A solo exhibition of paintings and graphic works by artist Hoshgheldi Shakhberdiyev is currently on display at the State Museum of Fine Arts of Turkmenistan. Many artists who knew Hoshgheldi personally considered him one of the finest artists. Notably, one of Hoshgheldi’s graphic works was acquired by the Tretyakov Gallery.
When speaking about Hoshgheldi, it ishould be noted that he came from a family rich in talent. It is enough to recall that the Turkmen singer Medeniyet Shakhberdiyeva, who entered the history of Soviet and Turkmen vocal art as an unrivalled performer of Alexander Alyabyev’s romance “The Nightingale,” was Hoshgheldi’s cousin. His father, Hally Shakhberdiyev, was one of the founders of Turkmen literature and theatrical art, the author of the play “The Rich Man and the Farmhand,” and editor-in-chief of the literary journal «Soviet Edibiyaty.” His aunt, Bibiniyaz Akhmedova, became famous for creating a themed carpet entitled “Down with the Bride Price!” The artist Aykhan Hajiyev painted her portrait, while the poet Ata Atajanov dedicated a poem to her entitled “Ballad of Bibi’s Carpet.”
“According to my mother,” recalls Hoshgheldi’s niece, Cheper Durdyyeva, “he never parted with his notebook and pencil from childhood. He recorded everything he saw on paper. But most importantly, he had a special gift: when talking to someone, he could discover so much good in that person that even the person themselves had never suspected. That is why conversations with Hoshgheldi inspired people, elevated them as individuals, and drew them towards him.”
After three years of studying in Moscow, the artist was forced to leave his studies because of heart problems. At that time, many celebrities travelled to Bayramaly to meet him. After Hoshgheldi’s death, actor Vladimir Konkin visited his grave. Standing there and holding Hoshgheldi’s mother by the hand, he was unable to hold back his tears of grief.
Everyone who knew Hoshgheldi loved him dearly.
“I studied in the same class as Hoshgheldi at the Turkmen State Art School,” recalls Myojek Charyyev, People's Artist of Turkmenistan. “I remember one assignment in which our teacher asked us to draw a vase. All the students depicted it in the standard way we had been taught, but Shakhberdiyev presented it at an unusual angle. We received grades of four, while he received a five.
After graduating from the art school, we dreamed together of entering VGIK, the All-Union State Institute of Cinematography. He was accepted straight away, despite his unconventional drawings, whereas I managed to get in only the following year. Moscow winters were an extremely harsh ordeal for students from the southern republics. I was literally freezing in my ‘plastic’ (synthetic) coat, so Hoshgheldi gave me a fur coat. It was synthetic too, but for some reason it was incredibly warm. All his fellow students loved him dearly.
He had a way of making people feel at ease around him. But the most astonishing thing was that he possessed extrasensory abilities. For example, right before our eyes, he once approached a young woman he did not know on the street and, with her consent, recited her passport details. He did this on several occasions. How he managed it remains a mystery.
Once, he gave me two of his drawings. One depicted a fence as a single line, yet that line seemed somehow alive and needed no additions. I treasure these drawings as special examples of his original artistic work.”
“Hoshgheldi Shakhberdiyev was an extraordinary person,” adds Baba Ovganov, People's Artist of Turkmenistan. “In earlier times, people like him might have been dervishes, hermits—in other words, holy men. He could do things we could not even dream of. For example, Dmitry Zhilinsky, a master of painting, taught at VGIK. He was such a strict teacher that we students were afraid even to look at him unnecessarily, yet Hoshgheldi was on friendly terms with him. How he managed that is difficult to understand, but he became part of Moscow’s exclusive circle of prominent figures in the arts. He was welcomed everywhere.
Moreover, Hoshgheldi possessed remarkable abilities: he could identify exactly where a person had been born! Many people were astonished to learn that his relatives had donated nearly 2,500 of his works to the State Museum of Fine Arts. How could anyone create so much in just 40 years? But we must remember that this was Hoshgheldi Shakhberdiyev. He was capable of doing anything.”
Having left behind an army of friends and admirers in Moscow, Hoshgheldi returned to his homeland and reunited with his friends: writer Tokar Tugurov, poet Gurbannazar Ezizov, directors—the Narlyyev brothers—and People's Writer Italmaz Nurymov. They were all delighted to spend time with this extraordinary man.
