The Ukrainian artist who converted to Islam praises greatness of the Creator through His creations and considers creativity as worship to the Almighty.
Oleg Petrovich Kalenchuk was born in 1954 in Simferopol. He started to draw since very young age. He studied at children's art school, and after it he took lessons at different teachers. Independent professional work coincided with the beginning of reorganization (1987).
Some years he exposed his pictures in Moscow on Arbate where he was noticed by one of the patrons of art, who became the organizer of an exhibition of water colors of the artist in the Central Artist House (1994).
At this time starts real blossoming of creativity when the artist converted to Islam and started to sign his works as Ali Mohammed.
Sixfold participation in "Bienale of a chamber water color of Crimea", carried out by the Simferopol art museum, brought to the artist two prizes of spectator liking and two diplomas of the first degree. His works were exposed in the Crimean-Tatar museum, in 2006 took place his personal exhibition in the department of the Union of artists of Ukraine in Simferopol.
Ali Mohammed's works are simple in their complexity and are complicated in their simplicity. The artist uses the most expensive kinds of paper made of cotton (France, England, India). Why? The water color does not fade, and the cloth remains better, than of modern painting by oil. The work is careful, thin, refined, it reminds simultaneously classics, impressionists, Japanese or Chinese masters with introduction of something touching, ingenuous and pure.
Ali Mohammed - landscape painter by call of heart and soul composition. For expression of that what the nature calibrates to him, he developed special language of multilayered water color painting.
But to tell that he is an original master of the Crimean mountain landscape, that in his images is inherent poetry, means, not to notice something main, essential that defines his special place in the art of Crimea.
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Clouds over the sea |
Without seeing, at first sight, in landscapes of Ali "anything special", we understand that we witness rare, unique gift of some born vision, special feeling seizing a certain harmony of the whole in the nature, "unity of the Divine plan" in which is connected both grandiosely great, and small...
Ali Mohammed praises greatness of the Creator through His creations, and considers creativity as worship to the Almighty.
- When you started to paint?
- I paint as long as I remember myself, perhaps from the age of five. Painting became my constant hobby. I drew on everything that came into my hands, even doodled in books.
- Your parents are artists too?
- No. My mother was the seller, and my father - the electric welder. But they always supported me. Both in the childhood, and when I decided to enter the Simferopol art school, - I went there longer, than the program supposed. Instead of four - five years.
- Who were your teachers?
- At our school worked eleven remarkable teachers.
- And the school was private or governmental?
- Governmental. But it, seemingly, had no sufficient financing, even then, at the times of Brezhnev. The management took a tuition fee, but, it is necessary to notice, all teachers worked honesty. That knowledge and skills which they provided me with, I use for the whole life. After it I did not study anywhere...
- You chose water color at once or searched for yourself in different genres, techniques? What was your way to these whimsical and difficult techniques?
- Except water color which I liked at once, I still mastered techniques of gouache and a bit later - painting by oil. But I did not have enough patience to wait, until it dries...
With water color everything is much faster and easier, and the flat stays clean. At the art school also emphasis was made on water color. A man, when he does something successfully, continues to do it.
It happened so that water color for me is the main technique. One time I worked in distemper-gouache, something like oil - as many whitewash, it is possible to block, to correct, then to paint something else on this place. But water color is something different. It is necessary to draw precisely, accurately, without errors, on one breath at once. Many artists do not love water color because of it, consider its labor-consuming. For me, on the contrary, painting by oil seems to be long and inconvenient.
- How many water colors you created?
- Thousands. But how many exactly - I do not know.
- You had personal exhibitions?
- Yes. Of two remind booklets-catalogues, for to others they were not published.
- In what galleries were exposed your works?
- Twice in Ivan Kavaleridze's Kiev museum-workshop (2008 and 2009). In Simferopol Crimean-Tatar and Art museums.
- And the first exhibition?
- It was in Moscow, in the Central Artist House. The man who organized it, seemingly, had considerable means. At first he bought some of my works on Arbate. They were seen by his mother-in-law - art-critic who said, "He is a good artist. You can buy practically all his works". And he offered me, "Let me buy all your works, and then I will make an exhibition". I agreed. Everything turned out in that way, subsequently the exhibition took place.
