Buryat Epic Dolls by Namdakov family
Buryat Epic Dolls by Namdakov family
About the world famous jeweler Dashi Namdakov and his masterpieces I wrote in one of the previous publications. No less talented are the other members of his family – his parents, brothers and sisters, all of them are the brightest and original artists. This post is about their unique collection of dolls with the distinctive features of thousand-year-old Buryat heroic epics. Relatives of Dashi began creating dolls more than 10 years ago, the first doll appeared in 2005. Total created more than fifty dolls, and they are sold to private collections. Dolls – mysterious characters of ancient legends and traditions, designed as sculptures, in stylized national costumes and historical attributes of the Buryat epic. Each doll is unique, there is no similar, everything is made by hand, including the patterns on fabrics. The figures are static, but each of them has a certain character and a refined attitude – typical plastic.
Dashi Namdakov’s parents have eight children, all live in Ulan-Ude. All members of the family are very creative – the name belongs to an ancient family of blacksmiths, Darkhan “darhate”, which gave the world the noble jewelers, craftsmen and artists.
On the creation of dolls work the whole family – Dashi draws a sketch, a simple black and white pencil sketch, which he sends from the distant London by e-mail, and the family begin to bring it to life.
The dolls are made in mixed media and a variety of materials. The elder brother jeweler makes frames and bases made of wire, sisters sew costumes, doing makeup and wigs, the father does all the work with leather and wood, and the mother is engaged in weaving and lace embellishments. On each creature works at least 7 people.
The workshop is located in the family home, and their children work under the care of parents, children and grandchildren-see, and then the joint is done. The house has a “male shop”, where men work with metal and casting, and “female shop” where the dolls acquire perfect beauty.
Buryat Epic Dolls by Namdakov family
With a thin hook, a yak hair is implanted into a molded plastic head, and then begins creating the beauty of braids decorated with beads and ribbons. Creating doll is a very delicate work, which takes from one to three months.
Buryat Epic Dolls by Namdakov family is art imbued with the traditions, myths and endless ethnic flavor. The exhibition “Ulger” held in Irkutsk in the Victor Bronstein Gallery of Contemporary Art.

Sculptural composition of exhibited dolls. ‘Ulger’ art exhibition of dolls in Irkuts, Siberia, Russia
source livemaster.ru/topic/1771311