Alla Sviridenko

Alla Sviridenko is a professional Belarusian batik artist and silk painter, teaching batik at Minsk Arts College, Belarus, and founder of Belarus Batik Club.

Alla came to batik by chance. She had studied architecture in Vitebsk, native town of Marc Chagall and venue of International Chagall Arts Festival. She then worked as an architect, and as an arts teacher at school. Batik entered her life suddenly, with a Christmas card, with elements of batik in it, given by a friend.

Batik was not known in Belarus then. Alla searched for information in scarce articles in art magazines, only a couple of years later did she find several books on batik and silk painting, translated into Russian. Her son, who travelled abroad, brought her some batik literature and paints from Germany and France.

Alla explains, "Batik is a marvellous technique, it's very emotional, light as music, you simply can't help but fall in love with it. I used to draw many portraits, still life water-colour sketches. All that is of use now. Indeed, line and colour are very important in batik. It was more difficult, though, to handle the rules of decorative composition. At college we were taught realistic composition. So I had to learn a lot from books, analyzing other artists' techniques. Soon exhibitions became my main teachers. Two or three times a year I went to Moscow and St Petersburg; you take a night train from Mogilev and next morning - there you are in Moscow. Looking close at the wonderful works in batik I was getting new energy and new ideas. In Moscow you could also buy most of the silk colours. Back in Belarus I immediately set to work, experimenting a lot, spoiling plenty of silk but it was nothing. I was making progress, I knew it, but most important was that feeling of satisfaction in my work."

Soon Alla realised the endless opportunities that batik offers. She experimented with scarves and skirts. New ideas were constantly coming into her mind.

By that time her works started to sell in Belarusian galleries, which was of great help, as teaching salaries in Belarus were getting miserable. In the arts school where she worked, Alla opened a small studio and started teaching batik. By that time she already knew quite a lot about this technique and began to feel a need to share her knowledge with others. Soon she decided to try greater opportunities and presented her work and teaching portfolio to Minsk Arts College, the major school of arts in the country. She was immediately accepted and started teaching batik there. There had never been a batik course there before, and both students and the Directors were very excited.

"We've got a very friendly and creative atmosphere. My fellow teachers are very good and some of them are famous artists. The students are talented and cooperative. Each year I take 8-10 students and teach batik and composition to them, giving every day individual classes. Many of my former students, who are now studying at the Arts Academy, are my friends and often come to see me in my studio at the College. There's always music and a lot of light in it, and it's a real pleasure to work here. Every day I'm happy to go to work, you know".

Alla has been teaching batik in Arts College for 7 years now. She also became a member of Belarusian Artists' Union, Belarusian Designers' Union, Batik Guild (UK), Silkpainters Guild (UK) and Batik Guild in Germany. In 2003 she founded the first professional organization of batik artists in Belarus - Belarus Batik Club. In the Club you will find professional artists, students of batik, and just amateurs. A number of national exhibitions have been held by the Club already, and Alla is actively promoting the cooperation between artists of different countries.