- The exhibition was advertised and under his name?
- He did not specify either himself, or his enterprise. He said, "I do not want to advertise myself". But he preliminary showed works to experts, interested in their opinion, "Is it ok?" They answered, "Quite".
- And how many pictures were at this exhibition?
- About fifty.
- And what responses of critics you received?
- Very good responses. It was 1994. Then works of new artists were not advertised too much And here Patsyuk, well-known Moscow critic, was the first one who estimated my works, even named their real cost. I saw it on one commercial site; my patron was guided by it.
- In general how many of your works he bought? Not just 50, probably, more?
- About one hundred.
- During what period?
- For almost three years.
- He selected them?
- No, he accepted all of them. When I brought the next portion of water colors, he only asked "How much?" I named the price, he paid.
- But you did not make large business on it?
- No. But I did not have to stay on Arbate, to wait for buyers... Twice a year I came to Moscow. And it sufficed for me to live and work easily.
- What you feel when you paint your water colors?
- Hard to say. Pleasure, probably. Elation, creative impulse.
- You already was said, that you see an environment somehow in a special way, isn't it?
- All artists see the world in their own way.
- You compared your works to products of other artists? What thoughts thus arose? Do you want to improve something in your creativity?
- Certainly. When I see good works, I try to improve something in mine, to reach their level.
- Who are masters of water color among contemporaries who may act as role models?
- Nowadays there are very few aquarellists...
- That is why I ask you this question. However, on the other hand, you know about such a feature of water color, as fragility.
- That is why I refused from usual sheets and paints. I started to buy expensive paper which is made of cotton. The well-known aquarellist Sergey Andreyko who has his school in Moscow, says, "Works on a paper from cotton are stored longer, than modern oil paintings". There are books printed on this paper. They are three-four hundred years old. Such a paper is also produced by the company "Ayshes-Frans".
- And what format you usually order? 56 x 76?
- One may vary and work with big sizes.
- What was the biggest format of water color which you painted?
-114 x 700 millimeters.
- And what work is it?
- A still-life with the Arabian perfumes.
- You mean bottles?
- Bottles, boxes.
- It was an order?
- No. I almost do not work for orders. They order something particular, and I paint something else - no coincidence. The order is such a delicate thing.
- What of your own works are the dearest for you?
- Those which are fine, with which are connected certain experiences.
- Can you show something for an example?
- In my home collection there is one picture. Somehow there appeared an involuntarily profile of a man with his hair back, though it is a tree prorice. The form of an arrangement of branches inside reminds the classical Arabian image of a word "Allah".
- This work was at the exhibition, - wife of Ali adds. - Art-critic Rudolf Podostaly paid attention to it and invited my husband to take part in biennial. He, unfortunately, already died. Now, by the way, there passes the exhibition of the Crimean artists devoted to the memory of Podostaly. Last biennial was arranged in his honor.
- Rudolf Trofimovich saw my works for the first time, when I brought them to the art museum for sell, - continues Ali. - I asked him, "Are you going to buy them?" "We will not buy, - he answered, - but I like these works".
- When it was?
- About 15 years ago.
- What post he occupied then?
- The deputy director of the Simferopol Art Museum. Mister Podostaly also started "Biennial of a chamber of water color of Crimea".
- How many times you took part in it?
- Six times. Last time – in 2007. This year too I hope to be among participants. Rudolf Trofimovich invited me to all these biennials. Spectators secretly voted for these works which they liked.
- What awards you received?
- Twice diploma of the first degree and twice - a prize of spectator liking.
- As to your spiritual searches. You were the only child in a family. Your parents were atheists?
- No. My grandmother was a churchgoer, and nobody forbade her to take me with her, and it was pleasant to me.
-It was in Simferopol?
- Yes, after all I was born and grown up there.
- And what church you visited?
- That is near to the central market. There is a cemetery and near it a church.
- You remembered something from those visits?
- I was amazed, how people bow, while there is nobody before them, and they bow to the earth. Nowdays one can rarely see it, though in Orthodoxy, as well as in Islam, bows are present. I also remembered the smell of incense.
- Your grandmother learnt you "Our Father..." or any other prayer?
- No. She understood that we live in such a state where it is not welcomed, and I may have problems.
