BLACKSMITHING ART AS A COMPONENT OF ART THERAPY

Abstract

At the current stage of the development of the Ukrainian fine arts and culture of the state, the study of artistic blacksmithing in the context of the participation of the ancient craft in the war between Russia and Ukraine is becoming relevant. The works of Ukrainian blacksmiths are present at all-Ukrainian, international, and regional art exhibitions. The help of blacksmith enterprises of the front was and remains extremely important. Forges during the war became places of meetings and joint work for the benefit of the Armed Forces of dozens of citizens. This process has not been studied in Ukrainian art history and cultural studies. Also, the phenomenon of the forge as a traditional center of free thought was not investigated. The process of reviving one of the oldest types of artistic creativity was determined by both social needs and the creative intentions of artists, which ultimately brought blacksmith products to the level of art objects. Currently, Ukrainian artistic blacksmithing is a component of the cultural field of Ukraine on a par with traditional and new types of visual arts. The participation of blacksmith enterprises in Russia’s war with Ukraine is undeniable. The beginning of the new twentieth century in Ukraine became an impetus for the growth of many crafts, in particular jewelry and blacksmithing. Almost every city had a jewelry and blacksmithing industry. It is about the production of works of art. Because blacksmiths used to be in every settlement of the state, fulfilling a social order. Along with the production of purely utilitarian items of agricultural use, many artistic items of a circulation and individual nature were created in the forges.Interest in creative blacksmithing was determined by the rapid development of construction. The attention of culturologists and art historians to the problems of blacksmith art began to grow along with the achievements of metal masters. However, the number of studies on the specifics and development of blacksmithing in general and blacksmith art in modern humanitarianism is insufficient. This level of scientific research of the topic confirms its importance and relevance. Art historians and cultural experts began to actively investigate the current state of Ukrainian blacksmithing, to evaluate the path that blacksmithing has overcome from the first forges that appeared on the territory of Ukraine to the participation of Ukrainian artists in international exhibitions, forums, and biennials. Numerous products made by Ukrainian blacksmiths during the 20th century, numerous in assortment and individual samples, require systematization, classification, typology, which will allow to establish regularities in the continuation and development of traditions, their renewal, to understand the prerequisites for changes and transformations of artistic blacksmithing in the context of the modern socio-cultural paradigm. Russia’s bloody war with Ukraine manifested a whole series of actions that did not exist in the cultural society before. Blacksmithing was the first of all types of fine art to come to the aid of the state. From the first day, the forges produced staples, stoves, guards and many other things needed for the army. And since the summer of 2022, the forges have become a shelter for wounded and contused soldiers returning from the fronts. The process of participating in forging for many warriors turned into a process of powerful art therapy – an action that had never happened before in the world.