“Balda” playing cards

In collaboration with Natalia Bogdanova and Evgenia Shkalina This is a collective project by three artists. The idea is to recreate the plot and the hierarchy of characters in the fairy tale “About the Pope and His Worker Balda” as part of a card deck. Interpreting Balda as a trickster suggests what kind of card he might become. Ace, like our hero, has a polar nature ─ older and younger at the same time. An ace beats a king, but an ace hides a simple six — the very spell for which Balda is hired. Thus, Balda and the other characters in Pushkin's fairy tale take their seats in the deck ─ and the game begins.

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