- And how you perceived attitude to faith at that time? Teachers denied existence of God?
- Our teachers were not militant atheists. And when I read something in textbooks, I did not perceive it seriously.
- It was necessary to increase spiritually, to reflect about it. Fortunately, many come to this way. And what pushed you to knowledge of the spiritual beginning, to faith?
- Searches of meaning of life... Everything, what I was interested with, appeared senseless before. And I had a lot of hobbies, trust me.
- You also took part in hippie movement?
- Yes, I did.
- In what way?
- I traveled across the country.
- You ever lived in Orthodox monastery?
- No, but once in Latvia I came to one church. When the priest learnt that I was an artist, he said, "Look, what a beautiful drawing on the dome here". And since we had to spend night somewhere, we asked, "Is it possible to stay here for the night?" He replied, "No, you cannot sleep here ". "So for whom then all this beauty, what sense is to create temples if it cannot host a traveler", we thought then.
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Khan's Place. Athan |
- You, probably, had serious psychological problem, vital or family after which you decided that Orthodox Church is not for you?
- No. I went to church on Easter night sermons, but I still had discontent after that visits. I understood, as an artist, these images for worship were created by people. And what about the Bible precept: do not create an idol for yourselves? I felt in it some contradiction. And still, having come to church, I did not know where and how to stand, what to do, light a candle or not to light, when to cross oneself, where to approach and to what images at first... And you will not talk with clergy, priests somewhere in the clouds, unapproachable.
- Is it possible to name it as a way to Allah or what?
- I read many books on history of religions. My Moscow patron also was in spiritual search. All of us are from the atheism country, and hardly any of us was a real believer.
- But you were thinking people.
- Yes, thinking. And here this entire search convinced that is not obligatory to be Orthodox. It was possible to make a choice. People also chose - someone chose Buddhism, someone - Islam for in due time the Orthodox tradition interrupted. We mainly perceived church as a certain museum, instead of the house where one should pray. My Moscow friend than said, "Before one makes a definite choice, one should familiarize oneself with the Holy Books - the Bible, the Quran, the Bhagavad-Gita".
I liked this idea, so I bought the Bible, the Quran, the Bhagavad-Gita, read them, then reflected, weighed everything. I learnt the Bible almost by heart. And when I read the Quran I was surprised that there are also mentioned Jesus, Maiden Maria, and all prophets. Only it is noticed that Jesus is not God or His son, but the prophet, the Almighty should not have children, just animals breed for the sake of life continuation, and God exists forever.
He does not need neither children, nor descendants, neither continuation of his kin, nor that someone performed any work for Him, that is, in the Quran the description of the Almighty is presented widely and well, it is clear. When you read the Quran, you agree with it, no objections arise; everything is addressed to people - pagans in their souls. And so, when to remove this paganism, there will stay only God. Mohammed's mission consisted that people prayed only to the Almighty and did not leave in their hearts place for anybody else. The Quran allocates the person with reason, clears him, and makes him reasonable. The Quran constantly calls people for thoughts.
- That is, the Quran if to compare it to the Bible is less dogmatic. Or you assert that it is in general the dogmatic book?
- Together with Christianity its theory was also spread. Apostle Paul preached the theory of original sin and its expiation, this theory is in the foreground of all Christian doctrines.
But the Prophet Mohammed did not develop any theories, and first ten years of the Prophecy he devoted to tell people about God. After all, only when people learn who is God, they will execute his precepts.
In Judaism there is no such a concept as original sin, no, i.e. it is the invented theory of rescue of mankind. And it gradually falls into decay, and there are new, such as, for example, communism, the market theory. People catch at them because it seems that it is a shorter way to happiness. But they do not ponder over a question, for what you are born. And it is the first precept, "Love your Lord and worship Him alone". They forgot this precept and went further.
At first the Christianity did not differ from Islam, all worshipped to one God. Then the first Universal cathedral, the second one, new theories appeared, to explain everything to people. And concerning what they could not explain, they said, "It is a secret".
In Islam everything is easier. There is the Almighty, and there are you, and you choose: you worship Him or not. There is Paradise and there is Hell. The Almighty has only two nations - the nation of Paradise and the nation of Hell. He has no Russians, Ukrainians, Tatars. And I like it.
