Dyoma has painted “Shandarba” across a residential building at 1A Kashirina Street in central Ryazan. Named for a traditional women’s dance from the Ryazan region, the mural turns the building’s projecting and recessed corners into part of its composition.
The shape of the facade gave Alexander Demkin, who works as Dyoma21, his starting point. Its angles reminded him of dancers linking arms and turning face to face. He initially considered keeping the pair together, but the many windows in the central section made that arrangement impractical. Separating the figures let him carry the dance across the building without covering its openings.
Dyoma says he drew the women’s clothing from costumes associated with Ryazan’s traditions. He chose a close range of warm colours to sit alongside the building’s existing colour. Light within the composition was also planned to work with light from the windows after dark—an effect conceived around the building as it is used, rather than the wall alone.
In Dyoma’s account, Shandarba is danced by women in pairs, with the pairs moving around a circle and flowing from one formation into another. That movement gave him a subject broad enough for what he describes as the city’s largest mural, in a prominent central location. The facade’s angles suggested the first gesture; its windows determined how the dancers would be placed.
The mural was made for Ryazan’s Slovo street-art festival. Dyoma credits @versus_flow with helping on the work. It can be seen on the residential building at 1A Kashirina Street, near the intersection with Pervomaysky Prospekt.
Images via @dyoma21 on Instagram.