The Kuzbass region is rich in coal, and here the profession of mining, which provides light and heat to millions, is seen as a symbol of courage and dedication. Almost every family in Kemerovo region is linked to coal in some way or other.
Gennady Pavlovich Khodak, who painted ‘Heroes of the Open-cast Mine, spent 12 years working in the L.D. Shevyakov pit, and 8 years in the Mezhdurechensk open cast mine, where he worked as an artist and designer. In his work he depicted the history of the coal industry in the Kuzbass region, and showed how the “black gold” is extracted from the earth.
Mining has a long history in Russia, dating back to the 15th Century. Initially, miners worked entirely by hand. But coal-mining is now carried out by companies forming part of Russia’s powerful industrial sector, and they use modern mining equipment.
The painting Heroes of the Open-cast Mine shows an industrial scene: work in an open coal pit. Open-cast mining involves extracting raw materials from the earth’s surface by means of excavations which are open to the air. The artist shows coal being loaded onto a BELAZ excavator. Next to the excavator there is a wheeled bulldozer — an irreplaceable vehicle used to level, compact and move earth. The picture allows us to imagine the conditions that the “coal men” have to deal with in their work.
The history of coal in the Kuznetsk region began when deposits of the mineral were first discovered here. The Siberian prospector Mikhailo Volkov, who came to the Tomsk region in 1717, started to look for iron ore, and in 1721 he found a coal deposit in the “burning hill” by the River Tom, in what is now the Rudnichny district of Kemerovo.
There is a monument to the pioneer of the Kuzbass coal industry in the square, which is named after him, located in the Central district. When the monument was unveiled, on August 23? 1968, the locals said that Kemerovo has two godfathers — Coal, and the prospector Mikhailo Volkov. In 2021 the Kuzbass region will celebrate its 300th anniversary.
The Kuznetsky Basin, or the Kuzbass, was given its impressive-sounding name by Pyotr Alexandrovich Chikhayev, a well-known traveler, geographer and geologist, in the 19th Century. It was he who first named the region the Kuznetsk Basin — he took the name from the city of Kuznetsk — and he was also the first to create a map of the region and mark the approximate boundaries of the Basin. The first settlers in the region named their settlement on the bank of the River Tom Kuznetsk, as the local Shorian people were talented blacksmiths
(“kuznets” in Russian).
Gennady Pavlovich Khodak, who painted ‘Heroes of the Open-cast Mine, spent 12 years working in the L.D. Shevyakov pit, and 8 years in the Mezhdurechensk open cast mine, where he worked as an artist and designer. In his work he depicted the history of the coal industry in the Kuzbass region, and showed how the “black gold” is extracted from the earth.
Mining has a long history in Russia, dating back to the 15th Century. Initially, miners worked entirely by hand. But coal-mining is now carried out by companies forming part of Russia’s powerful industrial sector, and they use modern mining equipment.
The painting Heroes of the Open-cast Mine shows an industrial scene: work in an open coal pit. Open-cast mining involves extracting raw materials from the earth’s surface by means of excavations which are open to the air. The artist shows coal being loaded onto a BELAZ excavator. Next to the excavator there is a wheeled bulldozer — an irreplaceable vehicle used to level, compact and move earth. The picture allows us to imagine the conditions that the “coal men” have to deal with in their work.
The history of coal in the Kuznetsk region began when deposits of the mineral were first discovered here. The Siberian prospector Mikhailo Volkov, who came to the Tomsk region in 1717, started to look for iron ore, and in 1721 he found a coal deposit in the “burning hill” by the River Tom, in what is now the Rudnichny district of Kemerovo.
There is a monument to the pioneer of the Kuzbass coal industry in the square, which is named after him, located in the Central district. When the monument was unveiled, on August 23? 1968, the locals said that Kemerovo has two godfathers — Coal, and the prospector Mikhailo Volkov. In 2021 the Kuzbass region will celebrate its 300th anniversary.
The Kuznetsky Basin, or the Kuzbass, was given its impressive-sounding name by Pyotr Alexandrovich Chikhayev, a well-known traveler, geographer and geologist, in the 19th Century. It was he who first named the region the Kuznetsk Basin — he took the name from the city of Kuznetsk — and he was also the first to create a map of the region and mark the approximate boundaries of the Basin. The first settlers in the region named their settlement on the bank of the River Tom Kuznetsk, as the local Shorian people were talented blacksmiths
(“kuznets” in Russian).
