Forged Figures Park (Park kovanih figur)

There are many kinds of parks that one can find in Donetsk. There are parks with extensive woods, rectilinear alleys, stretching between vantage points, galleries, statues and gazebos; there are parks devoted simply to green landscape, a salubrious and attractive breathing space as a relief from the densely populated and industrialized city. There are parks with a romantic design. But no matter what kind of park it is, its primary purpose is to provide for passive or active recreation.

The facilities in parks may include outdoor theatres, zoos, concert halls, historical exhibits, concessions for dining and dancing, amusement areas, boating, and areas for sports of all kinds. Among all these parks there is one that stands out - it is a park devoted to handcrafted wrought-iron works. In fact, there is no other similar park in the world.

This park was laid out in 2001 in the city of Donetsk. The initiator was Viktor Burduk, director of the Ukrainian Handcrafted Wrought Iron and Forge Company Hefest. The City Council supported the idea, provided the necessary means and workforce and the park came into existence. Mr Burduk provided handcrafted wrought-iron works to be installed in the park.

The first such work was a wrought iron bouquet of roses. Incidentally, the rose is a symbol of Donetsk. Ten more wrought iron sculptures were added soon after. Festivals, Roses of Donetsk, began to be held in the park and within the framework of the festival forging and handcrafting iron shows were held.

In 2004, the participation in the wrought iron festival grew considerably and included wrought iron craftsmen and artists from other parts of Ukraine. Consequently, the number of wrought iron works in the park increased and the works were assembled in thematic alleys. The first of such alleys was the one devoted to The Signs of Zodiac. The Alley of Fairy Tales followed, with 12 wrought iron sculptures representing characters from various fairy tales. These sculptures were handcrafted by wrought-iron artists who live in seven different parts of Ukraine. The most recently created thematic alley was The Alley of Arks laid out in September 2007. It has 10 decorative arks with benches underneath them, all made of wrought iron.

The wrought-iron festival has gone international - smiths and wrought iron artists from Russia and Holland took part in the latest festival. There is even a contest organized within the framework of the festival with prizes handed out to the winners. Master classes have become a feature of the festival, too.

Ihor Rudenko, one of the organizers of the festival and editor-in-chief of the Zhurnal o metale, Journal of Metal, is a great handcrafted wrought-iron enthusiast and believes in the future of the wrought-iron handicraft and art in Ukraine. He says that wrought-iron festivals are a great encouragement for the development of wrought-iron handicrafts and an excellent opportunity for wrought-iron artists and smiths to get together, socialize and share experiences.

2001 - The first ten sculptures as well as the forged rose were installed in the park.
2002 - With 19 sculptures being added there were 30 of them in the park.
2003 - The Tree of Life pavilion was placed in the park. This sculpture was awarded with the diploma at the Millennium 2000 world fair in Hannover. The Dragon Pavilion was set next to it.
2004 - The Sweethearts Pavilion appeared in the park. It was created by the joint efforts of Donetsk blacksmiths enterprises. The pavilion is decorated with bunches of flowers forged and presented by blacksmiths from all the parts of Ukraine. The 6th Donetsk blacksmiths art festival became All-Ukrainian one. In the course of this festival it was decided to establish the Union of masters of blacksmiths art in Ukraine.
2005 - The creation of The Zodiac Signs Alley by joint efforts of blacksmiths from Donetsk, Ivano-Frankovsk and Aleksandria of Kirovohrad region. Seven of twelve sculptures are made by the blacksmiths of the Ukrainian Gefest blacksmiths enterprise. The first Ukrainian blacksmiths all-round events championship was hold. Yevgeniy Yermak (Gefest, Donetsk) became the winner.
2006 - The opening of the Fairy Tales Alley. There are 12 forged works in the alley. They were presented to Donbass capital by masters of blacksmiths art from 7 regions of Ukraine. All of them are the result of the creative interpretation of the folk tales plots. Yevgeniy Yermak (Gefest, Donetsk) got his second award at the Ukrainian blacksmiths all-round events championship.
2007 - It was the first time when the 9th international Forged Figures Park blacksmiths art festival took place at the last weekend of September. 150 masters from 10 countries participated in it. The main project of the festival was the opening of the Arch Alley. There were 10 five-meter-wide forged arches and 16 author's benches installed in the Alley. Forged in course of the festival works decorated the eleventh arch, that was the Arch of Friendship. Anton Mikhalev (The Live Metal Studio, Simferopol) became the new champion of the Ukrainian championship.

There are more then 93 sculptures in the Forged Figures Park now.

Destination: take bus or trolleybus number 2 on Artyoma street to the Beliy Lebed' (White swan) stop, you will see an administrative building with Ukrainian flag, fountain, a big cannon, cross this building and on the back side of it you will enter the park. Also you can take any means of transport on Universitetskaya street till the Izumrud stop.

Source: www.gefest-ua.com