On October 28, in honor of the 800th anniversary of Nizhny Novgorod, a space rocket will be launched. A Soyuz carrier rocket, painted by the famous Nizhny Novgorod Khokhloma, will go to near-earth orbit.
Previously, we have already seen painted planes and cars, and now – a real rocket to conquer space! This historic launch will be followed with special attention by the artists of the Khokhloma painting workshop.
The new rocket was painted in Khokhloma in Semyonov city. The author of the initiative is the Head of Roscosmos Dmitry Rogozin. And, of course, the workshop gladly supported this idea. In the same way, for example, a series of space nesting dolls appeared.
The artists did not personally paint the rocket; instead, they were engaged in the creation of templates. Honored Artist of the Russian Federation Irina Frolova won this competition. She devoted 40 years of her life to working at the Khokhloma workshop. She decided to become an artist as a child when she saw a panel with Khokhloma painting in a magazine.
The Nizhny Novgorod fields and space have been going hand in hand for a long time. In April of this year, in honor of the 60th anniversary of Gagarin’s space flight, a book by the famous writer Alexander Tsirulnikov “Cosmonauts in the Nizhny Novgorod Orbit” was published. One of the Soviet cosmonauts, Vyacheslav Zudov is a native of this region. In the preface to the book, the astronaut writes about his admiration for local art.
Earlier, the Tesla Model S electric car was decorated with Khokhloma, Aeroflot, and British Airways planes were also painted. We can say that Khokhloma has already conquered both the earth and the sky, and now it is going into space. By the way, a proposal has already been made to launch a satellite decorated with Khokhloma painting into near-earth orbit.
The ancient tradition of Khokhloma painting is more than three hundred years old, and the Nizhny Novgorod region is rightfully considered the cradle of the craft. Khokhloma is the art of painting wooden surfaces (dishes, furniture) in red, green, and golden tones on a gold background.
The creation of Khokhloma painting requires strict adherence to technology, which includes up to eight stages of wood preparation, priming, varnish application, and tinning. And only the gilded base is used by craftsmen to apply traditional designs. It is this complex technology, comparable to icon painting, that makes the Khokhloma painting so unique. One of the enterprises in Russia that has preserved and developed the tradition is the Nizhny Novgorod workshop “Zolotaya Khokhloma“.
Khokhloma has evolved, and now artists have learned to create even more complex accessories. In the Khokhloma style, fashionable women’s accessories are produced under the LADA & LISA brand. In addition to traditional utensils, highly artistic products are created in the Khokhloma style, presented at exhibitions and in museums in Russia and around the world.
This craft has also been introduced to the digital world, one of which is a one-of-a-kind Khokhloma-style ship that is tokenized in the NFT.
Now the old Russian tradition has reached electric cars, airplanes, and even rockets, which are decorated with Khokhloma. We will look forward to this historic moment and look up to the sky with pride!