- But it could remain at the level of spiritual, philosophical, theological searches, but with you it has outgrown into something more. You decided to change your name, hence, to change life and to choose those principles which are professed by the Quran.
- I admire moral orders of Islam, due to which in the state there should be no such problems, as alcoholism, homeless children.
- When you got a new name and made a ceremony?
- In Islam everything is quite simple. You proclaim that there is no god, except the Only God, and Mohammed is His Messenger and Prophet. Then you become a Muslim.
- The priest or the confessor is not necessary?
- No. What is necessary is the presence of two Muslims that in the Day of Judgment they would testify before Allah that you proclaimed it. The only thing, it is necessary to say it in the Arabic language.
- Who were your witnesses? Who was the first Muslim with whom you discussed these questions and wished to communicate with him?
- Sabri-efendi (effendi - the Tatar for "mister"), working then in the central mosque of Simferopol. He affably met me and supported. And at once he warned that it is difficult to pray 5 times a day. I answered, "I will do what I can, and will not what I cannot". And since than passed already 15 years. We are on friendly terms with him until now, we communicate, my life changed for the better. Everything superfluous, unnecessary remains in the past.
Islam is cleanliness in everything. In the house, in the soul, thoughts, actions. Islam does not disregard any sphere of human life.
- You know what attitude is to Islam now and what it was before. And you stepped into this way not secretly; you even changed your surname and name. It happened then, fifteen years ago, or later?
- In the first year.
- What induced you to that?
- That people are in the error, in ignorance. All our troubles are because of our ignorance. And until we do not change our attitude to the Almighty, nothing will change either in the state, or in human relations. After all the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait is a desert, but the Almighty blessed the people there.
- But I also saw Egypt, Syria...
- In Egypt they refused to worship to the Almighty. They started to pray to their sheikhs, to idolize some tombs, and at once the life worsened.
- Who from your relatives converted to Islam?
- My mother and my wife.
- It was their choice? Or you influenced them somehow?
- I just explained everything for long time. After all if you want the blessing to all people, it is necessary to give the blessing to the near.
- According to this logic - the family, and further - neighbors. And did it reach your neighbors?
- We call them to Islam and give them to read the Quran, but everything happens by Will of the Almighty.
- Have you studied Arabic?
- A little. I read in Arabic, but it is still difficult to translate.
- Your step is not ordinary, courageous, fair. And what it brought to you except spiritual rest, rest in the family, new life? How other people treated the fact that you became a Muslim, there were no problems?
- Everything happened, but I do not pay attention to it.
- But on the other hand, nowadays, as a Muslim, you, probably, do not respect other religions, consider them being second-grade?
- No, Islam is very tolerant. Take, for example, Syria, Jordan, Palestine - here next to mosques are built churches. And no one destroyed them. Along with Christians there also lived Jews.
- After conversion to Islam something, probably, changed in your art?
- I changed not at once. At first there was more fog, weather was rainy, cloudy, and then it started to dawn, paints became more juicy. The themes connected with horrors stopped interest me, but attracted flowers, sea, and especially mountains.
- That is you try to dispel one more myth: Islam is incompatible with gloom, hopelessness.
- On the contrary. I received all diplomas, prizes when already became a Muslim.
- You changed your name in the passport, too?
- No, it is not obligatory.
- That is sometimes they write that Ali Mohammed is your pseudonym.
- According to Islam it is considered to be a name.
- What does this name mean to you?
- Mohammed is the Messenger of Allah, one of those who was the first to convert to Islam. In Islam there are no ugly names. All names should be beautiful.
- How your mother and your wife chose names?
- My mother did not change her name, she remained Viktoriya Pavlovna. My wife was Alla, I call her Aliya, but later I learnt that Arabs have a name Alla, too.
- And how you named your children?
- Sabrina and Amina. Amina (Arabic for faithful) was the daughter of the Prophet, and Sabrina (from "sabr" - patience) - was the mother of the Prophet.
- Who are your closest friends?
- "Tell me, who is your friend, and I will tell, who you are", goes Islamic saying. Our friends are all believers. All who pray.
The conversation was conducted by Anatoly SERIKOV
The photos of Anatoly BEREZHINA
By the newspaper materials "Krymskaya Svetlitsa"
