The Sharmanka Kinetic Gallery is a theatre of

kinetic sculpture Kinetic art is art from any medium that contains movement perceivable by the viewer or that depends on motion for its effects. Canvas paintings that extend the viewer's perspective of the artwork and incorporate multidimensional movement are ...

, in Glasgow, Scotland. The museum features mechanical figures which perform shows. It is a collaboration between sculptor-mechanic Eduard Bersudsky, theatre director Tatyana Jakovskaya, and light and sound designer Sergey Jakovsky. The word "sharmanka" (шарманка) is Russian for

hurdy-gurdy The hurdy-gurdy is a string instrument that produces sound by a hand-turned crank, rosined wheel rubbing against the strings. The wheel functions much like a violin (or nyckelharpa) bow, and single notes played on the instrument sound similar ...

or barrel-organ.

History

Sharmanka was founded in

Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the List of cities and towns in Russia by population, second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the Neva, River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland ...

in 1989 and based in Glasgow since 1996. It was exhibited at

Eretz Israel Museum The Eretz Israel Museum (also known as Muza) is a historical and archaeological museum in the Ramat Aviv neighborhood of Tel Aviv, Israel. Eretz Israel Museum, established in 1953, has a large display of archaeological, anthropological and h ...

in Tel Aviv, Edinburgh

Royal Museum The National Museum of Scotland in Edinburgh, Scotland, is a museum of Scottish history and culture. It was formed in 2006 with the merger of the new Museum of Scotland, with collections relating to Scottish antiquities, culture and history, ...

, London Theatre Museum,

Manchester City Art Gallery Manchester Art Gallery, formerly Manchester City Art Gallery, is a publicly owned art museum on Mosley Street in Manchester city centre, England. The main gallery premises were built for a learned society in 1823 and today its collection occupi ...

McLellan Galleries The McLellan Galleries are a major exhibition space in the city of Glasgow, Scotland, situated behind a frontage of shops and offices in Sauchiehall Street. History As part of the city's expansion on Blythswood Hill spearheaded by William H ...

, Glasgow,

Museum Speelklok Museum Speelklok (previously known as Museum van Speeldoos tot Pierement) is a museum in Utrecht, Netherlands, specializing in self-playing musical instruments. Since 1984, it has been housed in the centre of Utrecht in a former church called ...

Utrecht Utrecht ( ; ; ) is the List of cities in the Netherlands by province, fourth-largest city of the Netherlands, as well as the capital and the most populous city of the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of Utrecht (province), Utrecht. The ...

, as well as at science and technology museums in

Granada Granada ( ; ) is the capital city of the province of Granada, in the autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia, Spain. Granada is located at the foot of the Sierra Nevada (Spain), Sierra Nevada mountains, at the confluence ...

, Jerusalem, Switzerland and Copenhagen, performed at

Edinburgh Festival Fringe The Edinburgh Festival Fringe (also referred to as the Edinburgh Fringe, the Fringe or the Edinburgh Fringe Festival) is the world's largest performance arts festival, which in 2024 spanned 25 days, sold more than 2.6 million tickets and featur ...

in 2008,

London International Mime Festival The London International Mime Festival (LIMF) was a festival of contemporary visual theatre that operated from 1977 to 2023. The festival featured wordless and multi-disciplinary performances, including circus-theatre, puppetry/animation, object ...

in 2002 and 2009. Commissions include The Millennium Clock for

(in cooperation with Tim Stead and others) in Edinburgh, "The Flight" for

Bloomfield Science Museum Bloomfield Science Museum is a science museum in Jerusalem, established in 1992. The museum is located opposite the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, in the Givat Ram neighborhood. The museum is named for its principal donor, Neri Bloomfield. The ...

, Jerusalem, "St.Mungo-at-the-Tron" in Glasgow, "World of Artist" for Storm P. Museum, Copenhagen etc. Sharmanka kinetic sculptures are in collections of Glasgow Museums, Museum of Nonconformist Art in

, and Science Museum in Jerusalem Granada Science Park.

References

External links

Official web site
{{Coord, 55, 51, 26, N, 4, 14, 48, W, type:landmark_region:GB, display=title Kinetic sculptures