the Soviet Union, the Sakha Republic (Yakutia) witnessed an unprecedented flow of cultural and spiritual revival represented by a growing, general self-consciousness brought on by intense efforts at cultural conversion, including new interests in art. A contemporary generation of artists, mostly of sakha origins, are devoting their production mainly to the issue of shamanism and shamans. Combining different techniques, such as painting, drawing and weaving, these artists focus on the representation of past and present shamanism and on precise moments in a shaman’s life, such as the tearing apart of the body, the shaman’s flight and so on. Their works are of great interest for at least two reasons: the first is that they are displayed at the State National Museum of Arts in the capital city, Yakutsk, in the section devoted to the permanent collection. The second is that, in the past decade, they have often been one of the the main sources to which intellectuals, historians and scholars refer to recreate a “pure” and “original” religious system. But where do these artists draw inspiration from? My paper aims to illustrate the implications of shamanism as a form of art. It also wishes to explore the relationship between contemporary shamans and contemporary artists.