Shukshin Birthday Celebrations

I've just understood the way to be:
to stay always with people even
if they bury you under ground.

V. Shukshin

Depress yourself to the genious

V. Shukshin

I believe in people.
Look at our mother...
It's people with capital letter.

(From V.M. Shukshin's letter
to sister N.M. Zinovyeva)

People always know the truth.

V. Shukshin

 

Shukshin Birthday Celebrations. At Piket Mount.

Speech by M. Evdokimov on Shukshin's on holiday.


The national glory has come to Vassily Shukshin only after his death. To be firstly misunderstood was the destiny of many talents in Russia. Shukshin turned out to be one of them. But after his death hundreds and thousands pilgrims used to come to the village Srostki become famous.

The April, 1976 V.M. Shukshin was awarded with the Lenin Prize (posthumously) for the creative achievements of the last years in the field of the cinema. Then it was decided to conduct Shukshin meetings under the offer of the Altay literary organisation and decision Altay region committee of Communist Party. The idea of meetings belongs to the worker of culture D.I.Faleeva, Honoured worker of culture A.G.Andronov, senior lecturer of Byisk pedagogical institute L.I.Muravinskaya. The first meetings were held July 25, 1976. Many details were forgotten due to remoteness of years, there was only sensation " of a holiday of soul ", putting into Vassily Makarovich's words.

We remember his mother Maria Sergeevna. All in black, pale (she has left hospital, being not recovered), she sat in presidium - motionless, not reacting in any way on speeches full of praises to her son, on an applause : January 17/1979. Maria Sergeevna has gone. She is buried in Srostki. The participants of meetings come to bow to her grave.

Since then Shukshin meetings would be held annually, the nearest Sunday to Vassily Makarovich's birthday - on a Piket mountain, near southern Srostki outskirts.

Shukshin meetings became a good tradition, an appreciable event in cultural life of Altay. Many writers, actors, artists, musicians, professional and amateur collectives, workers of museums, book trade, Shukshin relatives, his numerous friends, people from the same part take part in them.

During the days of meetings the book and art exhibitions, premieres of films connected to the name of Shukshin, reader's and scientific conferences - briefly, " a holiday of soul " are arranged.

For different years the writers Viktor Astafiev, Vassily Belov, Valentin Rasputin, Gleb Gorishev, Jury Skop, Egor Isaev, G. Vearu, A. Sobolev, S. Davidoff, M. Dudin, S. Esin, V. Krupin, A. Parpara, V. Povolyaev, I. Raksha, actors, figures of culture and art, L.N. Fedoseeva-Shukshina (Shukshin's widow) and daughters Masha, Olya were the honourable visitors of meetings.

Piket unites the people. And it's not casual that Vassily Shukshin appeared in a role of that doing this. Let's recollect Valentin Rasputin's words: " For last decades there has been not another artist, who would rush confidently and ruthlessly into each human soul and let it believe it exists, understand in what kind of spaces it has lost the way, who helped it stand and remain in a fidelity and cleanliness.

All Russia from the highest minds up to the most lost souls is Shukshin's reader and spectator; his talent is first of all the vote of strict conscience ".

For the years after Vassily Shukshin's death, many things have changed and unfortunately, not in a better way. Once Shukshin told Georuy Burkov: " You know, it seems I understood at last, who is " the hero of our time ". A demagogue. And it is not a simple demagogue, but a demagogue of feelings:"

We have deficiency of such Shukshins for the people to trust as they trust themselves, whose words would express their most secret thoughts and expectation, who without exaggeration could be called national conscience. Shukshin had all this.

Valentin Rasputin called Piket Bow Mountain.

"The years will pass, the birches will still rustle, Katun river water will still run, Srostki also will stand as before, but I am sure, that the glory of this man and his image will be nobler and more clear, and year by year more and more people will come to this mountain. Because the importance of artist Shukshin is not still realised up to the end... ". It was said by Victor Astafiev in 1979 during Shukshin meetings, on Piket mountain (after V.Grishaev's article " Love will respond love " // "Our contemporary", 1998, © 6, p.269-271.)

Since 1986 Shukshin meetings have been held within the framework of the program " Shukshin days in Altay ", which was open in Barnaul, then went on in Biysk ("small Shukshin meetings ") and finished with a literary holiday in Srostky, the native land of the writer.

Shukshin Birthday Celebrations. At Piket Mount.

The organisers of "Shukshin days in Altay" are: Committee of culture and tourism of Altay territory administration, State museum of Altay literature, art and culture history, V.M.Shukshin State memorial museum, culture departments of Biysk and Biysk region administration.