Unity of words and painting in books written and published by artists of Buryatia

The article reviews three books by famous artists of Buryatia who worked on both texts and illustrations for these editions. Alexandra Dugarova (born in 1959) is the compiler and illustrator of the Gurban Ontokhonuud. Three Tales book, which was published in Ulan-Ude in 2019. Victoria Alagueva (born in 1964) created the text and illustrations for The Silver Book about the Buryats. Tribes of the Buryat-Mongols. Zorik Book by the talented artist Zorigto Dorzhiev (born in 1976) consists not only of reproductions of the artist’s paintings, but also of a literary text written by him. The preface and all texts in Gurban Ontokhonuud are in two languages - Russian and Buryat. The illustrations made in computer graphics technique convey the subtlest nuances of the characters’ mood, natural landscapes, and ethnographic details. The choice of fairy tales is explained by how they deal with another traditional genre of Buryat folklore - the triads. The characters of each fairy tale are three sages representing three different Buryat clans. They solve three riddles from everyday life that required a collective solution. The heads of the sages are grotesquely big, as well as the heads of those for whom they solved the riddles - women, old people, children. The author managed to convey different emotions of the characters: bewilderment, sympathy, pity, gratitude, which are not verbally expressed but implied in the subtext. One can see the freedom of selfexpression of the artist who emphasized the moral values of folk life. The Silver Book, published in 2010, tells in an accessible manner about the Buryat tribes, their origins, traditions, rituals and legends. The cover, illustrations and all texts are stylized as a colorful textbook for children. The story is told on behalf of an old woman who, at the request of her grandchildren, reveals to them the basics of the history and ethnography of her people. All the illustrations resemble children’s drawings, where the figures of children are often depicted comically, but the legendary ancestors of the modern Buryats look like fabulous heroes. With its educational pathos, this book emphasizes the values of national life. The original Zorik Book by the artist Zorigto Dorzhiev was published by Khankhalaev Gallery in Moscow in 2011. The text and illustrations represent the painter-writer’s reflection, the author tells about his birth and formation as an artist. As a result, this book is a kind of a literary and painting-like self-portrait. Drawings, collages and sketches are placed inside the text, not on the margins or in breaks in lines. One can see how the hero gradually matures, develops and becomes the creator of a new “text” -paintings that end the book. A whole kaleidoscope of literary and pictorial sketches conveys the artist’s joy of creativity.

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